History of Squadron

 

Chapter VII

The Advance to the Rhine

February - March 1945

Winter weather naturally restricted the usual sports on the airfield, but late in February, with "a touch of spring in the air", the ground crew cleared an area in the dispersal and soon a volleyball court was in operation. For winter sports enthusiasts a scheme had been
instituted to provide leave in the French Alps with ski and skating facilities and a bevy of "charming hostesses" to arrange social activities. Several of No. 439's pilots took advantage of this opportunity and returned to fogbound Eindhoven with beautiful coats of tan.

In March there was a change in operational policy.(1) For the past two months the squadron had usually operated in four aircraft sections; now for several weeks a full squadron formation of twelve Typhoons was the usual practice, and in addition the whole wing
generally operated in the same area at about the same time. The reason for this change was that the German Air Force was coming out in greater strength and larger formations of our own aircraft decreased the hazard of attack. The effect of this new policy is reflected in the statistics of No. 439's operations in March.

(1) No. 168 Squadron which had been with the wing since October was withdrawn at the end of February.

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Although the number of operations for that month was smaller than in February (62 as against 80), the number of sorties was considerably larger (510 vs. 354). Both in number of sorties and hours of flying (474) March set records that were unsurpassed in the squadron's history. On the great majority of the dive bombing missions the pilots still had to use 500 lb. 11 second delay tail fused bombs, somewhat to their dislike as they had become accustomed to and preferred the heavier bomb with its different technique. 

Nor did the first few operations in March do much to
reassure them. On the 1st an eight plane formation which attacked two rail lines leading to Dorsten could report only one cut; cloud obscured the results of the second attack and of another carried out later in the day by four pilots who flew with a formation of No. 438 Squadron. 

The next day S/L Beatty's unit took part in three wing shows, providing eight aircraft (two sections) for each
operation. Crossing the Rhine at 11,000 feet, the first formation struck at the Munster Haltern main line near Buldern station and after bombing the tracks strafed three trains. The bombing apparently caused no cuts, but the strafing damaged two locomotives and a pair of freight cars. 

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