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Re: V1 flying bombs shot down by the 68 Sqn
Hello Pavel,
the date for the very first V-1 claim by 68 sqn (Harvey / Wynell - Sutherland) is given in B. Cull book as written in the list above (9/10 MAY 1944) and is recorded as a second ever submitted by Allied pilot. The first is recorded the previous night (8/9 MAY) by Tempest pilot R. E. Barckley, 3 sqn, Tempest JN755.
The crew was probably flying Beaufigher at that time, but the serial given in the book is MM683 corresponding to Mosquito (S/Ldr M. Mansfeld personal machine in late 1944).
The explanation of these early claims is that the crews probably encountered V-1 released during firing tests before the main attack in June 1944 started.
The list in the book is very comprehensive and accounts even the claims given only in published memories of various pilots. For example the claims for Czechs M.A. Liskutin (DFC, AFC) a F. Mares (DFM) are given in the book, but are not supported in any official Czech document. To be more complicated it seems that IWM holds record of combat film footage of F. Mares attacking V-1 on July 9, 1944.
Regards. David
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