Spitfire Mark VI, BR579, ON-H, of No. 124 Squadron RAF, parked in a dispersal at North Weald, Essex.
This aircraft was flown by Flt. Lt. M. P. Kilburn, who was the highest scoring aircraft of the RAF No. 124 Squadron, also being flown out of Gravesend, Debden, and Martlesham Heath, between Aug - Dec 1942.
No. 124 (Baroda) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron originally formed to be a light bomber unit in World War I and reformed as a fighter unit in World War II.
Around the outbreak of World War II, from April to September 1939, 124 Sqn was allocated a squadron code but the squadron was not officially stood up.
The squadron eventually reformed on 10th May 1941 as a fighter unit equipped with Spitfire Mk I, stationed at RAF Castletown, to provide air defence for Scapa Flow from 29 June. In October 1941 it converted to Spitfire Mk IIBs. It was then moved to RAF Biggin Hill with Spitfire Mk V taking part in sorties against the German Channel Dash. In April 1942, it received new equipment in the form of the high altitude Spitfire Mk VI, which it took to RAF Drem for a month in December. Returning from Scotland in January 1943, it absorbed the Special Spitfire Flight[4] from RAF Northolt and then to RAF Manston, where in early 1945 the Squadron was intercepting German reconnaissance aircraft at up to 50,000 ft, using Spitfire Mk VIIs with pressurised cockpits.
Photographer: F/O F. J. Brock.
Photo: WikiCommons Ref CH18083.
Typhoon Mark IB, DN604 �PR-F� �Mavis�, of No. 609 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Manston, Kent. The aircraft displays a score tally of 18 locomotives destroyed in ground attacks on the side of the fuselage. This aircraft was flown often by P/O Peter Raw, as well Belgian pilot Colonel Remy Van Lierde, (DFC & Two Bars).
Van Lierde had previously evaded capture from being shot down defending Belgium from German the invasion of his country in 1940, and having recovered from injuries he sustained escaped to England on 22nd July 1941.
After the standard interrogation by MI5 at the London Reception Centre, Van Lierde joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 5th September 1941. He spent three months at No. 57 Operational Training Unit at RAF Hawarden, before being assigned to No. 609 Squadron on 6th January 1942 with the rank of pilot officer. This squadron, which had been organized before the war and took part in the Battle of Britain, was entirely staffed by foreign pilots, many Belgians being among them. On 2nd June 1942 Van Lierde damaged a Dornier Do 217 bomber over Skegness while flying a Spitfire Mk.Vb. He was promoted to flying officer in 1942.
Van Lierde claimed his first victory while flying a Typhoon Ib on 20th January 1943 when he shot down a Bf 109-G fighter during a raid on the south coast. On 26 March he shot down a Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft while en route to an attack on the German air base at Chièvres. This was witnessed by local inhabitants, including Van Lierde's wife, who surprised her husband after the war by showing him pieces of wreckage from the aircraft at the bottom of his garden. On 14th May 1943 he was the first person to drop bombs from a Typhoon, and shot down a He 111 bomber on his return journey. He downed another Bf 109 on 30th July, and on 5th October he shot down a Junkers Ju 88 heavy fighter bomber and destroyed another aircraft on the ground. His last air victory, a Messerschmitt Bf 110 bomber was claimed on 30th November bringing his score to 6 kills and 1 destroyed on the ground. By the end of 1943 he was the seventh highest scoring Belgian flying ace of the war.
Van Lierde was promoted to flight lieutenant in September 1943 and, on 22nd December, was posted to the Central Gunnery School at RAF Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, returning to RAF Manston on 7th February 1944. On 27 April, he was posted to No. 3 Squadron, flying the Tempest Mk.V, before taking command of No. 164 Squadron on 20 August with the rank of squadron leader, tasked with combating the V-1 offensive. He was credited with shooting down or destroying 44 flying bombs solo, with another 9 shared, making him the second highest-scoring "doodlebug" killer of the war!
Van Lierde then led his squadron into Europe during the western campaign. From May 1945 Van Lierde served in 84 Group Support Unit, and as a Belgian Liaison Officer at Second Tactical Air Force Headquarters.
Photo: WikiCommons Ref: CH9822.
Tempest Mark V, JN682 'JF-Z', of No. 3 Squadron RAF, parked at Newchurch, Kent, as another pair of aircraft takes off to patrol the Normandy beachhead.
Photographer: (LAC) Wilson.
Wiki Commons Ref: CH14095.
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