No. 487 Squadron Mossie Nose Art

[Dave Homewood]

Does anyone know about the nose art o this Mosquito? It has been suggested that it is a No. 487 (NZ) Squadron aircraft. If so, does anyone know the serial number and squadron code? And the crew names?

Can anyone confirm what the name was above the bomb markings? Are there any other photos of the artwork?

[fb6]

I'm familiar with it, I think it was taken by the NZ Press, I'm still trying to source the rest of it...

Cheers

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks, anything you find would be appreciated.

[errolmartyn]

Note that the stepladder carries the initials EG. There were also 487's code letters.

Errol

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, that detail had been noticed, I wonder if all the squadrons put their codes on their ladders?

[Tony]

LR385 EG- ?
I have it listed as flying 104 Ops total throughout its career.
I don't have a reference listed although either of these books would likely be my source.
2 Group RAF: A Complete History, 1936–1945 - MJF Boyer
Mosquito - C Martin Sharp & MJF Boyer

[Tony]

BoC 487 Sqn April 1945.
Flew its ops with 21 Sqn as YH-D starting with an attack on a V1 site, 6th February 1944 and finishing with an attack on railway installations 29-30th November 1944.
Unsure if it flew ops with 487

edit Just found this:
forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/400678-Mosquito-trivia-Forums

[McFly]

Here is the Air Force Museum details for this photo:

Negative Number: ALB94105713019
Caption: Image from the T. W. White personal album collection. "Thorney Island". Ground crew apply a bomb mission mark to a 487 Squadron de Havilland Mosquito.

Further Information: 61 mission bombs painted on nose of aircraft in view.

Year of Image: 1944
Image Date Information: Circa 1944.
Format: Print


Another photo of the three pilots from the same series below:

Negative Number: ALB94105713023
Caption: Image from the T. W. White personal album collection. "Thorney Island". 487 Squadron personnel in front of a de Havilland Mosquito.
Further Information:
Year of Image: 1944
Image Date Information: Circa 1944.
Format: Print


Some additional info on 'Thorney Island' here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Thorney_Island

[robertpeel]

my father Richard PEEL was a navi with RNZAF487, mainly flew with Ellacombe, later also NZ KEMP (Shell House raid), see more on www.robertpeel.eu . mainly flew PZ339, also flew EG-T. i have a full Powerpoint show on Cartharge Shell House Copenhagen raid which i would like to present to you. best regards, Robert Peel, Fanoe, Denmark email : [e-mail]

[robertpeel]

PS
am now contacting RNZAF487 and RAF21 surviving air crews to hear if they can come up with names and photos.....yrs....Robert Peel www.robertpeel.eu

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Robert, your email has been received.

[robertpeel]

good evening,
while trying to trace more details Hugh Bone of 487 sends me this information :

Bill Kemp flew T while I was on 487. He had a brand new aircraft delivered late Dec ´44 and as my aircraft was unservicable I got to baptising Bill´s aircraft on the night of Dec 23rd. His last words to me before takeoff were to tell me to look after his new kite. We were on the Ardennes salient and at debriefing I reported no flak. Next morning I learned that Bill was rather miffed as his new kite had been rather knocked about. On reporting to the crew room I discovered that the fuselage was peppered with bullet holes and there was a large hole on one bomb door. They patched it up and I flew it again the following night and though we saw a bit of flak we were not hit.

In Nov ´45 I was again flying a brand new aircraft that was Bills but he was now a Wing Co and his aircraft was now A. That was the one that I didn´t bring back at all, baled out in 10/10ths cloud with a dead radio and an army officer as passenger. Still here to tell the tale!

Cheers/Hugh

-------

Robert Peel........PS Hugh Bone is still doing OK, live in Goeteborg Sweden, if anybody wants his email address i can send you this.....also......it just shows how tough the crews and the mossie was...yrs ...Robert Peel. Fanoe Denmark
email [e-mail]

[robertpeel]

also just received this one from Raymond Kitching :

The gent on the extreme left is Sqdn /Ldr R C Young on his right is Sqdn/Ldr W J Runciman. Runciman was killed in 1956 while test flying a Short Seamew. Young went to the Arab Emerates after the war. The gent in the front hanging onto the prop is, more than likely, Roger Porteous the 487 Commander - it looks like him and this gent has 3 bars on his epaulette. The aircraft is an older Mossie. Definitely one which participated in the Poitiers raid. It has 3 white bomb markings and another further down. I can't be Porteous's Mosquito, HR182, it wouldn't have so many operations run up, anyway it didn't participate in the Poitiers attack. It still has 'sky' painted propeller spinners. A lot of them had the overall aircraft colour, medium sea grey, but this still has 'sky'. So we are looking to date this photo after Porteous's take over (31/8/44) and Runciman's next posting - which I don't know at present. A lot of 487 aircraft had the aircraft letter repeated on the nose in black - of course this was hasn't!!!

I had an old 'engine fitter' contact, now dead, who was mine of information, would have recognised the two fitters and told me which aircraft they looked after. Tools and equipment were marked for each aircraft. So the ladders here are marked EG and further down, slightly missed off the shot, is another white letter with a straight side, maybe an 'N', 'R' or 'P'.

do we all agree now ?

yrs....robert peel

[buffnut453]

The individual letter could also be F, H, M, T (unlikely but possible) or Y.

[Dave Homewood]

Hi Mark, long time no see, nice to see you back!

[robertpeel]

can anybody come up with some names and if some of these crews are still alive ?

Attachments:

[davelochead]

forwarded this to my Uncle, Reg Cullum, for his interest.
Imagine my surprise when he mailed me via my Aunt to identify himself as the young pilot (holding the blade?), and the guy on the far right was his navigator, Fg Off L Burgess.
It is hard to say which mission marker is being applied here, but it looks like the 51st or 61st which puts Reg toward the end of his second tour, and identifies this aircraft as EG-H, ser #SZ963

Reg recieved the DFC and bar, his DFC citation reads:

Distinguished Flying Cross [20 July 1945] 487 Sqdn RNZAF mosquito. This Warrant Officer commenced operational flying in July 1944. Since then he has attacked heavily defended targets in widely defended sectors of enemy held territory. He has harrassed and destroyed a large amount of enemy motor transport, trains and rolling stock, and has shown outstanding ability in bombing selected targets. Throughout Warrant Officer Cullum has displayed enthusiastic determinationto complete his allotted tasks, a high standard of courage and outstanding operational ability.

Sadly this aircraft was written off only days after Reg had finished his operational tour, killing 487s Squadron Leader I. Medwin in the process.

Reg is a very quiet, understated man, and a hell of a nice guy, and I look forward to re uniting him with a Mossie in the near future.

[davelochead]

of course Reg is of advancing age now, and his ID may not be completely reliable. The pilot holding the blade has more stripes than a Pilot Officer such as Reg was.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks very much Dave, that's fantastic. Has Reg got more details on what the name was on his aeroplane, and does he happen to have any other photos of this aircraft please?

[davelochead]

sadly, the photos he had are long gone, (his DFC hasnt thankfully) and the press clipping of him taxiing his Mosquito in has dissapeared over the years too.
Id love more pics of "H"

While he said that usually the crew didnt have an aircraft specifically attatched to them, H was the aircraft he flow a vast percentage of the time.