In 1942 a Special Duties Flight equipped with Defiant Mk II aircraft was established at RAF Northolt, Middlesex, and was part of 11 Group Fighter Command. A meeting on 11 May 1942 selected the Defiant Mk II airframe for the radar countermeasures role because it was longerranged, was fitted with standard AI equipment racks and had the old-type retractable radio aerial masts.

 

Working closely with the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment and the Telecommunications Research Establishment, the Defiants had been fitted with equipment for jamming German Freya early warning radars. Two types of Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) equipment were carried by the Defiant.

 

The first system to be deployed was Moonshine which received pulses from Freya radars, amplified them and transmitted them back to the radar, producing the illusion of a large force flying in formation, As each transmitter covered only part of the Freya radar's frequency range, a formation of eight Defiants was needed, giving the appearance of over 100 aircraft. As the system required formation flying, it could only be used in daylight, when it would draw German fighters onto British fighters leaving another area relatively free for a bombing raid.

 

Moonshine was used for a first live test on 6 August 1942. Eight aircraft orbited near Portland and the RAF ’Y’ Service listened as thirty German aircraft, the entire air defence of Cherbourg, took to the air. Subsequently Moonshine was used to support Circus, Ramrod and Rodeo operations against continental targets and on 19 August 1942 was used as part of Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe.

 

On another occasion in 1942 Defiants using Moonshine assembled a spoof raid over the Thames that allowed USAAF B-17s plus fighter escorts to attack Rouen. The Luftwaffe sent 144 aircraft to intercept the spoof but only a small number to Rouen.

 

The second countermeasures system to be deployed was Mandrel, a noise jammer which overwhelmed the signals from Freya. The Mandrel equipment consisted of a T1408 Transmitter, a Type 68 modulator, a Type 300 power unit and a transmission mast. Individual Defiant aircraft were sent to orbit positions 50 miles off the enemy coast. By using nine aircraft a 200 mile gap could be made in the German's radar coverage.

 

The Special Duties Flight became 515 Squadron at RAF Northolt on 1 October 1942 and then moved to RAF Heston, Middlesex, on 29 October 1942. The Squadron flew its first operational mission using Mandrel on the night of 5/6 December 1942.

 

The Squadron then moved to RAF Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, on 31 May 1943 where it continued to use its Defiants for jamming operations. In June 1943 the Squadron began to receive the twinengined Bristol Beaufighter Mk IIF which had longer range and could carry more electronic equipment. These aircraft were equipped with Mandrel and in July 1943 worked started on also fitting Moonshine and Carpet jammers. The Defiants flew their last jamming mission from RAF Hunsdon on 17 July 1943, with one aircraft being lost out of four sent out that night.

 

In August 1943 the Defiants were withdrawn from service and the Squadron was declared nonoperational to allow training as an all Beaufighter squadron to be completed. The Squadron used only Mandrel operationally before moving from RAF Hunsdon to RAF Little Snoring, Norfolk, on 15 December 1943 to become part of 100 Group, Bomber Command, and abandoning the radar countermeasures role. It was subsequently equipped with Mosquito NFII aircraft from February 1944 and Mosquito FBVI from March 1944, beginning its first intruder missions, mostly by night, on 5 March. The Squadron remained with the Mosquito at RAF Little Snoring for the rest of the war and was disbanded on 10 June 1945.

 

515 Squadron Defiant II Serial Numbers

 

AA381, AA383, AA405, AA420/O, AA438, AA542/N, AA566/E, AA575/P, AA578/K, AA629 and AA652/B.

 

515 Squadron Commanders

 

October 1942 to July 1943 Sqn Ldr SR Thomas, DFC, AFC

July 1943 to January 1944 Wg Cdr JF Inkster

January 1944 to December 1944 Wg Cdr FF Lambert, DSO, DFC

December 1944 to June 1945 Wg Cdr HC Kelsey, DFC

 

RIP (from Hunsdon)

 

Sergeant Edward Slaven ANDREW (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) 1307153, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 515 Squadron. Died 9 October 1943. Buried in Hanover War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany. Collective grave Plot 12 Row H Graves 6-9.

Pilot Officer Arthur Buckby SINTON (Pilot) 119279, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 515 Squadron. Killed in action on 26 June 1943. Shot down off the coast of Holland, his body was never recovered.

 

By David Kitching

 

 

This article is from the Autumn 2010 issue of Confound and Destroy