This Sunday mission is a very special mission,more to follow,heres the Brief.........

Operations Order to 67 Wing, 75 Wing, repeated to 71, 75 Wings and North Eagle. From Panther:
Operation Order 617 dated 12.5.40 timed 0815:

Confirming telephone instructions, two sections of Battles of 12 Squadron are to attack Bridges 190 degrees AM30, 2 miles and 180 degrees AM30, 4 miles. Time over target 0915 hours. One section against each bridge. Aim of attack is to destroy or damage bridges. Ten fighter aircraft No. 1 Squadron are to provide support for battles during execution of this mission. Officer commanding bomber and fighter formation should concert method of co-operation.
German ground and anti-aircraft defences are likely to be strong in the neighbourhood of target. Bomber Command aircraft will be operating against targets in same area at about the same time. Two squadrons of Air Component aircraft will also be operating over the same area simultaneously.


BoF34

Mission to be flown by No1,No145 and No601,No43, twelve volunteers are needed to crew the six Battles the rest will fly the Hurricanes, separate comms channels for bombers/fighters

12th May 1940 ZERO:- 08:50 hours – Maubuege (south of Mons)

OPERATIONAL INFORMATION:-12 Squadron:
There are two bridges over the Albert canal west of Maastricht, they are only four miles apart the Veldwezelt bridge is the northerly bridge with an alignment of roughly east-west (WNE-ESE), the Vroenhoven bridge has an alignment of roughly SW-NE) both are vital to the German advance, Two sections of Battles will attack the bridges, No1 squadron Hurricanes will provide escort by flying ahead of the battles and clearing the path, one section of hurricanes will provide close escort to the battles during transit, Battles will Transit at 5000ft until the front line where they will split to carry out the prescribed attacks(see method)
Hurricane RV with Battles at Charleroi at 5000ft, if RV is not made then set a course for Maastricht to be overhead at 09:15 at the latest. Battles do not wait to RV with No1 if they are not at Charleroi do not deviate from course



AIRCRAFT:-Hawker Hurricane MkI 12lbs
SKIN:- Squadron Personal Skins for ALL Hurricanes
FUEL & WEAPON LOAD:- 100%

AIRCRAFT:-Fairey Battle
SKIN:- TP_ skins
FUEL & WEAPON LOAD:- 100% 4x250lb


METHOD:- Section Alpha will carry out a low level attack on the Vroenhoven bridge in BH15 East
Section Echo will carry out a dive bombing attack from 9000ft on Veldwezelt Bridge in BH15 NE

INTELLIGENCE:- Expect heavy resistance from Ground and Air forces. Study the map as the bridges are visible to each other and we must avoid attacking one and not the other

METEOROLOGICAL REPORT:-
5/10ths cloud at 9000ft extending to 12,000ft.
Wind 120 at 02 knots.
Visibility Good.

SIGNALS:-
No. 1 Squadron call sign - F I L M S T A R
No. 12 Squadron call sign - FOX

Ground Control call sign T O P H A T

MISSION POINT AWARD:- 1 Mission Point will be awarded if one battle executes attack on Bridge and returns to home base.
Mission by Mothyp

No1 Cheese
Blue 2
No1 Squadron
Tangmere Pilots

S!

Last nights mission was an absolute classic.There was 28 Tangmere Pilots in this mission in HyperLobby last night.I flew as No4 in A Flt flying a Battle with my trusty wingman(Flt Sgt Kluge) as my Air Gunner(who managed to bag a hun from there rear seat).
We knew it was going to be a tough mission,and our escorts had the work cut out to cover the slow Battles.
The Hurricanes did a fantastic job and not one of the 7 Battles where destroyed by enemy a/c.
Alas the battles did not destroy there primary tgt but had many hits and taking out quite a few enemy transport had a long flight home,harried by enemy 109s,that is until our escort came and clobbered the buggers!!!

A Fantastic mission,made by our Wing C/O Mothyp.
More details...............................

For those that weren’t sure, Mothy’s mission last night recreated one of the most iconic & heroic missions undertaken by the RAF during WW2. In real life the Battles had to travel much further than us from their base at Amifontaine. They also had to brave some 300 flak guns of all calibers around the target bridges. The Germans were amazed that it had taken the British command from the Friday – when these vital bridges were captured, to the Sunday, to launch an attack.

Here is an extract from Valiant Wings by Norman Franks.


…..In Battles F & G, Thomas & Davy constituted the first section & their target was the concrete bridge at Vroenhoven, while Battles K,N & J would go for the metal bridge at Veldwezelt. The two section leaders having decided upon their approach, headed for the target.

