HISTORY

‘JF-E’

Chris Thomas

When the next boxing of the 1/48 Tempest arrives, it will feature the Mk.V Series

2, the only version that saw operational

service from September 1944 through to

the German surrender and then in the British Air Forces of Occupation (where it was

joined by the Tempest II) post war.

It will come as no surprise to most modellers that one of the decal options is for

Pierre Clostermann’s famous ‘Le Grand

Charles’ carrying 3 Squadron codes ‘JF-E’.

But a closer look may surprise those who

had followed the research first revealed in

the French historical magazine Avions (No

151, Mai/Juin 2006). Having had some input on the Tempest section I was pleased to

work again with Christophe Cony on a revised and expanded version published in Avions No 227, published in mid-January 2019.

In 2006 we thought that Clostermann

had three ‘JF-E’s (possibly four) but reassessment of all available RAF documentation including a complete analysis of No 3

Squadron’s Tempests in the last weeks of

the war, photographic evidence and, crucially, a transcript of Clostermann’s own logbook, has now led to the conclusion there

were only two. Please note that his logbook

records aircraft code letters, whereas the

Squadron ORB (Form 541) records the aircraft serial number. It is possible to link the

NV994 at 83 GSU, RAF Dunsfold, April 1945. awaiting allocation to an 83

Group squadron. It would be allocated to 3 Squadron on 15 April while

the squadron was at RAF Warmwell Armament Practice Camp.

two by comparing the dates/times/nature

of each operation.

Previously it was thought that the first

JF-E was NV994 until damaged in a dusk action on 20 April 1945, when he claimed two

Fw190s destroyed; a copy of his Combat Report survives in the UK’s National Archive.

This sortie is not recorded in the ORB Form

541 (so we do not have the serial number)

although it is mentioned in the accompanying Form 540 (a narrative which does not

give detail) and it is in Clostermann’s own

record; his aircraft – ‘E’ in his log - was damaged and he was wounded in the leg. He is

NV994, now wearing 3 Squadron codes JF-E, 18 April 1945.

absent from the operational record for the

rest of April and returns to ‘ops’ again on 3

May, flying SN222 (according to the Form

541), recorded in his log as E. However, during the same period other squadron pilots

were recorded as flying NV994 and when it

was eventually returned to the UK for repair

in July 1945, it was recorded as still marked

as ‘JF-E’. So it is very likely that SN222 was

not in fact JF-E.

Unfortunately, the code letter allocated to

SN222 is not known but it is apparent that

this aircraft was one of two replacements

for Tempests lost on operations at the end

of April 1945, namely JF-S and JF-G; the latter is more likely. So, why should Clostermann have recorded his flight as in ‘E’? Ha-

ving studied many RAF log-books it is quite

noticeable that as pilots became more senior they tended to be less scrupulous about

their log-keeping. Particularly when a pilot

had an allocated aircraft they often logged

that machine as the one they were flying on

most, if not all occasions; comparison with

the squadron records shows this was not

the case!

Another problem with records not supporting the event is that there is no record of

damage to NV994, JF-E, on 20 April 1945,

and the aircraft is recorded continuing on

operations, flown by other pilots. So maybe

Clostermann was not actually flying JF-E on

this sortie either. His Combat Report for this

date records that two Tempests were ‘Category B’ as a result of the action and it is

apparent from his log that his aircraft was

hit by fire from one of the Fw190s. A check

through the records of all the Tempests in

use by 3 Squadron on this date reveals that

the two Tempests were NV978, JF-C, and

NV923, JF-F, (both aircraft of Clostermann’s

‘A’ Flight) so it seems likely that he was flying one of these machines.

This means all available evidence now

points to ‘JF-E’ having been NV994 from 15

April 1945 and all the way through to 1 July

1945, when it was damaged in an accident

while landing in bad weather conditions at

Vaerlöse, having been unable to land at Kastrup, 3 Squadron’s base in Denmark.

A replacement JF-E was now required

and as the ORB only recorded the details of

operational flights we are fortunate to have

two photographs showing the new JF-E

was NV724. More on this aircraft in a later

Newsletter.