Argentina br1 squads/gold order pilot

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During World War II, 4,000 Argentines served with all three British armed services, even though Argentina was officially a neutral country during the war.[61][62] Over 600 Argentine volunteers served with both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force, mostly in No. 164 (Argentine) squadron,[63] whose shield bore the sun from the Flag of Argentina and the motto, “Determined We Fly (Firmes Volamos)”.[61]

Maureen Dunlop, born in Quilmes, left her Australian/English parents to join the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). She recorded over 800hrs service, ferrying Supermarine Spitfires, de Havilland Mosquitos North American P-51 Mustangs, Hawker Typhoons, and bomber types including the Vickers Wellington and Avro Lancaster to the frontline RAF stations. After being photographed exiting a Fairey Barracuda, she featured on the cover of Picture Post on 16 September 1942, and became a wartime pin-up. Dunlop returned to Argentina after the war, and continued work as a commercial pilot who also flew for and trained pilots of the Argentine Air Force. She later raised pure-blood Arab horses with her husband on their stud farm, “Milla Lauquen Stud”.[64][65]

Nearly 500 Argentines served in the Royal Navy around the world, from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific.[66] Many were part of the special forces, such as John Godwin.

Many members of the Anglo-Argentine community also volunteered in non-combat roles, or worked to raise money and supplies for British troops. The Anglo-Argentine Fellowship of the Bellows in Argentina raised money to buy aircraft for the RAF. In April 2005, a special remembrance service was held at the RAF church of St Clement Danes in London.[62]

On 9 May 2015, the remains of the Argentine volunteer Group Captain Kenneth Langley Charney DFC & Bar, were repatriated and buried in the British Cemetery in Buenos Aires. Charney was born in Quilmes, Argentina, in 1920, and died in Andorra in 1982.[67].
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Specifications. (I.Ae.22 DL)
Data from Jane’s all the World’s Aircraft 1947[4]

General characteristics

Crew: two
Length: 9.2 m (30 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 12.6 m (41 ft 4 in)
Height: 2.82 m (9 ft 3 in)
Wing area: 23.19 m2 (249.6 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,520 kg (3,351 lb)
Gross weight: 2,220 kg (4,894 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × I.Ae. 16 El Gaucho 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 340 kW (450 hp)
Propellers: 2-bladed Hamilton Standard 2M-D-30
Performance

Maximum speed: 290 km/h (180 mph, 160 kn) at 450 m (1,476 ft)
Cruise speed: 260 km/h (160 mph, 140 kn)
Range: 1,100 km (680 mi, 590 nmi)
Endurance: 4 hours 15 minutes
Service ceiling: 5,200 m (17,100 ft)
Wing loading: 96 kg/m2 (20 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 0.141 kW/kg (0.086 hp/lb)
Armament

Guns: 2 x 7,65 mm fixed Madsen machine guns (450 rounds each)[2]
Rockets: or 6 x 11 kg (24 lb) rockets.
Bombs: 3 x 50 kg (110 lb) or 9 x 15 kg (33 lb) bombs . Specifications (AeMB.2)

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General characteristics

• Crew: Three
• Length: 10.90 m (35 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 17.20 m (56 ft 5 in)
• Height: 2.80 m (9 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 25.0 m2 (269 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 2,120 kg (4,670 lb)
• Gross weight: 3,500 kg (7,710 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-1820-F3 , 533 kW (715 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 285 km/h (177 mph, 154 kn)
• Range: 600 km (370 mi, 320 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 6,000 m (19,685 ft)
• Rate of climb: 5.5 m/s (1,100 ft/min)

Armament

• 1 fixed forward-firing 11.25 mm Madsen gun in forward fuselage
• 1 trainable, rearward-firing 0.45 machine gun in ventral position
• 400 kg (880 lb) of bombs

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La historia de la piloto argentina que voló en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Maureen Adele Chase Dunlop de Popp (26 October 1920 – 29 May 2012[1]), née Dunlop, was an Anglo-Argentine pilot who flew for the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) during World War II,[2] and became notable as a pin-up on the cover of the Picture Post magazine.

Early life

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Dunlop was born in Quilmes, near Buenos Aires, on 26 October 1920.[1] Her parents were Australian farm manager Eric Chase Dunlop, who had volunteered for the Royal Field Artillery during World War I and was now employed by a British company to manage 250,000 hectares (620,000 acres) of sheep farms in Patagonia,[1] and his English wife, Jessimin May Williams. Maureen had an elder sister (Joan) and a younger brother (Eric).[2]

Educated mainly by her governess,[1] Dunlop also attended St Hilda’s College in Hurlingham, Buenos Aires Province.[citation needed] Surrounded by animals, she became an expert horse rider.[1]

During a holiday in Britain in 1936, Dunlop took flying lessons. Upon her return to Argentina, she backdated her birth certificate to allow her to continue flight training,[1] joining the Aeroclub Argentino.[2]

World War II

[edit]

At the outbreak of war, Dunlop decided actively to support the war effort. To join the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), women pilots needed a minimum of 500 hours’ solo flying, twice that of a man. After sufficiently increasing her hours, in early 1942 Dunlop and her sister Joan travelled across the Atlantic Ocean on a neutral Argentine-registered ship.[citation needed]

While her sister joined the BBC,[1] in April 1942 Maureen joined the ATA, one of 164 female pilots eventually to do so in three years.[1] Trained to fly 38 types of aircraft, her 800 hours subsequently logged included time in Spitfires, Mustangs, Typhoons, and bomber types including the Wellington.[1]