Seven No.1 squadron Hurricanes led by Bull Halahan went ahead (as was policy at the time) with the intention of clearing enemy fighters over the target, while three more flew with the low level Battles. Halahan & his pilots were promptly swamped by 109s from JG27 & were therefore helpless to protect the bombers.

When still some miles from the target, the bombers saw more 109s, & the three Hurricanes with them were quickly engaged. Then the target was ahead. The sky became black with exploding AA fire as the town came into view, while seemingly all around them flew 109s.

Gordon Patterson noticed abandoned gliders on the ground, used by German troops when they flew behind Dutch lines to capture the bridges.

Thomas’s Battle was quickly shot down & he & his crew captured. Tom Davy with his machine streaming smoke & flame, headed down, & ordered his crew to bail out. Davy managed to nurse his aircraft back to finally crash land at St Germaincourt. Mansell came down safely & got back on a bicycle, but Gordon Patterson was taken prisoner.

Meanwhile Don Garland was heading in at low level, but this didn’t fool the defenders. They knew how important the bridges were & they were ringed by anything up to 300 guns of all calibers, which could put up a wall of iron.

Ian McIntosh had his petrol tank holed & the Battle caught fire. He jettisoned his bombs, crash landed & was taken prisoner. Fred Marland dived into the flak, released his bombs but was then hit. His Battle pulled up, winged over & dived into the ground.

Garland too was down. He headed in, his Battle surrounded by exploding gunfire. He was hit repeatedly, but the bombs went down, then the Battle dived into the ground, smashed by a veritable curtain of steel.

What damage had been done was not clear at the time. Later, damage appeared to have been inflicted to the Veldwezelt bridge…….

Whatever doubts there might be about the damage done, what was not in doubt was the heroism of the attack. All five Battles had been shot down, two crews had been captured, two lost & one safe, though minus their gunner….

Garland damaged one section of the Veldwezelt bridge, but this was quickly repaired, & in the meantime pontoon bridges were placed across the canal to compensate.
Donald Garland & his observer, Tom Gray both won the VC. For reasons that still aren’t clear, his gunner LAC Lawrence Reynolds went without recognition.

Thanks Mothy for an excellent mission, & Tom for hosting us all.
Some pics of the Battles and there "Little Friends".











No1Cheese
Blue2
Tangmere Pilots
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Re: Tangmere pilots are recruiting
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This week sees us going back to the same tgts as last week!!!!!
The Battles did a valiant job,but we have to return to finish the job,this time with NO fighter cover!!!!!
This weeks breifing..........

Mission 1 of 1

Operations Order to 67 Wing, 75 Wing, repeated to 71, 75 Wings and North Eagle. From Panther:
Operation Order 617 dated 12.5.40 timed 09:50

Confirming telephone instructions, Blenheims of 15 Squadron are to attack Bridges 190 degrees AM30, 2 miles and 180 degrees AM30, 4 miles. Time over target 1100 hours. Aim of attack is to destroy or damage bridges.

BoF34

12th May 1940 ZERO:- 10:30 hours – Nevilles

OPERATIONAL INFORMATION:-15 Squadron:
Gentlemen, following a raid earlier this morning by 12 Squadron Battles on the bridges on the Albert canal, west of Maastricht, we are to follow home the attack on the same targets. I must warn you that the Battles encountered heavy flak near the target area and stiff fighter defence by the Luftwaffe. This is a very well defended target and this will be a tough mission. Due to heavy commitments by our Hurricane Squadrons in France, there will be NO fighter escort. We believe that the bridges have been damaged but not destroyed. It is crucial that these bridges are taken out of commission.

The two bridges over the Albert canal are only four miles apart, the Veldwezelt bridge is the northerly bridge with an alignment of roughly east-west (WNE-ESE), the Vroenhoven bridge has an alignment of roughly SW-NE) both are vital to the German advance and must be destroyed. We will attack in Squadron strength using a LOW LEVEL DIVING ATTACK.

AIRCRAFT:-Bristol Blenheim Mk IV
SKIN:- TP_ skins
FUEL & WEAPON LOAD:- 100% 2x500lb bombs

METHOD:- Take off from Nevilles and climb to Angels TEN. Keep close formation at all times on transit to target area. Head to Lieges. At Lieges, descend to Angels TWO and follow the river NE. Eventually you will need to turn NW and follow the canal to the bridges. Attack BOTH bridges simultaneously using a LOW LEVEL DIVING attack. A flight will attack the Veldwezelt bridge and B flight will attack the Vroenhovem bridge. After your attack, egress the target area at TREE TOP LEVEL and head to home base or nearest friendly airfield.

