Second Release
Curtiss P40B Tomahawk, AK658 GA-X, 112 Squadron RAF, Libya, 1941.
Pilot: Flight Lieutenant Clive R.Caldwell, DSO, DFC and Bar and Polish Cross of Valour (Krzyz Walecznych)
The textures are based on a two-view colour painting by Geoffrey Pentland on page 33 of his superbly researched and highly recommended book:
Pentland G., (1974) The P40 Kittyhawk in Service. Kookaburra Technical Publications Pty. Ltd. Melbourne, Australia.
I haven’t forgotten the code letters on the starboard side. 112 Squadron did not carry them during the spring of 1941. Not all of their aircraft wore the shark’s teeth either. Many of them did carry individual names in small yellow script on the rear fuselage. AK658 was given the moniker ‘The Grim Jester’ This Tomahawk was originally painted in Dark Earth/Dark Green/Sky as evidenced by the paintwork around the serial number before getting its desert colours of Sand/Mid-stone/Azure Blue. Desert Air Force P40s generally had rather scrappy and individualised paint jobs that were often resprayed in the field due to the abrasiveness of the sand, which constantly wore off the topcoat.
Thanks to Jamie Biscup aka ‘Kwagmyer’ for his lovely CFS2 aircraft model that provided me with inspiration to do this repaint.
He initially flew combat missions with 250 Squadron then transferred to 112 Squadron and soon became its commander. He often led both these squadrons as an operational wing into combat.
Stuka Party
On one occasion, December 4th 1941 Caldwell led this wing in an attack over El Adem on 30 Stukas escorted by an equal number of Macchi 200s and Fiat G50s.
Extracts from his combat report:
…At…300 yards I opened fire with all my guns at the leader of one of the rear sections of three, allowing too little deflection, and hit No. 2 and No. 3, one of which burst into flames immediately, the other going down smoking and went into flames after losing about 1000 feet. I then attacked the leader of the rear section…from below and behind, opening fire with all guns at very close range. The enemy aircraft turned over and dived steeply down with the root of the starboard wing in flames…[at another Stuka I] opened fire again at close range, the enemy caught fire…and crashed in flames near some dispersed mechanised transport…
(Herrington J., 1954 p.207)
The two Tomahawk squadrons lost four pilots during this dogfight but claimed twenty Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers and escort fighters destroyed and 3 more probably destroyed. Caldwell was responsible for the destruction of five of the Stukas.
Close Shave With Emils
Earlier, on the 29th of August 1941 Caldwell’s Tomahawk came under sustained attack from a pair of Messerschmitt BF 109Es.
His combat report continues:
At approximately 1905
hours while I was acting as weaver (‘Tail-end Charlie’)
…I was attacked by two Me 109s, one coming from astern and
the other coming from the port side, neither of which I saw personally. Bullets
from astern damaged tail, tail trimming gear, fuselage and starboard main plane,
while the aileron on that side was destroyed and a sizeable hole made in the
trailing edge and flap…evidently from cannon shells, a quantity of splinters
from which pierced the cowling and side of the cockpit, some entering my right
side and legs. Fire from the port side…damaged the fuselage, a number of bullets
entering my left
shoulder and hip, small pieces of glass embedding in my face, my helmet and
goggles being pulled askew across my nose and eyes – no doubt by a near miss. As
a result of the hits on the main plane and the probable excessive avoiding
action the aircraft spun out of control. Checking the spin,
I blacked out
when pulling out of the ensuring dive, recovering to find flames in the cockpit.
Pulling the pin from the safety harness I started to climb out to abandon the
aircraft, when the fire, evidently caused by burning oil and not petrol as I
thought, died out, so I decided to remain and attempt a landing. Looking behind
me as I crossed the coast at about 500 feet, some six miles east of Sidi
Barrani…I saw a number of planes manoeuvring…in a manner suggesting an
engagement. As my plane seemed to answer the controls fairly well, apart from
turns…I made a gradual turn and climbed back towards said aircraft… finally
carrying out an attack on what I believed to be a Me 109…
One of these was the Bf 109 E-7 ‘Black 8’ of 2. /JG 27 piloted by one of Germany's top aces, Leutnant Werner Schroer who was eventually credited with 114 Allied planes. Clive’s autobiography says he was feeling rather hostile at the time and blasted away at his attackers until one of the Bf 109s was sent down spiralling in flames. The pilot of the second Messerschmitt, the renowned Leutnant Schroer, shocked by this turn of events, apparently made off ‘flat out, like a lizard drinking’. After this action Clive still had to get home in his badly damaged P40 Tomahawk, the report continues:
…Having previously lost the pin to my harness I was holding the straps in my left hand for security, which together with damage to the aircraft…[made it] inadvisable to attempt much in the way of quick change of altitude so I carried straight on at very low level and continued to base arriving at 2010 hours. Using half flap only [because of damage] I landed to find the starboard tyre flat as a result of a bullet hole… (Herrington J., 1954 p.105)
This shot shows him next to the Tomahawk
that got him back from that action attesting to the cool skill of this pilot and
the robustness of the Curtiss design. (Many of Australia’s top aces went into
battle wearing shorts!)
Caldwell was instrumental in making the P40 a more effective weapon for the allied cause. By 1942 the Desert Air Force was replacing its P40B Tomahawks with P40E Kittyhawks. Hurricanes had been used in the fighter-bomber role but were becoming outdated. The DAF needed a dive-bomber to support the Eighth Army that could also survive against the BF 109Fs that were now appearing over the front. The Kittyhawk was suggested but there was a real fear that the bomb would strike the propeller in a diving release with catastrophic results. In March 1942 Caldwell was asked to test this idea and had to do it over the sea just in case it didn’t work. It did and he quickly tried it out with live bombs on real Afrika Korps targets. From then on P40s were used on all fronts in the important dive-bomber role. Caldwell’s Curtiss P40 victories comprised 10 BF 109s (Es & Fs), 1 BF 110, 7 JU 87s, 2 Fiat G50s and 2 Macchi MC 202s. Three of these were shared victories.
By mid 1942 Caldwell was called back to Australia whose northern cities were under regular bombing attacks by the Japanese. Flying Spitfires with No. 80 Wing RAAF out of Darwin during 1943 he shot down five A6M Zeroes, a B5N Kate, a GM4 Betty and a KI-46g Dinah. Eventually he reached the rank of Group Captain.
Caldwell's Spitfire Mk.VIII. Alessandro Biagi's skin on Paul Rebuffat's model. Model available at RebuffatPlanes Skin Available at Wings & Coffee.
Clive R. Caldwell survived the war and became a successful businessman. He died in 1994.
Download Grim Jester P-40B
This is an authorised repaint
of Kwagmyer's P40B Tomahawk in the livery of top scoring Australian WWII ace
Clive Caldwell. It features an updated dp file which displays exhaust flame
effects and an updated mdl file which allows nose gun & exhaust effects to show
through propeller disk as well as a virtual cockpit.
Aircraft by Jamie Biscup aka 'Kwagmyer'.
Skin & Exhaust Flame FX update by Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.
Press button below:
This is now a link to Simviation CFS2 Aircraft page 20. 'The Grim Jester' is
about half way down the page.
References
Pentland G., (1994) The P40 Kittyhawk in Service. Kookaburra Technical Publications, Melbourne, Australia.
RAAF Directorate of Public Relations, (1944) RAAF Saga, The RAAF at War. Australian War Memorial Publications, Canberra, Australia.
http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/caldw/caldw.htm