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