485 Squadron, Channel Dash, 12 February 1942

[phasselgren]

If the transcript by Tony Wood from RAF Fighter Command´s and Casualties is correct the official claims by 485 Sqn were:
FW 190 – 1 Destroyed
Me 109F – 2 Destroyed and 1 Probable
Me 109E – 1 Destroyed

Cheers,
Peter

[Smithy]

Originally Posted by keith A

I think Francis' claim was disallowed. All the other claims in that frame, by his flight and the other flight were for Bf109E/F. Francis is the only one to claim a Fw190. Just a thought.

Just been back over the things I have Keith which might help you.

485 had separated into three flights before crossing the Channel where they flew almost to the Belgian coast before turning back for the area where the ships were. There was a lot of low cloud ranging from dense to broken which hindered visibility and the subsequent combats.

Francis was leading the third flight which consisted of Grant, Liken, Rae and himself. They ran into groups of 109s and also (this is important as several of the flight members reported them) the new 190s.

Rae's 109 was the probable, he'd scored substantial hits on the canopy area and tail unit and the aircraft was seen to be smoking heavily and out of control. He'd had to break though because several EA were attempting to converge on his tail before seeing if his 109 crashed into the sea.

Francis' 190 had enormous amounts of smoke and fire coming from the engine area after several cannon hits. It's demise was confirmed by other members of the flight.

HTH,

Tim

[keith A]

Cheers Tim and Peter.

[keith A]

However if Clouston and Sweetman,, Compton, Francis and Reg Grant claimed kills, and Rae has a probable, and Compton added a damaged, then the five claims usually credited are one out? I did not realise that Francis claimed the Fw190 suffered more damage than I had read previously.