[Tony Williams]

From 'Flying Guns – World War 2: Development of Aircraft Guns, Ammunition and Installations 1933-45' by Emmanuel Gustin and myself:

"Because of its high speed at low altitude and powerful armament, the Tempest was the best fighter for this work. Four Tempest squadrons operated at day and claimed 653 V‑1s. No.501 squadron was tasked with the extremely dangerous task of intercepting the flying bombs at night and regardless of weather conditions, and claimed another 88. Mosquito nightfighters were too slow to catch up with a V‑1 except in a dive, but nevertheless accounted for 428. For the occasion, their ammunition belts were loaded with tracer rounds, in a ratio of one in four. Normally tracer was not used by British nightfighters, to avoid alerting the enemy, but of course this was no objection in the case of the unmanned V‑1. Early operations brought an unpleasant surprise as the stress of a high-speed dive combined with gunfire caused serious damage to the nose of the Mosquito, which had to be strengthened. Three squadrons of Spitfires Mk.XIV claimed 322 and a Polish wing with P‑51B Mustangs 232. A single squadron of Gloster Meteor jet fighters claimed 13 and various other fighters 158. Another 1460 V‑1s were destroyed by anti-aircraft guns, something which was only possible thanks to the proximity fuse."

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