Four Months in the Life of a Spitfire IX Wing - 21 June 1944 - Post D-day Operations in Normandy

This is a research session that follows the 144 Wing, RCAF through four months in Normandy. Missions are examined day by day using unit records and first hand accounts.
It is intended to be helpful to mission designers but please coordinate with me before starting work on a campaign based on these specific missions.
All resources used in the making of these videos may be seen here: forums.eagle.ru/showthread.ph...
ALG B.3 Footage from 10 June: • Making Airfield After ...
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[@iliovecaRS]

never knew they about the beer thing , its pretty amazing

[@monstrok]

Corsair pilots in the South Pacific did the same thing to shuttle beer from the rear areas to the frontline bases. They used new (unused) drop tanks and best of all, the beer was cold when the airplane landed!

[@FirstDagger]

That would be nice mission for DCS flying with the Mod. XXX bomb racks.

[@Jpecky131]

Hey Bunyap,
Thought I'd throw a question your way and get your expert opinion :)
So, regarding Squadron organisation in 144 Wing. My understanding is that each squadron was split up into an 'A' flight and a 'B' flight, which themselves were divided into sections. But were these sections pre-set organisational units, or were they more or less devised just before the mission itself?
I'm trying to figure out how a mission with 6 Spitfires would have been run in terms of formations and such.
Cheers!

[@4023446]

Well, maybe after the full four months I will be comfortable giving an 'expert' opinion. :) In the meantime, my understanding is that the flight was the smallest unit in administrative terms but the same folks tended to fly together in the same section of six. The most experienced pilots would lead each pair of two or 'vic' of three regardless of rank.
When you think about it, it would be very hard to divide sorties up evenly between pilots while ensuring experienced pilots are evenly distributed without breaking things down into sections like this. An example I have been keeping my eye on is Robillard, Marriot, Wright, Morse, McClarty, and Clarke of 442 Squadron. These six show up together in some variation quite a bit and I believe it is intentional.
The makeup of formations at the time gets a little confusing with some units holding on to the old ways and other units being more innovative. My impression is that 144 Wg has been flying in pairs using the 'fluid six' formation. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/FLuid_Six_Formation_RAF.PNG Johnson probably mentioned it in his book but I probably blew right by it. This is a good topic to cover in a video. I'll start the one that goes up day after tomorrow with a more definite answer.