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F/Lt Gordon M. Braidwood, No. 322 Squadron, B.106 Twente, Netherlands, April 1945
TB520, W/Cdr Donald G. Andrews, CO of Coltishall Wing, RAF Matlaske,
United Kingdom, March–May 1945
No. 322 Squadron was formed at Woodvale in June
1943 by renumbering No. 167 squadron, which had
in its staffing a high proportion of Dutch pilots.
In December 1943 it moved south to Hawkinge
with its Spitfires Mk.V. In March it moved to
Acklington where it was rearmed with the all-
new and powerful Spitfires Mk.XIV with Griffon
engines. As part of the West Malling Wing, the unit
was deployed during the V-1 missile offensive
against southern England in early June, and by
the end of August the pilots of No. 322 Squadron
had succeeded in destroying 108.5 V-1 missiles.
When the threat ended in August, the unit was
rearmed to Spitfires LF Mk.IX. Rearmament to
Spitfires Mk.XVIe followed in November, and
in early 1945 the unit moved to Belgium to join
the Norwegian No. 132 Wing. Here, as part of the
2nd TAF, it mostly carried out support attacks on
German ground and air equipment until the end
of the war. One of the most successful pilots was
British A Flight Commander, F/Lt G. M. Braidwood,
who was credited with five aircraft destroyed and
seven damaged while strafing German airfields.
Australian “Don” Andrews, a native of
Queensland, joined the RAAF in November
1940. He trained in Canada and sailed to the UK.
In November 1941 he was posted to No. 615 (County
of Surrey) Squadron and six weeks later to
No. 245 (Northern Rhodesia) Squadron, with
which he remained until July 1942 when he joined
No. 175 Squadron as Squadron Leader. He was then
transferred to No. 453 (RAAF) Squadron where
he initially commanded A Flight and in September
took over the whole Squadron and received
a DFC. He remained in command of No. 453 (RAAF)
Squadron until the end of his tour in May 1944.
After retirement he took over the Coltishall Wing
in February 1945 as supernumerary, supervising
two Australian Spitfire squadrons (Nos. 451 and
453 Squadron). In April he was given command of
the Biggin Hill Wing. He left the wing in June, was
repatriated in September and retired from RAF
service in April 1946. During his wartime career
he achieved one confirmed kill, one probable
kill and damaged three enemy aircraft. All his
personal aircraft were decorated with a drawing
of a “Gremlin” figure holding a sign on the nose
reading “You Have Been Warned”.
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KITS 07/2024
INFO Eduard
61
July 2024