Hurricanes over Dieppe - 80 years ago today

[GrzeM]

Hi,

for the 80th Dieppe Raid Anniversary (19 August!!!) Arma Hobby, in close cooperation with the Britmodeller fellow @Bigos , prepared a double kit "deluxe set" 1/72 Hurricane Mk.II A/B/C with 8 painting and marking schemes from the "Jubilee" Dieppe Raid.

As a result, we have not only the kit, but also a few articles describing the quite unusual  markings and camouflages of the Hurricanes used in that operation. For me the most interesting is delegation of the night intruders to the daylight ground support sorties - which resulted in completely new camouflage! All this is described (and illustrated) by @Bigos here:

http://armahobbynews.pl/en/blog/2022/08/19/19-august-80-years-today-dieppe-raid/

 

I'm really interested in your opinions!

 

Best!

G.

 

Kit boxart, by Piotr Forkasiewicz:

 

 

[Graham Boak]

The white stripes over the nose and tail were not Dieppe (as sometimes claimed) but markings for one of the exercises.  Rutter?  They are also seen on many other aircraft including Spitfires.

 

175 Sq was formed from 607, when this unit was transferred to India.  The aircraft and a nucleus of pilots - including several Frenchmen, stayed in the UK.  It is a matter of personal annoyance (well, a peeve)  that 402 Sq (AE codes) was chosen for the photo session publicising Hurribombers rather than the actual first unit 607 Sq (codes AF).  There has been room for confusion ever since.

 

The internal mounting for the bomb carrier did not just block the cartridge removal chute (and exit hole under the wing) but also took up the volume of the machine gun itself.  There were only 10 mgs on the Hurribombers.

[303sqn]

The white markings were applied for Operation Rutter, the original Dieppe Operation, that was cancelled at the last minute beacuase of weather and the forces in the Channel being dectected by the Germans.

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060021075#.WfTA4dmsvrg.facebook

Edited August 19, 2022 by 303sqn

[brewerjerry]

Hi 

      Odd that the confusion with Op rutter still exists, there is enough info about them  

 

  likewise the Op starkey whirlwinds usually get mixed up with dieppe 

 

  Cheers

    Jerry 

[Graham Boak]

Once something gets into print, it will keep reappearing for many years.  There are always newcomers who encounter it and believe it, before encountering better information.  That's why it is always necessary to be careful with jokes and what-ifs.  However silly or just unlikely something seems to its originator, there are people who will believe it.

[bryanm]

On 8/19/2022 at 5:47 PM, 303sqn said:

The white markings were applied for Operation Rutter, the original Dieppe Operation, that was cancelled at the last minute beacuase of weather and the forces in the Channel being dectected by the Germans.

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060021075#.WfTA4dmsvrg.facebook

Thanks - interesting clip, not least the Free French matelots working as ground crew in the opening sequences.

 

[XV571]

Thank you GrzeM, Wojtek, Bigos and Arma Hobby for providing not one but three 43 Squadron Hurricanes, especially as they are marked with the elusive Belgian Congo presentation names; I've been hoping someone would come up with more matches for these. I can now fill the gap between their Battle of Britain Mark 1s and their Hurricane IIc (Trop) aircraft used in the Tunisia campaign with just this one release 👍,

The Dieppe raid is one of the operations marked on the 43 Squadron Standard. 43 Sqn was one of the first units over the beach on the morning of the 19th August 1942 using a mix of DFS and Night painted aircraft, flying a total 48 sorties that day. During this first attack several aircraft were damaged by the intense anti-aircraft fire which had been alerted by Bostons laying smoke cover for the ground troops! One of the damaged Hurricanes, FT-U BN234, a IIc flown by Flt Lt Freddie Lister was hit in on the underside and port wing, losing the panels over the cannons, a large section of the aileron with significant damage to the leading edge and spar. Despite all this the Hurricane kept flying, although only really controllable above 190 knots.  As a result when he returned to Tangmere Flt Lt Lister was left with no option but to try and land at high speed without flaps. The landing is described in Jimmy Beedle's squadron history:

 

"Lister drove onto the deck with 210 on the clock, and the Hurricane took it. Most aeroplanes of that period, hitting the ground at such speeds, would simply have disintegrated. Others, dug in the nose, flipped over on to their backs and crushed the skulls of their unfortunate occupants. The Hurricane, possessed of no such venomous streak, just kept going straight and level, ripping open the green turf beside the runway and spewing out the brown clods to either side until, with the radiator wrenched away, it slid to a halt close to the boundary fence and the sunken road beyond. The air intake had gone, the propeller blades were all sheared at the roots, the spinner was stove in, the bottom cowlings torn. The wheel bay and cannon muzzles were packed with hard driven earth, and the port wing was a scarcely cohesive jumble of twisted metal and torn skin. But from out of it stepped, quite unhurt though a little stunned by his good fortune, one very valuable Flight Commander."

I believe that this crash landing was actually captured by one of the film crews documenting Tangmere's Dieppe operations! At about 15 seconds from the beginning of this film https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060021074 a Hurricane appears out of the murky dawn at very high speed and descends, undercarriage up, back into the ground mist. Following on from this there's more 43Sqn Hurricanes along with some 87 Sqn aircraft taxiing out and taking off plus some assorted Spitfire, Boston and Hurribomber footage taken during the day.

 

From about 04:15 In this film https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060021068 there is a Night painted 43Sqn Hurricane IIc looking rather worse for wear being looked over by some fitters. The visible section of the code looks like the bottom of a ''U' so I think this could be BN234 later in the day raised up on its undercarriage and is a testament to how much punishment a Hurricane could take!

Despite his dramatic return to base Flt Lt Lister flew three more sorties over the beachhead that day and was subsequently awarded a DFC for his exploits. He stayed with 43Sqn after they transferred to Gibraltar for Operation Torch and through the North African campaign until promoted to command 152Sqn. Surviving the war and a bout of 'civvy street' he later rejoined the RAF and was actually re-posted to 43Sqn in 1949 flying Meteor F4s until he was posted to an OCU in 1951.

 

There's quite a few reels of film covering the various participants in Dieppe operations in that IWM series which are worth looking through, such as https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060021066 This, like some of the others, has some repeated content from the film posted by 303sqn but with some additional Boston & Spitfire footage.

 

Jonathan

[Bigos]

Hey Jonathan! I came to the same conclusion watching the films in the IWM collection. 
There is undoubtedly a BN234/FT-U belonging to F/Lt Lister on that frame.