Hawker Typhoon Mk Ib - 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron

[Obelix]

266 Squadron (Rhodesia)

Code – UO then ZH

In January 1942, Squadron 266 was the second RAF Squadron to be made operational on the new Hawker Typhoon, forming the Duxford Wing with Squadrons 56 and 609.

 

On May 28th, the Squadron flew its first operational sortie with the Typhoon, intercepting a "Bogey" which turned out to be a Spitfire! The Wing's first operation took place on June 20, 1942 and consisted of an uneventful raid in support of "Circus 193". The Squadron also scored the Typhoon's first combat victory on August 9, 1942, when two of its aircraft shot down a Junkers Ju 88 off the coast of Norfolk.

 

The Wing took part in Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe on 19 August 1942, making three sweeps on the sidelines of the main action. The 266 was the only unit of the Wing to achieve success on that day, with one Do.217 confirmed and another probable.

On this date, the Typhoon fell victim to identification problems, and the winning pilot, Lieutenant Dawson, was killed when his plane was shot down by a Spitfire on the way back to England. As a result of this incident, the Typhoons received yellow stripes on their wings. Then, at the end of 1942, these stripes were replaced by a white nose and black underwing stripes, and finally by black and white underwing stripes, which were used throughout 1943 until January 1944.

 

During 1942, the Typhoon should have been withdrawn from service. The Rhodesian pilots of Squadron 266 were so attached to their new aircraft that they threatened to resign from their positions if that happened!

 

Fortunately for them, a new role was quickly found for the great Hawker fighter. For some time, low-level, high-speed Focke Wulf Fw 190 (Jabo) fighter-bombers had been raiding the south coast.

 

Normal radar interception was unable to cope with them and the Germans were able to operate in complete safety. In September 1942, it was decided to use the Typhoon against this threat, taking advantage of its high speed at low altitude and its cruising speed

Squadron 266 settled at Warmwell in Dorset, one of the quietest areas of the coast, but it had some success. Thus, a 10(Jabo)/JG 2 aircraft was shot down on January 10th 1943, another one on January 26th, and two Fw 190s were shot down on February 27th and March 13th. The last large-scale raid of the "Jabo" took place on 1 June 1943, after which a large number of Fw 190s were transferred to Sicily.

The unit scored the last coastal defense Typhoon victory on 15 October 1943 by shooting down two aircraft of NAGr 13, a reconnaissance unit. During the period from mid-October 1942 to 1 June 1943, the Squadron won six of the four-seven victories achieved by the Coastal Defense Squadrons

 

During 1943, the Squadron was also used to escort bombers, especially after the installation of additional drop tanks that increased its range by 400 miles. This additional range allowed the unit to reach the southern shores of Brittany, where it scored three victories on 1 December 1943.

 

The Squadron joined Wing 146 in March 1944, attached to the 2nd TAF. Apart from a period of smoke-dropping exercises in April-May 1944 and a brief transfer to the short-lived Wing 136 in mid-July 1944, the Squadron remained with Wing 146 until late April 1945.

In the spring of 1944, the Squadron alternated between training and raids on targets in northern France

The Wing's mission was to attack enemy transports and troop concentrations in the run-up to D-Day, with No.197 Squadron using 500-pound bombs.

 

After landing, the Wing provided close support to the troops on the ground, using the "cab rank" system, with the aircraft circling over the battlefield awaiting instructions from the ground controllers, on the front line with the troops.

On 27 June, the Wing attacked the HQ of Leutnant General Dohlman's division in the vicinity of St Lo, killing the general and destroying a large part of his HQ.

 

Encounters with the Luftwaffe were rare at that time.

 

With these close support operations, there is always a risk of "friendly fire", the worst tragedy that happened to the 146 Wing took place on 27 August 1944 when aircraft from Squadrons 263 and 266 attacked six ships southwest of Etretat, after checking with their controllers that they were not friendly.

 

Unfortunately, the small fleet consisted of four Allied minesweepers and two trawlers, two of which were sunk. Responsibility for this incident was later attributed to a lack of information from the RAF.

During the winter of 1944-45, the Wing's mission was to destroy the last isolated German garrisons in the Scheldt estuary and on the island of Walcheren, which had been left there after the retreat of the main German armies.

In early October, the Squadron moved to Deurne airfield in Antwerp, where it came under fire from V2 rockets - five airmen were killed by a single rocket on 25 October.

 

As the advance halted in the winter of 1944-45, Typhoon Squadrons flew fewer sorties in direct support of the troops and began operating farther behind the German lines. Attacks on German headquarters continued, and on 24 October, the 146 Wing attacked the presumed location of the German 15th Army in a park in the center of Dordrecht. This attack killed two German generals, seventeen staff officers, and 236 others, a major blow to the effectiveness of the 15th Army.

