BUILT

JN751, Wg Cdr Roland P. Beamont DSO, DFC & bar, CO of No. 150 Wing,

Newchurch, Great Britain, June 1944

In May 1944, No. 150 Wing was deemed operational. The Tempest equipped only No. 3 and No. 486 Squadrons, while No. 56 Squadron had to wait for their new Tempests until late June 1944 and used the Spitfire Mk.IX in

the interim. The task of the Tempests of No. 150 Wing at the time of the invasion was to provide air cover over the

battlefield and attack enemy ground targets but from mid-June, the priority became (as the Tempest was the most

suitable aircraft for the task) the protection of southern England from V-1 attacks. At the end of September 1944, the

entire unit under the leadership of Beamont moved to liberated Europe. On October 12th, Beamont´s machine was hit

by flak and due to a damaged radiator had to put down behind enemy lines and spent the remainder of the war in

captivity. Over the course of the Second World War, Beamont claimed nine kills and in July 1944 was awarded a bar

to his DSO in recognition of his successful leadership of the Tempest wing which had destroyed more than 600 V-1s

(32 by Beamont himself). After the war, he continued on as a test pilot and flew, among others, the Meteor, Vampire,

Canberra, Lighting and the TSR-2. He retired in August 1979 and died on November 19th, 2001.

Two days before the invasion of Europe, Beamont‘s aircraft received the prescribed ’Special Markings’ - 18-inch wide

black and white stripes encircling the rear fuselage and wings.

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#48977 landing flaps (PE-Set)

#648419 gun bays (Brassin)

INFO Eduard - March 2019

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