Storch forced down by Meteor

[Stig Jarlevik]

In the recent book Combat Meteors by Alex Crawford he lists 616 Sq being in combat both on the 2nd and 3rd
of May.
In both cases one Fi 156 was destroyed on the ground.

On the 2nd both F/O Miller, P/O Stodhart and W/O Wilson claimed one
On the 3rd F/Lt Jennings claimed one

Cheers
Stig

[knusel]

Good afternoon Gentlemen,

the British failed to expose their most advanced aircraft design to real fighter-vs-fighter combat before the Luftwaffe was overwhelmed by piston-engined aircraft. Furthermore, the end of war was just days ahead. Might this have been contributed to the lack of interest in adding the limited results of the Meteor to the official files meticulously ?

Cheers,

Michael

[Brian Bines]

In the absence of combat reports for 616 Sqd. the ORB for the 2nd May gives t/up 1230- t/down 1325 hrs and for the 3rd t/up 1835- t/down 1915 hrs for those involved in the Storch shot downs .

I had read about Storchs being attacked with the occupants making a run for it after crash-landing but did not previously associate it with Meteors . I checked some old research and found I had these;-

2nd May claim for a Storch around 1200hrs by F/O Tex Gray in a Typhoon of 439 Sqd RCAF in the Schönberg area . The Storch pilot was attempting to pancake in a field but was hit by a long burst from Gray the e/a exploded and burned .

3rd May Tempests of 3 Sqd were on an armed recon. Kiel area t/up 0545 - t/down 0655 hrs . Blue section spotted a Storch which made a hurried crash landing with two occupants running out just before F/L Longley and W/O Saunders made firing passes on the crash. F/Lt Hughes Red 1 dived down on a second Storch which landed with both occupants fleeing before he hit it with a 2 sec burst the e/a disintegrated and went up in flames . Hughes while on an evening patrol later claimed a Fw 44 in the Itzenhoe area

[phasselgren]

AIR 24/653 Statistics of Combats and Casualties in ADGB., Fighter Command and 2 TAF; Vol 4 has the following claims:

May 2nd
616 Sqn F/O Stedhart Fi.156 1 DES on ground area T.0488. With the note “Confirmed”

May 3rd
616 Sqn, Fi.156 1 Destr, Me.109 - 1 Destr, He.111 - 1 Destr, Ju.87 - 1 Destr + 1 Dam, Ju.52 - 1 Dam, all on ground A/F at C.8342. With the note “Claims allowed”

Observe the file includes both the claims made and final assessment of the claims.

Cheers
Peter

[knusel]

Hello Peter,

that sounds definite. Thanks for sharing.
Is the spelling of Mister Stedhart correct ?

Cheers,

Michael

[Adriano Baumgartner]

PETER,

I do also thank you for the confirmation and document reference (AIR 24). Most welcomed answer.

A.

[phasselgren]

Originally Posted by knusel

Hello Peter,

that sounds definite. Thanks for sharing.
Is the spelling of Mister Stedhart correct ?

Cheers,

Michael

Sorry, correct spelling is Stodhart but I had to zoom in to see that it was an "o".

Cheers,
Peter

[Stig Jarlevik]

Peter

Hats off to the Swedish south coast!!

Cheers
Stig

[knusel]

Thanks for the clarification.
That means that the officially acknowledged WW2 claim list of the Gloster Meteor looks like this, doesn't it?:
04.08.1944 V1 T.D. Dean
04.08.1944 V1 J.K. Rodger
07.08.1944 V1 T.D. Dean
10.08.1944 V1 T.D. Dean
16.08.1944 V1 W. McKenzie
16.08.1944 V1 M. Mullenders
17.08.1944 V1 Assy
17.08.1944 V1 Ritch
17.08.1944 V1 Sid Woodacre
19.08.1944 1/2 V1 G. Hobson
19.08.1944 V1 Les Watts
28.08.1944 V1 G. Hobson & Epps
29.08.1944 V1 Miller
24.04.1945 Ju 88 DAM OTG Andrew McDowall
02.05.1945 Fi 156 DES OTG A. Stodhart
03.05.1945 Fi 156 DES OTG G.P. Jennings
03.05.1945 Ju 87 DES OTG Warren Schrader & G.P. Jennings
03.05.1945 Ju 87 DAM OTG Warren Schrader & G.P. Jennings
03.05.1945 He 111 DES OTG Warren Schrader & G.P. Jennings
03.05.1945 Ju 52 DAM OTG Warren Schrader & G.P. Jennings
03.05.1945 Bf 109 DES OTG Warren Schrader & G.P. Jennings

[Juha]

hello Knusel
According to 616 Sqn ORB and Harkins' RAF Meteor Fighters in WWII An Operational Log Hobson claimed on 19 Aug 44 1½ V1s.