The Squadron's next targets were isolated garrisons around Arnhem and Nijmegen. It also participated in an attack on a "human torpedo" factory in Utrecht, and an attempted attack on the Gestapo HQ in Amsterdam on November 19, but this second attack was called off because of the weather.

 

Squadrons 193, 257, 263 and 266 returned to the same target on November 26, this time with more success, some bombs going through the front door of the building!

 

The Wing was virtually unaffected by Operation Bodenplatte, the Luftwaffe's attempt to destroy Allied air forces on the ground on 1 January 1945. Only three of its aircraft were damaged.

Another German headquarters was attacked on 18 March, in preparation for the crossing of the Rhine. This time, General Blaskowitz's Army Group H was targeted and 62 members of his staff were killed. In April, the Wing used Mk 1 supply containers to drop supplies to SAS troops operating behind German lines.

 

266 Squadron was not retained beyond the war and was disbanded on 31 July 1945.

 

 

Squadron Leaders :

S/L Charles Green  … - 7/7/43

S/L Alexander Macintyre  7/7/43 – 15/8/43

S/L Peter Lefevre 18/8/43 – 6/2/44

S/L Joseph Holmes 9/2/44 – 11/7/44

S/L John D’A Wright  11/7/44 – 2/10/44

S/L John Deall 6/10/44 – 7/3/45

S/L Ronald Sheward 7/3/45 - …

 

Victories confirmed or probable claims : 29.66

Number of sorties : 6,600

Total aircraft written-off : 83 (25 lost in accidents)

 

Skins :

I propose you the ZH°G / MN133 seen during the visit of the South Rhodesian Prime Minister on May 18th 1944. It is the aircraft of Squadron Leader Holmes. It bears the Zulu arms on the left side with the mention "Matabale", one of the Rhodesian tribes. The flag on the right side, Squadron Leader, is assumed. This aircraft curiously has a dark propeller spinner, which I interpreted as black. The skin is coming with  5 periods:

1944 (as seen in May 1944)

1944DD: with full invasion stripes

1944DDlate : with invasion stripes partially erased

1944Late: with stripes only under the fuselage

1945 with nationality markings in effect since January 2, 1945.

Other skins of this unit will follow

 

 

Bibliographie

Squadrons n°43 : The Hawker Typhoon – the Rhodesian Squadrons – P Listemann

Pilot’s note book Typhoon Mk Ia and Mk Ib

Hawker Typhoon and Tempest, a formidable pair – Fonthill – P Birtles

Aerojournal n° 53 &68

Avions n°206

Typhoon and Tempest aces of WW2 Osprey 27 – C Thomas

Typhoon wings of 2^nd TAF 1943-45 Osprey 86 – C Thomas

Typhoon Attack ! Stackpole books – N Franks

WingLeader Magazine n° 2&3

Fighter Command Diaries january 1942 to june 1943  Air research publications – J Foreman 

 

 

Airfields

January-September 1942: Duxford
September 1942-January 1943: Warmwell
January-September 1943: Exeter
September 1943: Gravesend
September 1943: Exeter
September 1943-March 1944: Harrowbeer
March 1944: Bolt Head
March 1944: Harrowbeer
March 1944: Ackington
March-April 1944: Tangmere
April 1944: Need's Oar Point
April-May 1944: Snaith
May-June 1944: Need's Oar Point
June-July 1944: Eastchurch
July 1944: Hurn
July 1944: B.3 St. Croix
July-September 1944: B.8 Sommervieu
September 1944: B.23 Morainville
September 1944: Manston
September 1944: Tangmere
September 1944: Manston
September-October 1944: B.51 Lille/ Vendeville
October 1944-February 1945: B.70 Deurne
February-April 1945: B.89 Mill
April 1945: B.105 Drope
April-June 1945: Fairwood Common
June 1945: B.111 Ahlhorn
June-July 1945: R.16 Hildesheim

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The link for ZH°G:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/85j9npgi7x3lwdp/Typhoon_266Sq_ZHG.7z?dl=0

 

Do not forget to get your "blanks" skins also!

 

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/76070-typhoon-mk-ib-blanks/

Edited December 26, 2021 by Obelix

[Obelix]

Coming (soon) next

 

[Obelix]

The complete pack is now available, 10 different planes, coming with 5 finitions each:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wlrvrlphaby96n6/Typhoon_266Sq.7z?dl=0

 

Have fun

[percydanvers]

Thank you for doing this! I've always been curious about this squadron, what with it being such an early adopter of the Typhoon. It's awesome to see it in the sim!