Fly Past

RAVAGER

C

onverting from the

Hurricane to the largest

single-seat fighter in RAF

service was quite a leap. Powered

by a massive 14-cylinder 2,300hp

(1,715kW) Pratt & Whitney

Double Wasp radial, the Republic

P-47 Thunderbolt had an empty

weight of 10,000lb (4,536kg),

almost twice that of a Hurricane.

With the tide turning in Assam,

near Imphal, India by mid-1944,

it was hoped that the big American

fighter would help repulse the

Japanese threat.

Under Sqn Ldr Lee Hawkins, 135

Squadron was the first

to be issued

with

began Thunderbolt operations,

strafing targets around Imphal,

Kalewa and Mawlaik.

With the weather steadily

improving by early October the

XIVth Army began a four-pronged

drive from Imphal towards

Homalin that was dependent on

RAF air support. At Chittagong 30

and 135 Squadrons, forming 902

Wing, began operations when eight

of 135’s aircraft strafed targets in

support of the 81st West African

Division as it cleared the Arakan

coast.

On October 20, Hawkins led 135

Squadron on a sortie during which

a large number of Japanese troops

were killed when six Thunderbolts

attacked them in the Kaladan River

area.

Bombing and low-level ground

attacks became the type’s staple

task with the RAF. Such strikes

were occasionally carried out

too enthusiastically as pilots

sometimes returned with

vegetation embedded in their

aircraft!

The provision of external

long-range fuel tanks also

allowed them to escort Liberator

raids deep into Burma, and

Dakotas on their vital transport

missions. Bomber escorts

resulted in sporadic, brief

skirmishes with the

Japanese Army

Air Force (JAAF).

Left

Thunderbolt Is of

135 Squadron at

Chittagong in late

1944. The second
      aircraft is HB982 in
      which Plt Off Bob
      Windle shot down
      a Ki-43 ‘Oscar’
      over Rangoon on
      November 17, 1944.
      VIA G J THOMAS

Thunderbolts, or ‘Jugs’ – as the

type was nicknamed. Most pilots

made the transition at 1670

Conversion Unit at Yelahanka

where 146 and 261 Squadrons

began training in June. By

September these had been joined

by 5, 30, 79, 123, 134 and 258

Squadrons. Several of the units flew

a mixture of both the ‘razorback’

Mk.I and bubble-canopied Mk.II.

Operations began on September

14 when 261 Squadron flew an

armed reconnaissance over the

Chindwin River from its

new base at Kumbhirgram,

50 miles (80km) east of

Imphal. Two days later the

unit flew the type’s first

RAF bombing sorties when

six 500lb bombs were

dropped near Mawlaik.

Also during that day, 261’s

sister unit, 146 Squadron

May 2018 FLYPAST 59