Meteors in action

By July 1944, the first Meteor Is were delivered to No. 616 Squadron. No. 616 Sqdn. had flown Spitfires before converting, and the pilots had been assigned to twin-engine training on Oxford aircraft. Unaware that this was leading to the Meteor, they feared they were being prepared for something less exciting than their beloved Spits.

Once the pilots met their new aircraft, the switch proved remarkably easy. The Meteor I had excellent cockpit visibility, helped by the presence of a tricycle undercarriage and the absence of a piston engine up front. There was no dual instruction; pilots simply taxied the Meteor for several minutes and then took off. The most difficult thing was to get accustomed to jet flight. “It was very quiet because you were up in front of the engines. All I could do was sit there looking at the holes where the props should have been, and thinking, ‘I see it, but I don’t believe it! What’s holding me up?’”

Operating from Manston in the United Kingdom and using Spits and Meteors, No. 616 Sqdn. was thrown into the Battle of the Flying Bombs on July 27. A British pilot scored the first V-1 “kill” on Aug. 4, and by the end of the campaign the squadron had shot down 13 buzz bombs.

When the V-1s stopped coming, No. 616 Sqdn. was detailed to exercise with the United States Eighth Air Force whose bombers were meeting Me.262 jets. Although the Meteor was slower than its German counterpart, it nevertheless assisted in the formulation of tactics. The squadron was issued an improved version—the Meteor III—and moved to Belgium in January 1945. Their aircraft were painted white to avoid being mistaken for Me.262s. The Meteors were used for defensive patrols, then attacks on road traffic, but encountered no enemy aircraft. A second Meteor squadron, No. 504, operated on the Continent from March 1945 onwards.