British Military Aviation in 1944 - Part 4

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13 June
The V1 flying bomb campaign opens. During the course of this day, Flakregiment 155(W) launched the first ten V1 flying bombs (codenamed Divers by the Allies) against Britain from launch sites in the Pas de Calais.

The designated target for the missiles was Tower Bridge, however, due to technical failures only four weapons crossed the coast. Three exploded on open ground some distance from the centre of London and caused no casualties and the fourth fell at Bethnal Green, 2 miles from the aiming point, killing six people and injuring a further nine.

16 June
A total of 144 V1 flying bombs cross the English Channel, 21 are shot down by fighters or anti-aircraft fire and 73 reach the London area. During the next 10 days, an average of 100 V1 Flying Bombs fell on England every 24 hours.

23 June
The first V1 flying bomb is destroyed by being 'toppled' by the wingtip of a defending fighter, causing the missile to dive out of control. This attack is attributed to a Supermarine Spitfire XIV No.91 (Nigeria) Squadron, RAF, flown by Flying Officer Collier.

24 June
The Victoria Cross is posthumously awarded to Flight Lieutenant D.E. Hornell of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) for his action in sinking a U-boat north of the Shetlands. The aircraft involved was Consolidated Canso 9754 'P' of No.162 (RCAF) Squadron, RAF Coastal Command.

1 July
The Royal Air Force (RAF) reaches its peak personnel strength of 1,185,833 (1,011,427 men and 174,406 women).

6 July
Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that 2,754 flying bombs have been launched against Britain since 13 June, causing 2,752 fatalities.

7 July
RAF Bomber Command mounts its first attack against enemy troop positions in support of Allied forces in Normandy (Operation Charnwood). A total of 467 aircraft (283 Avro Lancasters, 164 Handley Page Halifaxes and 20 de Havilland Mosquitoes attacked German positions in front of the Canadian 1st and British 2nd Armies north of Caen - much of the northern suburbs of the town was destroyed.

9 July
A second phase of the V1 campaign commences with the firing of the first air-launched V1. The weapons were launched at night by specially modified Heinkel He111 aircraft, operated initially by the third Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 3 (KG 3) and subsequently by Kampfgeschwader 53 (KG 53). Air-launched V1 attacks continued until KG 53 ceased operations due to fuel shortages on 14 January 1945.

In an attempt to frustrate this campaign, the Royal Air Force (RAF) patrolled possible launch areas in a concerted effort to destroy the V1 carriers before the missiles could be launched. 77 He 111 launch aircraft were lost and 16 of these had been shot down by Allied nightfighters.

12 July
The Royal Air Force's first operational jet aircraft, the Gloster Meteor, enters service with No.616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), then based at RAF Manston in Kent.

17 July
The Victoria Cross is awarded to Flight Lieutenant J.A. Cruickshank for sinking the U-boat U-347 north-west of Norway during an operational patrol. The aircraft involved was Consolidated Catalina JV928 'DA-Y' of No.210 Squadron, RAF Coastal Command.

18 July
The Royal Air Force (RAF) Test Pilots School is renamed the Empire Test Pilots School.

27 July
The first operational sortie was made by an RAF jet fighter. An anti-Diver (V-1) patrol was flown by a Gloster Meteor of No.616 Squadron piloted by Flying Officer McKenzie.

4 August
The Victoria Cross is posthumously awarded to Squadron Leader I.W. Bazalgette for his action during a daylight bombing raid on the V1 storage depot at Trossy St Maximin. The aircraft involved was Avro Lancaster ND811 'F2-T' of No.635 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command.

4-5 August
Following the start of an uprising against German forces in Warsaw by the Polish Home Army on 1 August, the Chiefs of Staff despatch a signal to Air Marshal Slessor, Air Commander in Chief Mediterranean Allied Air Forces and Commander in Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East, requesting that he comply with Polish appeals for assistance if operationally practicable.

Supply dropping operations begin on this night, and continue until 21-22 September. The majority of resupply operations were flown by Polish and Royal Air Force (RAF) special duties units, together with RAF and South African Air Force heavy bomber squadrons, operating from Italian bases. Operations were hampered by the full moon period, prevailing weather conditions and the refusal of the Soviet authorities to permit the use of Soviet-controlled forward airfields by Allied supply aircraft before 10 September 1944. As a consequence of the latter, only one supply operation was mounted (by the US Army Air Force) from the United Kingdom.

Allied casualties were heavy. Between 8/9 August and 21/22 August, 31 aircraft were lost, together with 248 aircrew, of whom 203 were killed. Polish resistance in Warsaw ceased on 2 October 1944 with the surrender of the Home Army units

13 August
Hitler authorises the retreat of German forces in north-west France.

14-15 August
Operation Dragoon: the Allied invasion of the south of France, begins with a parachute assault at night, in thick fog, to the west of St Raphael.

23 August
Dakota transport aircraft of No.267 Squadron RAF and the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) 60th Troop Carrier Group evacuate 1,078 wounded Yugoslav partisans from a landing strip at Brezna in Yugoslavia. Escort for the evacuation was provided by the North American Mustangs of No.213 Squadron, RAF.

1 September
The first and most destructive phase of the V1 campaign, the bombardment of the United Kingdom from bases in the Pas de Calais, came to an end with the launch of the final weapon at 0400hrs. Between 13 June and 1 September 1944, no fewer than 8,617 V1s had been fired at the United Kingdom from northern France.

8 September
The first German V2 missile fell in Chiswick in London at 1840hrs. Three people were killed and seventeen injured.

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