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Slt. D.W. Barraclough, VCS-7, RAF Lee-on-Solent,
Hampshire, United Kingdom, June 1944
BL547, F/O Rick R. Richards, No. 401 Squadron, RAF Horne,
Surrey, United Kingdom, June 1944
In February 1944, the VCS-7 Cruiser Scouting
Squadron was formed. It consisted of 17 pilots
from several ships, who exchanged their Curtiss
Seagulls and Vought Kingfishers for Spitfires
Mk.V. The unit was first led by Lt. Robert W.
Calland and from May 28, 1944, by Lt. Cdr William
Denton Jr. Prior to D
-
Day, ten squadrons, five
RAF, four Royal Navy FAA (Fleet Air Arm) and
VCS-7, were assembled at Leeon-Solent to
provide aerial observation for naval bombing in
the Utah and Omaha beach sectors and later in
the Cherbourg area. Observation missions were
always flown by a pair of aircraft. The lead one
acted as spotter, while the other provided escort
and protected the leader from enemy attacks. The
standard altitude for these missions was 6,000 ft,
but bad weather often forced the pilots to operate
between 1,500 and 2000 ft. Occasionally missions
were flown at even lower altitudes. From June 6
to June 26, VCS-7 conducted 209 missions over
Normandy, mainly as part of the Western Naval
Task Force, which was under the control of the
U. S. Navy. The VCS-7 lost nine Spitfires to various
causes, the main threat being the ubiquitous Flak.
The squadron rarely encountered Luftwaffe
aircraft, yet on June 7, Slt. D. W. Barraclought
shot down a Bf 109G in aerial combat. VCS-7’s last
combat mission was on June 25 in the Cherbourg
area, and the following day VCS-7 was disbanded.
Its Spitfires bore the standard camouflage and
markings of an RAF Day Fighter and invasion
stripes for quick identification. They were also
marked with the number 4 in front of the cockpit
followed by the individual aircraft letter for the
squadron.
On D
-
Day, No. 402 Squadron had a mixture of
older Mk.Vb and Mk.Vc Spitfires in its armament
and was commanded by the famous ace
S/Ldr G. W. Northcott. The squadron was part of
No. 142 Wing, which under the command of
another well-known Canadian ace, W/Cdr John
Milne Checketts, operated as part of the air
defense of Great Britain, albeit under 2TAF
operational control in the role of fighter-bombers.
No. 402 Squadron was re-equipped with Spitfires
Mk.IX in July, but their time with the unit was
brief. Early August 1944 saw a move to Hawkinge,
where the Squadron was rearmed with the
new powerful Spitfires Mk. XIV with which they
immediately engaged in combat against V-1 flying
bombs. In late September 1944 the squadron was
transferred to 2TAF in Belgium and joined No. 125
Wing. In December it then joined No. 126 Wing
RCAF, where it flew alongside the Mk.IX Spitfires.
The end of the war found the unit on German soil
at Wunstorf with a total score of 49.5 enemy shot
down. One of the Spitfires Mk.Vb operating with
No. 402 Squadron during D
-
Day was the one with
serial number BL547 which sported the fuselage
codes AE
-
R. It was most often flown by F/O Rick
Richards who had a drawing of “Black Rufe”,
a character from the comic strip Li'l Abner,
painted on the nose of his Spitfire. Under the
cockpit, it bore the standard markings of most
No. 402 Squadron Spitfires, a red Canadian leaf
in a white crest with the City of Winnipeg in white
lettering.
KITS 06/2024
INFO Eduard
43
Červenec 2024