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Allied aircraft color photos


72modeler

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I just found this photo collection; some of these photos I am sure many of you will recognize, but many of them I have never seen before; some great modeling possibilities here! If this has been posted before, please fell free to delete, Mike. I hope you all enjoy looking at them. Loved the factory-fresh B-26 in RAF markings!

Mike

 

http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?start=60&finish=15&name=ForumsPro&file=viewtopic&t=14429

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On 23/6/2017 at 8:34 PM, Graham T said:

Great shots there.  In my dreams, I AM that bearded FAA Hellcat pilot!  Very rakish!

Yes - noticed him too - as well as the Swordfish crew. Was that 'a thing' with the FAA crews - having beards? :hmmm:

 

Cheers :bye:

Hans J

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Perhaps locally, but not generally.  However, beards were allowed in the RN.  "Permission to grow"  had to be granted by your senior officer, and only a "full set" was allowed - no solitary moustaches, goatees or whatever.

Edited by Graham Boak
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On 23/06/2017 at 19:34, Graham T said:

Great shots there.  In my dreams, I AM that bearded FAA Hellcat pilot!  Very rakish!

 

Sounds more like a nightmare...  here's the story..

 

2833230822_d1c5aa68f6_o.jpgFleet Air Arm Pilot by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

Quote

Lt John ‘Jack’ Haberfield RNZNVR


Jack Haberfield of 1839 Squadron was shot-down during the Fleet Air Arm attacks on the Japanese held oil refineries at Palembang on Sumatra (Operation Meridian 1) on 24.1.45. 1839 Squadron was one of two fighter squadrons on Indomitable (the other being 1844 Squadron). Both were equipped with Hellcats. For the first attack on Palembang Indomitable supplied 16 Hellcats as part of the fighter escort for the Avenger bomber strike force (comprising 40 Avengers from Indefatigable, Victorious, Illustrious and Indomitable). The rest of the fighter escort was provided by 29 Corsairs from Illustrious and Victorious and 9 Fireflies from Indefatigable. A small ramrod sweep were also carried out on the Japanese airfield at Mana by a mixed force of 4 Avengers and 4 Hellcats, while Indefatigable’s Seafires flew CAP over the fleet.


The main attacking force and its fighter escort encountered enemy fighter opposition about fifteen miles away from Palembang. The British believed about 20 Japanese fighters attacked the force before it reached its target. Further Japanese attacks were carried out as the strike force of Avengers reformed and headed to the rendezvous point after the attack. Six Corsairs, one Hellcat and two Avengers failed to return from Meridian I, though not all of these were shot-down by fighters. An additional strike was made five days later on 29.1.45. A further two Corsairs, one Firefly and four Avengers failed to return from Meridian II.


Of these 16 British aircraft losses, 30 FAA personnel were either KiA or PoW (11 others had been picked up by destroyers from the fleet). Post-war it was learnt that of these 30 airmen, 9 were captured alive by the Japanese. One of these was ‘Jack’ Haberfield who was the pilot of the one Hellcat lost in the entire operation. The Admiralty reports do not record the serial or code of the Haberfield’s Hellcat. The 1839 Squadron Diary may record this information, and while it is definitely extant, it appears to be held privately, as it is not at TNA or the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

From the Admiralty reports it is known that Indomitable’s Hellcats were flying middle cover, 8 at the front and 8 at the back of the main strike force. Haberfield was leading one of these sections, but it is not known which one. From the Report of Lt Cdr T.W Harrington, who was Escort Leader, it is clear that the fighter escort was not well-disciplined after the strike force was attacked by Japanese fighters about 3 minutes from the target, “About half way through the attack I could see no top cover, three aircraft of middle cover, and the remaining aircraft engaged in dog-fights in and around the target area.” In the two Meridian Operations, Fleet Air Arm pilots claimed 30 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the air, plus another 7 probably destroyed, so the air fighting was clearly intense at times. The details of the loss of Haberfield’s Hellcat are scant. Indomitable’s Report tersely concluding that “the fate of the Hellcat is unknown”


L/Cdr Fraser Shotton, the CO of 1839 Squadron, wrote to Haberfield’s mother, before news of his captivity was known:

"We made an attack against the oil refineries at Palembang in Sumatra: our squadron was escorting some of the bombers & Jack (Haberfield's nickname) was leading a section. Over the target we were attacked by Japanese fighters and a fierce fight developed, during which it was on possible to see what was happening in a small part of the sky & there were aeroplanes everywhere. Jack's wingman saw him attack an enemy fighter and followed it down in a steep, fast dive, then lost sight of him. He was not seen again after that. Several pilots reported having seen aircraft crash into the ground, but none could say with certainty whether they were our own or the enemy's."

It is possible that Haberfield’s Hellcat was damaged in this air combat or by flak subsequently. Aircrew in an Avenger from Illustrious record seeing a Hellcat in distress, which joined up briefly, but was last seen going down near Lake Ranau. During the withdrawal, the flight plan was for aircraft to follow the river to the rendezvous point, so this was certainly Haberfield’s Hellcat, as his was the only one lost.

According to the Official History of the New Zealand Navy, a Chinese prisoner in Sumatra, who was released on 20.2.45, recounted that, “….it was town gossip that the photograph of a well-built, blind-folded pilot prisoner was shown for propaganda purposes at the premises of the Palembang Sumboeng, a local newspaper.” The description of this prisoner matches Haberfield, who was refused water and food during his interrogation at Palembang prison. After seven days he was taken blind-folded for transit to Singapore by boat. On arrival Haberfield was interned along with the other Palembang FAA aircrew in Outram Road gaol.

A few days after the cessation of hostilities with Japan, around the 18-20 August 1945, a group of Japanese soldiers took these 9 Fleet Air Arm aircrew from Outram gaol in a lorry to a beach at the northern tip of Changi and executed them by beheading them with a sword. Their weighted bodies were subsequently put in a boat and disposed of in the sea. The senior officer responsible for these unlawful executions, Captain Toshio Kataoka committed suicide prior to his arrest by British war crimes investigators.

Haberfield had a short twentieth century life, shared by so many of his generation, enlisting in the Fleet Air Arm in 1941 and dying four years later age 26. He was one of the original 1839 pilots when the squadron formed at Eglinton in November 1943. Henry Adlam, who joined the squadron later, recalls Jack Haberfield with fondness in his memoir as “that friendly New Zealander”. 

Haberfield claimed an Oscar shot down during Operation Lentil on 4.1.45 in R5P:FN432, which is the aircraft in the photograph."

Thank you Ian

 

 

Many of the  pics in the link are in @Etiennedup flickr stream 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/8270787@N07/sets/72157605269786717

 

note,  an easy way tossearch is the  change the word after the '='  sign so Spitfires below

https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=8270787@N07&q=spitfire

 

but  change to  another type to search,  lots of great pictures.

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5 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 

Sounds more like a nightmare...  here's the story..

 

2833230822_d1c5aa68f6_o.jpgFleet Air Arm Pilot by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

 

 

Many of the  pics in the link are in @Etiennedup flickr stream 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/8270787@N07/sets/72157605269786717

 

note,  an easy way tossearch is the  change the word after the '='  sign so Spitfires below

https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=8270787@N07&q=spitfire

 

but  change to  another type to search,  lots of great pictures.

Indeed.  Poor fellow.

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