The pilots were almost on the point of sending home for their bathing suits when the skies finally cleared on 12 October and operations began again. The improvement did not last long; cloud, haze or rain featured almost every day and the area around the dispersal was a sea of mud nearly all the time. After a "routine show" on the morning of the 12th that made at least two cuts in the rail lines near Dieren, the Squadron took part in two wing shows in support of a push by the British Second
Army. A formidable force of 27 Typhoons, loaded with 1000 lb. bombs, struck first at the village of Amerika (north west of Venlo).

 For once the air was clear and bright, giving excellent visibility for an attack that effectively "clobbered" the village and severed the rail line. Clouds of smoke testified that a big battle was taking place on the ground although little movement could be seen. Alone Me.262 which was seen during the sortie disappeared eastward
without attempting any hostile action. Two hours later the wing blitzed another enemy strong point in Horst, some miles to the east of the first target. Many houses were blown up and roads blocked with debris. No flak was encountered on either attack, possibly because the enemy gunners were too busy engaging nearby vital ground targets.

...... and servicing aircraft became aggravating when the rains came .......

Photo courtesy of Brian & Don Pinnell Copyright © 2005

Intentionally left blank

Then it was back to the enemy's rail lines again, with two attacks on the 13^th, three on the 14^th, and three more on the 15^th. The reports on these operations indicated that at least five cuts were made, but low cloud which hampered most of the attacks rendered observation of results difficult.

On some of the sorties fighter cover was provided by No. 168's Tiffies because of enemy air activity. No Jerries were seen, but the bomber pilots said it "was quite comforting to look over your shoulder and see a very vigilant fighter cover always present."

The Squadron had an opportunity to assume the same fighter cover role one day when it went out to protect medium bombers attacking Venlo on the Maas. It was quite a novel experience for the Tiffy pilots to be flying on patrol at 15,000 feet, just above the tremendous flak barrage that greeted the mediums. 

For No.439 the entire show was uneventful, and the pilots returned to base "feeling sorry for the poor Spit pilots who must lead a very uninteresting life at times. " A cold rain again interrupted the campaign on the 16^th, and thereafter ops were the exception rather  than the rule. Bitterly the pilots remarked that it might be more feasible to equip their Tiffies with floats rather than wheels. In the last fortnight of October there were only 18 dive-bombing missions and six small weather recces (as against 34 offensive
operations in the earlier part of the month). 

(1) Rails were the target on 15 occasions; army objectives were on the program twice
and a canal gate target completed the series.

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

the unofficial homepage of Tiger Squadron 

. .