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Derek Lovell
| Flight Lieutenant Derek Lovell (deceased) Volunteered for the RAFVR in January 1941. He trained in Canada on Tiger Moths and Oxfords. He received his wings in April 1942 and was posted to Central Flying School. Following graduation, he taught Fleet Air Arm trainees on Harvards. He returned to the UK in March 1943 and flew Masters at AFU and Hurricanes at OTU. He taught Lancaster crews fighter evasion prior to posting to 84 GSU to fly Typhoons. He joined 197 Squadron at Needs Oar Point in the New Forest in June 1944 and was involved in close support operations and tactical dive bombing and low level bombing throughout the Normandy campaign and on through to VE-Day. He completed 135 operations and in August 1945 was posted to an OTU to instruct on Typhoons and Tempest Vs. He was demobbed in June 1946 and flew weekends in the VR on Tiger Moths and later Chipmunks. He was called up on the G Reserve in July 1951 and flew Harvards, Spitfire XXIIs and then Vampire Vs. He stood down in September as the Korea situation eased. He passed away on March 1st, 2019. |
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| Text for the above items : |
Airborne in JB1 by Ivan Berryman. Squadron Leader J R Baldwin gets airborne from a makeshift airfield in northern France flying one of his personalised Hawker Typhoons, JB-1. |
Sledgehammer by Ivan Berryman. Regarded by some in the Air Ministry as a failed fighter, the mighty Hawker Typhoon was unrivalled as a ground attack aircraft, especially in the crucial months immediately prior to - and after - D-Day when squadrons of Typhoons operated in 'cab ranks' to smash the German infrastructure and smooth the passage of the invading allied force. This aircraft is Mk.1B (MN570) of Wing Commander R E P Brooker of 123 Wing based at Thorney Island. |
Winter Warriors by Ivan Berryman. The Winter of 1943-44 saw Hawker Typhoons operating from Tangmere, equipped with 500lb or 1000lb bombs against radar installations and V1 sites in northern France. Wing Commander J R Baldwin is depicted getting airborne with others of his squadron for just such a mission early in 1944, before the squadron moved to Needs Oar Point in readiness for the D-Day landings. |
The Final Show by Robert Taylor. In May 1944 Wing Commander Roland 'Bee' Beamont led three squadrons of Hawker Tempests into operations for the first time. Flying from RAF Newchurch in Kent, one of the advanced landing grounds constructed in preparation for the invasion of France, they formed 150 Wing RAF. The far-sighted Beamont had almost single-handedly overseen the transformation of the Hawker Typhoon into the most potent ground attack aircraft of its day before turning his attention to its successor - the Tempest. With thinner wings, greater range, improved ailerons, a redesigned windscreen and all-round 'rear vision' canopy it was a significant improvement on the Typhoon. Through the last year of the war the unwavering pilots who flew these two mighty aircraft became the scourge of the German Army, blasting their way through armoured formations, destroying airfields, shipping, barges, bridges, trains, marshalling yards, rail hubs, anything to support the advancing British and Canadian armies as they battled their way through Belgium and the Netherlands towards the Rhine. And, as an increasingly desperate enemy fought back with V-1 'Doodlebug' flying bombs, the Typhoon and Tempest pilots destroyed those too - 150 Wing alone accounting for 638 V-1s destroyed. As the remnants of Hitler's once-fabled army collapsed under the onslaught, many high-ranking Nazis were faced with a choice - go down fighting or cut and run. Many chose to run, heading north to the Baltic coast with one aim in mind - a last-chance passage to neutral Sweden. The Tempest pilots of 150 Wing were amongst those tasked with stopping their escape. Some of the greatest pilots of the RAF flew this iconic aircraft and this painting depicts the final combat of the war for one such pilot - the legendary fighter Ace Pierre Clostermann. A Flight Commander with 3 Squadron, Clostermann is at the controls of his distinctive Tempest Le Grand Charles during a strafing raid against the heavily defended seaplane base at Grossenbrode, on the coast to the north of Lübeck. Having just destroyed two Dornier Do18 flying boats on the water, he now helps finish off a Bf109 and a Fw190 that have tried to pounce from above. |
Typhoon Scramble by Stephen Brown. RAF Hawker Typhoon Mk IBs of 609 Squadron embark on a ground attack mission, head for targets in Northern France. Once initial problems with the tail section were resolved the Typhoon proved to be extremely rugged and reliable and was ideally suited to the ground attack role. |
F/Lt J R Baldwin by Ivan Berryman. F/Lt (later Wing Commander) Baldwin was to become the highest-scoring Typhoon pilot of all with 15 confirmed victories, one shared, one probable and four damaged. He is depicted here downing a Bf.109 in Typhoon 1B, DN360 (PR-A) of 609 Sqn over Beachy Head. |
JBII - Hawker Typhoon of Wing Commander J R Baldwin by Ivan Berryman. Squadron Leader J R Baldwin passes above a section of Mulberry Harbour near Arromanches, late in June 1944, his personalised Hawker Typhoon bearing the codes JBII. |
Typhoons at Falaise by Nicolas Trudgian. It is August 1944, barely two months since the Allies landed their first troops on the beaches of Normandy. Already the German Panzer Divisions are in full retreat, and it is critical to halt them before they can regroup. Caught in the Gap at Falaise, the battle was to be decisive. Flying throughout a continuous onslaught, rocket-firing Typhoons kept up their attacks on the trapped armoured divisions from dawn to dusk. The effect was devastating: at the end of the ten day battle the 100,000 strong German force was decimated. Typhoons of 198 Squadron RAF, deliver their deadly rocket and cannon fire, a tank column has been brought to a standstill, their reign of terror now almost at its end. |
Clipped Signature - Derek Lovell. Joining in 1941, he became an instructor on several aircraft types before joining No.197 Sqn flying Typhoons on operations in support of D-Day and the Normandy campaign. He flew a total of 135 sorties by the end of the war, then spent a year instructing on Typhoons and Tempests. |
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