Typhoon Squadron

[Replicant]

Hi all

I was trying to look up the Typhoon that's in AH but I couldn't find it.  Anyone know which Sqn it belonged to?

I know that the Spit IX was 303 Sqn and Spit V was 609 Sqn.

Many thanks  

'Nexx'

[funked]

Funny you should ask, because I just picked up a copy of "Typhoon and Tempest Aces of World War 2" by Chris Thomas.  

The aircraft is Typhoon Mk. IB PD521 of Wing Commander J.R. Baldwin, No. 146 Wing, Antwerp (B.70), November 1944.

Baldwin racked up 15.5 Confirmed Kills, 1 Probable, and 4 Damaged, making him the highest-scoring Typhoon ace.

Pretty darn good choice of markings if you ask me.    

P.S. Baldwin maintained two Typhoons for his personal use.  One marked "JB I" was configured to carry bombs, and the other marked "JB II" was configured to carry rockets.  So he was probably taking out quite a few ground targets while racking up all those kills.  

[This message has been edited by funked (edited 04-15-2000).]

[Replicant]

Cheers Funked... very interesting!  Does it mention what Squadron No.146 Wing belonged to?

I also read about the underside D-day b/w stripes to avoid it being mistook for a Fw-190!

Thanks again

'Nexx'

[funked]

A Wing is a larger organization than a Squadron.  As Wing Commander, I think Baldwin would fly with whichever of his squadrons he chose.  

Anybody know which squadrons made up No. 146 Wing during that time period?

[funked]

I read some more, and it looks like No. 257, No. 193, and No. 197 were Typhoon-equipped Squadrons of No. 146 Wing.

The pennant near the windscreen is a rank emblem.

Baldwin continued flying after the war, with Fighter Test at Boscombe Down (1946), detached to the Egyptian AF (1948), then commanding No. 249 Sqn. in Iraq.

In 1952 he was attached to the USAF's 16th FS, flying F-86's in Korea.  On March 15th of that year he was reported missing on his 9th operational sortie with the 16th FS, a weather recon flight.  He remains MIA.

[Replicant]

Hi Funked

Thanks for that info, yeah I know what a Wing is (work at a RAF base   ) but sometimes they don't always get listed correctly.  

Out of the information you gave me I have traced the Squadron of the Tiffy down to 193 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Squadron.  They operated Hurricane 1, 11C; Typhoon IB; Tiger Moth and Auster III.

Although the actual squadron markings are missing from the sides of the Tiffy in AH, it would have been DP-(then letter).  As he's a Wg Cdr, the lower letters were often the most senior though this wasn't always quite true (the lower number is often used by the OC today in RAF).

Thanks for that!  I can trace planes through markings and Sqn's but not their serial numbers!  

Cheers

'Nexx'

[funked]

Replicant - I have photos of Baldwin's aircraft and he did not carry squadron markings as Wing Commander Flying, No. 146 Wing.  The markings of the Aces High plane are identical to the real PD521.

No. 146 consisted of six squadrons flying the Typhoon (193, 197, 257, 263, 266) and it appears Baldwin flew with whatever squadron he felt like on a particular day.    


[This message has been edited by funked (edited 04-16-2000).]

[Replicant]

Yep, it was the serial number that was alloted to 193 Sqn  

Kinda cool when he could choose which Sqn he wanted to fly with!  Probably why the Sqn letter codes were omitted too    Hey, don't want favouritism!  

'Nexx'