INTELLIGENCE:- Expect heavy flak around the target area. Enemy fighters will now undoubtedly be patrolling the area due to the attack made earlier this morning by the Battles. Possibly in large numbers.

METEOROLOGICAL REPORT:-
4/10ths cloud at 9000ft extending to 12,000ft.
Wind 120 at 03 knots.
Visibility Good.

SIGNALS:-
No. 15 Squadron call sign - CROW
Ground Control call sign T O P H A T

MISSION POINT AWARD:- 1 Mission Point will be awarded if two or more Blenheims return to any Friendly airfield. OR 1 bridge is destroyed.

This mission is to be played 1 game per Squadron. I would like to have at least 9 players per Squadron. It might be the case that we need to "transfer" surplus pilots from a squadron to fill the gaps in other squadrons to even the numbers up. This will be done on the Sunday night.
Good Luck

Bunster
_________________
F/Lt Bunny DSO** DFC***
145 Squadron B Flight Leader, Blue Section
Executive Officer 145 Squadron.


No1Cheese

No1 Squadron Outward Bound

Cheese

S!

Last nights mission was an absolute classic.There was 28 Tangmere Pilots in this mission in HyperLobby last night.I flew as No4 in A Flt flying a Battle with my trusty wingman(Flt Sgt Kluge) as my Air Gunner(who managed to bag a hun from there rear seat).
We knew it was going to be a tough mission,and our escorts had the work cut out to cover the slow Battles.
The Hurricanes did a fantastic job and not one of the 7 Battles where destroyed by enemy a/c.
Alas the battles did not destroy there primary tgt but had many hits and taking out quite a few enemy transport had a long flight home,harried by enemy 109s,that is until our escort came and clobbered the buggers!!!

A Fantastic mission,made by our Wing C/O Mothyp.
More details...............................

For those that weren’t sure, Mothy’s mission last night recreated one of the most iconic & heroic missions undertaken by the RAF during WW2. In real life the Battles had to travel much further than us from their base at Amifontaine. They also had to brave some 300 flak guns of all calibers around the target bridges. The Germans were amazed that it had taken the British command from the Friday – when these vital bridges were captured, to the Sunday, to launch an attack.

Here is an extract from Valiant Wings by Norman Franks.


…..In Battles F & G, Thomas & Davy constituted the first section & their target was the concrete bridge at Vroenhoven, while Battles K,N & J would go for the metal bridge at Veldwezelt. The two section leaders having decided upon their approach, headed for the target.

Seven No.1 squadron Hurricanes led by Bull Halahan went ahead (as was policy at the time) with the intention of clearing enemy fighters over the target, while three more flew with the low level Battles. Halahan & his pilots were promptly swamped by 109s from JG27 & were therefore helpless to protect the bombers.

When still some miles from the target, the bombers saw more 109s, & the three Hurricanes with them were quickly engaged. Then the target was ahead. The sky became black with exploding AA fire as the town came into view, while seemingly all around them flew 109s.

Gordon Patterson noticed abandoned gliders on the ground, used by German troops when they flew behind Dutch lines to capture the bridges.

Thomas’s Battle was quickly shot down & he & his crew captured. Tom Davy with his machine streaming smoke & flame, headed down, & ordered his crew to bail out. Davy managed to nurse his aircraft back to finally crash land at St Germaincourt. Mansell came down safely & got back on a bicycle, but Gordon Patterson was taken prisoner.

Meanwhile Don Garland was heading in at low level, but this didn’t fool the defenders. They knew how important the bridges were & they were ringed by anything up to 300 guns of all calibers, which could put up a wall of iron.

Ian McIntosh had his petrol tank holed & the Battle caught fire. He jettisoned his bombs, crash landed & was taken prisoner. Fred Marland dived into the flak, released his bombs but was then hit. His Battle pulled up, winged over & dived into the ground.

Garland too was down. He headed in, his Battle surrounded by exploding gunfire. He was hit repeatedly, but the bombs went down, then the Battle dived into the ground, smashed by a veritable curtain of steel.

What damage had been done was not clear at the time. Later, damage appeared to have been inflicted to the Veldwezelt bridge…….

Whatever doubts there might be about the damage done, what was not in doubt was the heroism of the attack. All five Battles had been shot down, two crews had been captured, two lost & one safe, though minus their gunner….

Garland damaged one section of the Veldwezelt bridge, but this was quickly repaired, & in the meantime pontoon bridges were placed across the canal to compensate.
Donald Garland & his observer, Tom Gray both won the VC. For reasons that still aren’t clear, his gunner LAC Lawrence Reynolds went without recognition.

Thanks Mothy for an excellent mission, & Tom for hosting us all.
Some pics of the Battles and there "Little Friends".









