Intentionally left blank

No. 438 was the first of the three squadrons in the Tiffie wing to go on operations, on the morning of the 20th. No. 439 had to wait a week longer until the weather improved.  Finally, at 1020 hrs. on 27 March, a formation of nine Typhoons with W/C Davidson leading, followed by F/L Saville, F/Os Brown, Elfner, Hogg, Johns, Monson, Thomas and P/O Burton, took off from Hurn and headed for "Indian Country" across the Channel. An unbroken layer of cloud covered the Channel, but the pilots made landfall over Cherbourg and flew along the seemingly peaceful shores of the peninsula before turning homeward.  It was an uneventful sightseeing tour without even a burst of flak to make it a baptism of fire.  The pilots were certainly surprised and not a little disappointed, at the "serenity" of hostile skies.

The second and third operations, carried out by formations of nine and eight pilots on 30 and 31 March, were of the same pattern - peaceful sweeps over the Cherbourg sector which had been reputed to be a “hot” flak area.  No. 439 was still awaiting its baptism of fire.

At Funtington: L-R Cpl R. Cappleman, Cpl D. Cullen, S/L HH Noseworthy, F/Os RN MacDonald, AL Henderson, IW Smith, WJ Mahagan & J Kalen

Photo source: 439 Sqn archives PL28851

By this time preparations were under way for another move and on 31 March the advance part of the Airfield moved out of Hum, followed by the main convoy an April Fool's Day.  The move was a comparatively short one to Funtington, near Chichester, about 45 miles to the east.  As usual when the units moved, it rained and the aircraft were unable to get away until the afternoon of the 2nd. Life on the new grass airfield was not very comfortable during the first few days as the pilots and airmen tried to get organized far their new life under canvas; everything was damp and soggy. The airfield had two "Summerfelt" landing strips.  There was only one house on it, used as headquarters; everything else was under canvas or blister hangars.

Webmaster's Note: Summerfelt strips were rolls of wire mesh that were laid out in strips to provide a stable landing and parking area on soft soil.

 

Copyright ©1998-2016 Michael T. Melnick. All rights reserved

the unofficial homepage of Tiger Squadron 

. .

..