3 Squadron Tempests 1944

[Chris Thomas]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Franek! Brian, first a health warning. If you are using serials from 3 Sqn's ORB be very careful; it is perhaps the worst in this respect that I have come across. Frequently serials are repeated long after an aircraft has been written off etc.

The codes below come from a number of sources - film, photos, spotter report and by comparison between pilots' logs (code) and ORB (serial). In view of my earlier remark you can see that the latter source is not without difficulty.

So, to your list. First, JN705 is not a Tempest serial and JN751 was not a 3 Squadron aircraft - it was of course Wg Cdr Beamont's famous 'R-B' - although no doubt used by 3 Sqn on occasions.

The following serial code matches are from reliable sources or from log/ORB with 2 or more matches and no conflicting information.

JN739/W; 745/T; 761/U; 768/F; 769/G; 796/A; 807/Y; 812/M
EJ540/P; 582/T

and these are single match only (dodgy but might tie in with any other info you have)
JN735/X; 755/D; 793/N; 865/E

These are all codes from the 'Diver period' which I assume is what you are interested in. Some of these aircraft had later code changes.

Anyone out there got 3 Sqn pilots logs or copies thereof?

Chris

[Brian]

Terrific stuff, Chris, many thanks.

Whilst JN751 was, as you say, Beamont's RB, did he also fly EJ525 marked as RB at some stage? Or do you have a 3 Squadron code for 525?

Also, what do you know about the Monica-equipped EJ535 that flew with FIU? Was this the only Tempest so fitted, or did it equip other Tempests once it was found to be successful?

Cheers
Brian

[Hans Nauta]

Hello Brian and Chris,

I don't want to disturb your thread Brian, but maybe Chris is able to check two other serials for the matching radio letters: JN822 and EJ557 which were involved in shooting up an ammunition train in Holland on 12th September 1944.

Thanks in advance,
Hans Nauta

P.S. According to 2TAF page 330 JN817 would have carried H als radio letter.

[Chris Thomas]

Hello Brian and Hans
Regret I have no record of EJ525's code letters - nor reason to believe it was another R-B.

I have not come across reference to any other Monica-equipped Tempests other than EJ535. It went from 20 MU to the Telecommunications Research Establishment on or about 29 June 44 and then on to FIU (not recorded on the Form 78. It was issued to 486 Sqn, presumably without Monica, on 8 September 44, becoming SA-L and was shot down by flak on 7 October 44.

Hans, I am sorry to say I have no information at all on JN822's codes. Circumstantial evidence suggests EJ557 was JF-Z. F/L Van Lierde (top V-1 scorer by day) flew JF-Z JN862 until 4 August 44 when its undercarriage collapsed on landing. EJ557 arrived with 3 Sqn the next day and is recorded in the ORB being flown by Van Lierde until he was posted to command 164 Sqn later in the month. After repair JN862 returned to 3 sqn but was coded JF-Q, suggesting something else had been given its 'Z' - more than likely EJ557 I would think.

Yes JN817 was JF-H, 'Spike' Umbers' aircraft but I can only prove it was that at Volkel when it was returned to the squadron after repair by Hawker. Brian, I do not have the ORB to hand but if Umbers flew JN817 regularly during the anti-Diver campaign it is likely it was 'H' then too.

Chris

[BIGVERN1966]

Originally Posted by Chris Thomas

Yes JN817 was JF-H, 'Spike' Umbers' aircraft but I can only prove it was that at Volkel when it was returned to the squadron after repair by Hawker. Brian, I do not have the ORB to hand but if Umbers flew JN817 regularly during the anti-Diver campaign it is likely it was 'H' then too.

Chris

JN817 was at Matlask for the week to ten days that 3 Sqn where there before doing the jump across the North Sea on 28 Sep 44 when the squadron joined 2TAF (flown by 'Spike' Umbers on the day) and if it was not H then I will be not a happy man.

[Tom Semenza]

According to Chris Shores "Aces High, Vol. 2," JN817 was used by Beamont to down a V-1 on 19 June 44 and was coded "T" at the time. This Tempest was also used to down V-1s in June & July by Umbers, Moore, Rose and Slade-Betts, however no code is given when flown by these pilots. Therefore it is possible that JN817 was coded JF-T innitially and then recoded JF-H.

Also, Chris, in your posting you attribute the code "Y" to JN807. However in your excellent Osprey book on Typhoon and Tempest aces, there is a photo on page 54 showing P/O Whitman exiting JF-X which is stated to be JN807.

Regards,
Tom

[Chris Thomas]

Originally Posted by Tom Semenza

According to Chris Shores "Aces High, Vol. 2," JN817 was used by Beamont to down a V-1 on 19 June 44 and was coded "T" at the time. This Tempest was also used to down V-1s in June & July by Umbers, Moore, Rose and Slade-Betts, however no code is given when flown by these pilots. Therefore it is possible that JN817 was coded JF-T innitially and then recoded JF-H.

Also, Chris, in your posting you attribute the code "Y" to JN807. However in your excellent Osprey book on Typhoon and Tempest aces, there is a photo on page 54 showing P/O Whitman exiting JF-X which is stated to be JN807.

Regards,
Tom

Sometimes I wonder whether anyone else is bothered with what I write about codes/serials but then I get a response like this. Someone is interested .... and cross-checking! Excellent.

First JN817. Yes, at first sight JF-T recoded as JF-H looks possible. However I think it unlikely as I tried tying up codes from Beamont's log with ORB serials a long time ago and found the results unconvincing. In common with several other Wing Leader's logs I have researched I have come to the conclusion that Wingcos were not too fussy about such mundane detail .... Also I have checked 'Lefty' Whitman's log against the ORB and he frequently flew JF-T. It is quite clear from multiple log/ORB correlations that JF-T was JN745 (on 3 Sqn from 30 March 44) from 19 June 44 when he first flew it on an operation, until written off in a landing accident on 18 July 44. Its replacement 'T' was EJ582 which had arrived with 3 Sqn the previous day.

Whitman's log was also the basis of identifying JN807 as JF-X. He flew 'X' on three ops with serials from the ORB as follows. 12 June JN755, 18 June JN735, and 19 July JN807. However there was a further entry on 28 June which appeared in his log as 'Y' but the long stroke of the letter sloped the opposite way to the form he usually wrote - I took it to be a badly written 'X' - and therefore 'X' had possibly been JN735 or 755 and had been replaced by JN807. I guess my Osprey caption would have been more accurate as "JF-X believed to have been JN807" !! Especially since when preparing '2ndTAF Vol.1' (see p.115) a photo of JN807 apparently taken between 1 June 44 (when it arrived with 3 Sqn) and June 5 (when it would have been striped) came to light, clearly showing the codes 'JF-Y'.

It is possible JN807 started as 'Y' and was recoded 'X' and indeed the original photo of Whitman leaving the cockpit reveals what could be alteration the to paintwork behind the letter (hard edge to the camouflage as opposed to soft elsewhere). What we need now is a glimpse of Flt Sgt Bailey's log ('Y' was his aircraft) but I do not have access - but I think I know a man who does. More later maybe. Bet you can't wait.

Chris Thomas