She later stated that her favourite type to fly was the de Havilland Mosquito. Initially attached to No.6 Ferry Pool at RAF Ratcliffe near Leicester,[1] she then moved to the all-female Ferry Pool at Hamble, Southampton, commanded by Margot Gore,[3] which delivered Spitfires from Supermarine’s new factory at RAF Southampton.[1]

She was forced into occasional emergency landings, once after the cockpit canopy of her Spitfire blew off after takeoff and another occasion put down in a field after the engine of her Fairchild Argus failed in the air.[1]

Dunlop became a cover girl when pictured pushing her hair out of her face after she left the cockpit of a Fairey Barracuda aircraft. The shot featured on the front page of Picture Post magazine in 1944, proving women could be fearless as well as glamorous, and integral to the war effort.[1]

After the war

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At the end of hostilities, Dunlop qualified as a flying instructor at RAF Luton, before returning to Argentina. There she instructed pilots and flew for the Argentine Air Force, and also worked as a commercial pilot. Dunlop later held a partnership in an air taxi company, continuing to fly actively until 1969.[1]

In 1955, she married retired Romanian diplomat Serban (Şerban) Victor Popp after meeting him at a British Embassy function in Buenos Aires. The couple had a son and two daughters, raised on their stud farm Milla Lauquen Stud.[1] In 1973, the family moved to Norfolk to breed pure-blood Arab horses. Her husband died in 2000.[2]

In 2003, Dunlop was one of three female ATA pilots who were awarded the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators Master Air Pilot Award.[1] The other two women pilots were Lettice Curtis and Diana Barnato Walker.[4]

She died on 29 May 2012, at her home in Norfolk.[1][2]

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No. 164 Squadron RAF

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

No. 164 (Argentine–British) Squadron RAF

Typhoon of No.164 Squadron take off from Thorney Island
Active 1 June 1918–4 July 1918
6 April 1942–31 August 1946
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
Type Inactive
Role Fighter Squadron
Nickname(s) Argentine-British
Motto(s) “Firmes volamos” (Spanish)
(Firmly we fly)
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire
Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Typhoon
Insignia
Squadron Badge heraldry A lion passant guardant in front of a rising sun
Squadron code FJ

No. 164 (Argentine–British) Squadron was a fighter squadron of the Royal Air Force raised for service during the Second World War. It was a donation squadron, paid for by the British community living in Argentina. It operated mostly in a ground attack role, particularly during the Allied invasion of France and the subsequent advance in the Low Countries and Germany.

History

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First World War

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No. 164 Squadron RAF was originally founded on 1 June 1918, but never received aircraft and was disbanded on 4 July 1918.[1]

Second World War

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No. 164 Squadron was reformed at Peterhead, in Aberdeenshire, on 6 April 1942 as a fighter squadron under the command of Squadron Leader T. Rowland. It was a gift squadron from the British community of Argentina. To reflect this, its motto was “Firmes volamos”, which translated to “Firmly we fly” in English. The squadron’s badge also referenced the Argentinian relationship with a lion passant on guard in front of a rising sun, the latter element being derived from the flag of Argentina.[2][1]

Initially equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Mk Va fighters, the squadron became operational in early May. Now based at Skeabrae, its work at this time was mostly shipping patrols and with only the occasional engagement with the Luftwaffe. From September, it began to receive upgraded Spitfire Mk Vb fighters. In January 1943, No. 164 Squadron moved to Fairwood Common in South Wales to train as a ground-attack unit. For its new role, it was reequipped with Hawker Hurricane fighters armed with 40-mm cannons. After six months of training, the squadron finally began operations on 27 June, now commanded by Squadron Leader D. McKeown. It sought out German shipping and coastal targets but was also engaged in familiarisation with rockets which it began to use operationally on 20 August. On 2 September, in a combined operation with No. 137 Squadron, it attacked the lock gates at Zuid-Beveland. While one gate was destroyed, McKeown was killed in this sortie.[2]

By the end of the year the squadron was working in a fighter-bomber role although its Hurricanes were now deemed insufficient for front line service in Europe. In January 1944, the squadron began to receive the Hawker Typhoon Mk Ib fighter, which were faster, more robust aircraft with greater firepower than their ageing Hurricanes. The phase out of Hurricanes was completed by March, at which time the Typhoons began to be used operationally on targets in France. In the prelude to the invasion of Normandy, Squadron Leader Percy Beake was put in charge of the squadron and it was used extensively in attacks on infrastructure in Normandy. On D-Day itself, 6 June 1944, its first confirmed victory over the Luftwaffe was achieved, when a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter was shot down near Caen.[2]

After providing support for the landing forces from southern England, the squadron moved to France in July, initially operating from Sommervieu. During the Battle of Normandy, No. 164 Squadron attacked German armour, and after the Allied breakout moved forward through northern France and Belgium in support of the 21st Army Group. Squadron Leader Ian Waddy succeeded Beake in August but after only a week in command was shot down and became a prisoner of war. Squadron Leader Remy Van Lierde was then appointed to command the squadron.[2][3]

In March 1945, No, 164 Squadron operated in support of the crossing of the Rhine and the subsequent advance into Germany. After the surrender of Germany in May, the squadron returned to the United Kingdom and, now based at Turnhouse was under the control of No. 13 Group. Its operational role was changed to that of a fighter interceptor squadron, for which the Typhoons were not suitable, so the squadron converted to the Spitfire IX. On 31 August 1946, now stationed at Middle Wallop, the squadron was renumbered No. 63 Squadron, effectively disbanding No. 164 Squadron.[2]