The Exterminator by Stan Stokes.   By mid-1941 it was clear that Hitlers plans to invade Britain were in disarray. The RAF had fought the Luftwaffe to a standoff, and many of Germanys top pilots had been killed or captured. Not willing to admit defeat in his campaign against Britain, Hitler approved the development of a pilotless terror weapon, the VF-1 Vergeltungswaffe (retaliation weapon). Designed by the Feiseler Company, the small pilotless Fi-103 was at times referred to in Britain as the doodlebug, buzz bomb, or farting fury. These flying bombs were inexpensive to build and were capable of carrying an 1870-pound warhead. The Fi-103  was powered by a ram-jet engine, and utilized three air driven gyroscopes to orient the aircraft. A rudimentary pre-set propeller device was utilized to determine when the VF-1 would land. Lacking the accuracy necessary to make it an effective weapon against military targets these doodlebugs were primarily targeted at large population centers. Therefore, they were primarily used as civilian terror weapons, and the RAF was given the assignment of providing the defense against these terror weapons. Early testing revealed many problems with the VF-1, and it was not until March 1944 that most of these problems had been worked out. The final VF-1 production models were capable of speeds in excess of 400 MPH . The high speed of the VF-1, coupled with its small size and large warhead, made it difficult for the RAF to shoot down these doodlebugs. The doodlebug had strong sheet steel skin which deflected machine gunfire, making it necessary to utilize cannon fire. Cannons had more than twice the range of machine guns, but the attacking fighters had to get in close to hit these small, fast targets. If the pilot got in too close the explosion of the VF-1s heavy warhead often disabled the attacking fighter. An alternative was to deflect the doodlebug by maneuvering alongside it, and then by executing a gentle banking maneuver, flip the VF-1, and disrupt its gyros. Generally, this caused the doodlebug to crash in an unpopulated area with little damage. Less than 10% of the buzz bombs were destroyed in this manner, and this technique was only utilized when the pilot had depleted his ammunition. One of the top buzz-bomb exterminators was Wing Commander Roland Beamont who destroyed 32 doodlebugs during his tour of duty. He flew the Tempest V with 150 Wing, which he commanded. The three squadrons of 150 Wing were credited with destroying 630 buzz bombs between June and August of 1944. The Hawker Tempest was the fastest interceptor available, and provided its pilots a highly stable platform for its four 20mm cannon. The Meteor, the RAFs first jet, was utilized briefly as a buzz bomb interceptor, but with only nine kills, it was withdrawn as being unsuitable for this purpose. As depicted in Stan Stokes painting appropriately entitled The Exterminator, Wing Commander Beamont is depicted flying his Tempest V through the debris created by a successful hit on a buzz bomb in July, 1944. The action takes place southeast of London over the tranquil English countryside.  Aircraft side view by M A Kinnear   Hawker Tempest Mk V JN751 R-B.     Aircraft History:    JN751 was built at Hawker's Langley factory and delivered to No. 20 MU at Aston Down 20th February 1944. Delivered to No.486 (NZ) Squadron initially, and subsequently received by No.3 Squadron, it became the personal aircraft of Wing Commander R P Beamont. On 8th June 1944, it became the first Tempest to shoot down and enemy aircraft (Bf109G-6, JN751 was hit in the starboard wing by a cannon shell in this combat), and during June/August it shot down over 30 V-1 flying bombs. On 1st September, following an engine failure on take-off, JN751 made a forced landing at Langley. Repaired 2nd September, Wing Commander Beamont collected the aircraft from Langley on 5th September and returned to Newchurch - this was his last flight in JN751. Returned to No.20 MU on 3rd October 1944, it was delivered to No.287 Squadron at Hornchurch on anti aircraft co-operation duties. On 18th May 1945, whilst trying to avoid a fog bank JN751 crashed on the Isle of Sheppey, killing the pilot, Flight Sergeant P.C.A. Redstone. Wing Commander Roland P Beamont, CBE, DSO and bar, DFC and bar, DFC (USA), DL:    Born on 10th August 1920, Roland Beamont joined No87. Squadron in France during November 1939. Returning to England 20th May 1940 (having destroyed a Do17 and an Me109) he went on to destroy a further three enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain. In June 1941 he was posted to No79 Squadron as a Flight Commander. In December 1941, he went to Hawker Aircraft Limited as a Service test pilot flying Hurricanes. On 29th June 1942, he was posted as Flight Commander to Hawker Typhoon equipped No.609 (WR) squadron at Duxford, and took command of the squadron in October. He returned to Hawker Aircraft during May 1943, to test fly the Tempest. In February 1944, he was tasked with forming the first Tempest Wing, No.150 at Castle Camps and later Newchurch. When leader of the five squadron Tempest Wing No.122 over Germany on 12th October 1944, Roland Beamont was shot down by ground fire, and became a POW. During his time with No's 150 and 122 Wings he destroyed one Bf109, one Fw190, one Ju88 on the ground and thirty two V1 flying bombs. After the war Roland Beamont became Chief Test Pilot for English Electric, test flying the Canberra, P1, Lightning and TSR2 aircraft. He was the first British pilot to fly a British aircraft at Mach 1 in level flight, and later at Mach 2. After serving as Director of Flight operations for the Tornado test programme he retired and became a respected author.

150 Wing, 2nd T.A.F., Royal Air Force:   In February 1944, Wing Commander R.P. Beamont was tasked with forming the first Tempest Wing (No.150). The wing initially comprised of two Typhoon Squadrons which were transferred from Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB), No.s 3 and 486 (New Zealand), which received their Tempests in March, and then flew to Ayr in Scotland for weapons training. They moved to No.B60 (ALG) airfield at Newchurch later in the month and were joined by No.56 Squadron, who, because of a shortage of Tempests, exchanged their Hawker Typhoons temporarily for MK V Spitfires. Under the leadership of Wing Commander Beamont, the wing was tasked with providing air cover for the Normandy beachhead during the D-Day landings. On 8th June, Wing Commander Beamont led No.3 and No.486 (NZ) squadrons on the third Tempest patrol over the beachhead area and during this sortie, the squadrons attacked five enemy Bf109G-6 aircraft east of Rouen. Beamont shot down one, with two more being accounted for by No.3 squadron pilots. These were the first enemy aircraft shot down by Hawker Tempests. On 18th June, still at Newchurch, the Wing, because of the Tempest's high speed, was tasked with the interception of the V1 flying bombs (under the control of ADGB). It was to be a further three months (during which time No.56 squadron received their Tempests) before the V1 threat was reduced enough to allow the former No.150 Wing to return to operations over Europe, having the highest wing score of V1's destroyed, 632. No.'s 3, 486 (NZ) and 56 squadrons (still under the command of Wing Commander Beamont) flew to Belgium in September where they replaced the Mustang Mk III equipped squadrons of No.122 Wing (No.'s 19, 65 and 122 who returned to the UK to reform No.150 Wing). The original squadrons of No.150 now formed the nucleus of No.122 Wing, which with the addition of No.'s 80 and 274 squadrons on 7th October 1944, became the first five Tempest squadron Wing. Following several movements in Germany, and ending as one of the two top scoring Wings in the 2nd T.A.F. (No.122 Wing had finally reached Copenhagen Kastrup in Denmark when hostilities ended in Europe), No.150 Wing was finally disbanded on 8th March 1945. Because of the short period of time it existed, No.150 Wing did not have a badge. Consequently the badge which is depicted on the print is of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, of which No.150 Wing was part.