Bug Killer

by Ivan Berryman

by permission of Cranston Fine Arts

Equipped with the experimental Monica IIIEdetection device, Hawker Tempest EJ535 was deployed to the Fighter Interception Unit at Newchurch for evaluation in July 1944. Originally developed as the AN/APS 13, Monica had been intended as a rear-looking device to warn crews of attacks from behind. Now modified to face forward, it became a valuable aid in the battle against Hitler's terror weapons, notably the V-1 Flying Bomb. In the hands of the Fighter Interception Unit's then Commanding Officer Joseph Berry, this became a winning combination with no fewer than 52 Doodlebugs falling to Berry's guns – on one occasion, seven V1s being shot down by Berry in a single night.

Tempest Moon

by Ivan Berryman

by permission of Cranston Fine Arts

Three 501 Sqn Hawker Tempests roar low across the North Sea outbound from Bradwell Bay, Essex, on their way to attack a German airfield at Bad Zwischehhan and nearby rail yards on the night of 2nd October 1944. The trio comprised of Sqn Ldr Joseph Berry, flying EJ600 (SD-F), Flt Lt E L 'Willy' Williams (SD-L) and Flt Lt C A 'Horry' Hansen. Berry was to lose his life on this mission, his aircraft being hit by ground fire from soldiers manning a radar station east of Veendam.

Tribute to Sqn Ldr David Fairbanks

by Ivan Berryman

by permission of Cranston Fine Arts

Whilst flying with other Hawker Tempests of 274 Sqn on 11th February 1945, Sqn Ldr David Fairbanks spotted a lone Arado Ar234 of the Kommando Sperling 1 (F) / 123 flown by Hauptmann Hans Felde returning to its base at Rheine. A desperate chase commenced through the cloudbase until the German jet prepared to land, whereupon Fairbanks sent 4U+DH down in flames after a single short burst of his four 20mm cannon.  

Foob Fairbanks - The Terror of the Rhine

by Ivan Berryman.

by permission of Cranston Fine Arts