No1Cheese

S!

Last sundays mission saw Tangmere Pilots of all 4 Squadrons breaking down into 3 games to fly this mission,9 pilots took part in the mission i flew.
5 A/C Lead by Wg Cmdr Mothyp took on the 1st bridge,While Blue section lead as always by F/Lt Charlie went for the 2nd bridge with 4 A/C.
Charlie went into a shallow dive to release his 2 500lb,closely followed by me,Moggy and Kluge.
Charlie missed the tgt and pulled up to avoid the intense AAA.
I dropped my bombs onto the tgt observing hits(see pic) but alas(again)the damn bridge was still standing!!!!
Moggy and Kluge also missed the main tgt but both attracted a lot of attention from the defending AAA and both picked up damage for the flight home.
Tangmere Pilots have a short break for Christmas but are back on Ops very soon.
Hope all have a very Happy Christmas and a better New Year.
S!

Cheese.

Forming up,outward bound

Tight and tidy!!!
Damage on tgt

BUT IT STILL STOOD PROUD!!!!

Made it home!!

Finals

Now wheres them extra flying ops rations!!!!

S! Cheese

Happy Christmas and Happy New yr to you all.

Happy New year Gents

After a short break Tangmere Pilots are once again back on Ops.
This Sundays missions seems to be some sort of SCRAMBLE!!!!!!!

Breifing follows...........................
* * * ALL PILOTS WILL FAMILIARIZE THEMSELVES WITH THE FOLLOWING OPERATIONAL INFORMATION * * * *

Mission 1 of 1

OPERATIONAL BRIEFING – Battle of France 35
------------------------------------------------------

DATE:- 12th May 1940 ZERO:- 12:15 hours

501 Squadron - Cambrai airfield.

OPERATIONAL INFORMATION:-

Bloody Hell......look at that, flitting in & out of cloud at about 11 o'clock - Jerry bombers heading west. The cheeky blighters can't be much higher than 8,000 feet!

Come on chaps, don't just stand there - GET ONE UP!

SQUADRON SCRAMBLE!

Hawker Hurricane 12lb boost
Skin: TP_1940_Hurricane (markings off)
Arming: Default & 100% fuel

ROUTE :- SCRAMBLE > INTERCEPT BOMBERS > HOME FOR TEA.

HEIGHT:- As required.

INTEL: None relevant

METEOROLOGICAL REPORT:- Bright, some cloud.

SIGNALS:-
No. 1 Squadron call sign - F I L M S T A R
No. 43 Squadron call sign - I M P I
No. 145 Squadron call sign - R A B B I T
No. 601 Squadron call sign - A N G E L
Ground Control call sign – T O P H A T


MISSION SUCCESS:-

Mission point awarded if more enemy aircraft are shot down, than Hurricanes destroyed by enemy action.

This mission will be flown in squadron strength:

Hurricanes will take off from 2 parallel runways.
_________________
P/O Dutch DSO*, DFC
Green 2
145 Sqn.


No1 Cheese

Cheese,

Those are lovely shots. Especially the Hurricane and Battle frames.

You may know that the Tangmere scramble bell used during the BoB is in the Tangmere Military Museum marked 1939.
Two of the lugs appear to have been re-welded but I may be wrong about that. My friend also claims to have a 1940 Tangmere bell marked 1940 with original clapper! Perhaps there were two bells, which would make sense if two squadrons operated simultaneously - being scrambled from different airfield locations? His 1940 bell has had two lugs removed and a hole drilled centrally so that the bell could be hung evenly instead of being lopsided. He also claims that the bell was used in the Saltzman/Hamilton Battle of Britain film. I have no reason to doubt him because he inherited a wonderful collection of WWII collectibles, some of which he has given me permission to post on SimHQ eventually. These include letters from some of the greatest fighter pilots of the war - allied and enemy.

Good luck with you recruitment!

Thanks for that info Old Dux,we are all meeting up at Tangmere soon ill keep my eye out for it.

Cheese

Tonights mission saw 9 pilots of No1 Squadron Scramle to intercept an incoming raid.There was roughly the same numbers in the 3 other Squadrons,flying the same mission but in the own Squadron strength.
Most of us made it back in one way or another,i hit a He111 causing damage as i went in to finish him of i "caught one"in the engine and managed to glide back to base.
9e/a where claimed with 1 friendly a/c lost(most made it back with some sort of damage!!!)

No1 MadMick doing what he does best!!






Sqdn Ldr Mothyp "finishing off another 1"



1 that wont be making it back



No1 Tufty landing at our base

Cheese,

While you are there, can you check if the top 'lugs' on the bell have evidence of welding? Ta!