Fly Past

120 FLYPAST September 2018

Paynter’s Mitchell II

FV985/VO-S they exploded, and

the wreckage hit Flt Lt Bill Weeks’

machine. Both fell in flames, killing

the crews, and two more aircraft

were damaged.

August continued with further

hits on supply dumps, and close

support to the army in the heavy

fighting around Caen, with the

latter demanding accurate bombing

because of the proximity of

friendly troops.

By the middle of the month the

shattered German 7th Army was

retreating across the Seine.

Bombardment of the fleeing enemy

and bypassed garrisons in the

Channel ports continued into

September when Wg Cdr L G

Hamer took over just in time for the

Allied airborne thrust into Holland

• Operation Market Garden. The

139 Wing squadrons hit enemy

barracks and later gun positions,

though poor weather meant close

support to the beleaguered 1st

Airborne Division at Arnhem

proved difficult.

On the 26th, No.98 hit Germany

for the first time when it struck

bridges at Kleve, and the fortified

towns along the Rhine then became

regular targets. In mid-October the

unit moved to B-58 Brussels-

Melsbroek to be nearer the front

line. In December the weather

worsened and under its cover the

German offensive in the Ardennes

began – known as Operation

Bodenplatte to the Germans, or

Battle of the Bulge to the Allies.

On New Year’s Day 1945, a dozen

Mitchells from No.98 had just

taken off for an attack on the

communications centre at

Domburg in the Netherlands when

Melsbroek was hit by waves of

enemy fighters. Five of the

squadron’s aircraft were wrecked.

During January the weather was

appalling but, whenever possible,

enemy troops were hit before No.98

began preparing for Operation

Veritable, the advance to the Rhine,

with some effective Gee-H blind

bombing. A new Allied ground

offensive began on February 8 and

the unit expertly dropped bombs

just yards ahead of the advancing

Canadian troops, which helped to

clear a path through the defenders.

Operation Varsity, the crossing of

the Rhine at Wesel began on March

24, followed by support as the 21st

Army Group pushed deep into

Germany as the Third Reich

collapsed. The Elbe was crossed on

April 29 and the following day the

squadron moved to B-110 Achmer,

Germany, to catch up with the

advance. There was little left to

bomb, however, and the unit flew its

final operational sorties on May 2

when six Mitchells struck

marshalling yards at Itzehoe.

OCCUPATION FORCES

Despite many units being axed

after the war, 98 Squadron was

retained as part of the British Air

Forces of Occupation (BAFO). It

re-equipped in September with DH

Mosquito B.XVIs. Among its tasks

was to ferry news reports back to

Britain during the Nuremberg war

crimes trials.

In March 1946 the unit settled at

RAF Wahn near Cologne but

increasing tension over Berlin in

mid-1947 saw regular detachments

to Gatow in the southwest of the

German capital. In August 1948 it

converted onto Mosquito B.35s

before moving to Celle, near

Hanover, 13 months later.

With various Western alliances

formed, the squadron was kept busy

on a regular series of exercises such

as ‘Cupola’ in August 1950. Soon

afterwards it moved once more –

just a short distance to Fassberg –

and there in February 1951 it came

under Sqn Ldr David Strudwick

and began to re-equip with DH

Vampire FB.5s for ground attack

fighter duties.

As it worked up on its first jets,

training tasks included spells at the

armament practice camp (APC) on

the German island of Sylt. Life

became a series of these camps,

exercises and detachments as 2 TAF

(as BAFO had become) squadrons

had to be highly mobile. During one

APC at Sylt in August 1952, a

Vampire was lost in a bizarre

accident. It shot away the towed

target flag, which then wrapped

around its air intakes, forcing the

pilot to crash land. In August the

following year No.98 became the

second unit of Fassberg’s 121 Wing

to re-equip with the DH Venom

FB.1; it also received a new

commanding officer when Sqn Ldr

John Smith-Carrington took over.

With its new mounts, the number

of exercises increased. To

demonstrate their mobility, Venoms

would sometimes operate off

stretches of autobahn – with

personnel living under canvas. One

such exercise was Battle Royal in

September 1954 when 121 Wing

flew as part of the ‘Northland’ force.

No.98 also took part in the annual

UK air defence exercises when its

Venoms were used as high-level

intruders. In April 1955 the

squadron moved to Jever where it

became the first in 2 TAF to

re-equip with Hawker Hunter F.4

day-fighters. Practice interceptions

became the routine, with air-to-air

firing still undertaken at Sylt where

98’s pilots consistently achieved high

scores. Sqn Ldr Dougie Adamson

assumed command in December

1955, but a defence review called for

massive cuts in the RAF’s fighter

force and the unit disbanded at Jever

on July 15, 1957.

THE GOD OF THUNDER

Part of the rationale behind the

1957 review was the notion that

ground-to-air missiles provided

a better system of air defence

than aircraft. One of the weapons

1918 2018

Above

The pilot of Vampire

FB.5 WE841 eases

it onto Fassberg’s

runway in 1952. As

well as the wing’s

lightning fl ash

marking the jet

carries 98 Squadron’s

Cerberus badge on

the nose. AUTHOR’S

COLLECTION

Above right

Fg Off Dave Sawyer

putting Hunter F.4

WT802 through

its paces shortly

before the squadron

disbanded in 1957.

BRIAN SHARMAN