P/O Derek E. Tapson RAF Memories

197 Squadron
November 11, 1943 – February 10, 1945

Derek Tapson trained as a pilot in America before completing his advanced training in Scotland on the Hawker Hurricane. He flew Typhoons exclusively with 197 Squadron RAF, performing operations before and on D-Day, and then throughout the battle for France, Belgium and Holland. He was shot down on February 10, 1945, and spent the last months of the War as a prisoner of war. On return to the UK, he was diagnosed with jaundice and was not permitted to fly in the RAF anymore – he even had his logbook taken away, which meant there are no accessible records to put dates to some of what follows. Derek became a photographic officer, before leaving the RAF in late 1946. Post-war Derek re-joined the RAFVR in 1959 as an ATC  gliding instructor becoming the OC 626 Gliding School ATC in 1960 eventually retiring with the rank of Flying Officer in 1962. These are some of his memories of his time with 197 Squadron in his own words:

I joined 197 Squadron based at Tangmere in December 1943 and, apart from one short period, served with that unit for the whole of my time on the Typhoon, completing 123 sorties with the aircraft. In fact, I never flew any other type on operations and not many other combat types at all (apart from the Hurricane during weapons training). When 197 Sqn moved to Normandy in July 1944 it was found that there was insufficient accommodation to take all of the squadron’s pilots, so three of us had to stay behind with 84 Group Support Units’ Test Flight at Thruxton. We re-joined 197 when it had moved to Lille, and I flew with the Squadron as it worked its way across Europe.

 [197 Squadron was at ALG B.51 Lille-Vendeville for a short period between September 11 and October 2, 1944]

When I moved on to the Typhoon I found the aircraft astonishing and exciting since it was 100 mph faster than the Hurricane, and the extra speed was of course a big advantage. As part of my training, I had flown the Hurricane a great deal and so could appreciate the extra power that was available. It was quite easy to fly, the controls were straightforward, and I enjoyed flying it very much. I did fly a Spitfire once, just to see what it was like, but I was not that keen (having no logbook means I cannot remember which mark of Spitfire it was). I remember that the view out was not as good as the Typhoon. I never had the chance to fly a Tempest so cannot make a comparison there.

As a Squadron 197 was split into A and B Flights and each pilot, 12 in all if I remember, had his own aircraft. I cannot remember the serial number of mine. Our normal targets were all on the ground – airfields, railways, troops, anything! The 20mm cannon was very good and very destructive and we never carried the rocket projectiles used by other units, but we did drop loads of bombs up to 1,000lb (454 kg) in size I never had any trouble or mishaps with the Sabre engine – it was very good, nice and powerful and for example made the climb quite straightforward.

 [197 Squadron was one of the Typhoon units allocated to bombing only and not rocket-firing]

Since we concentrated on ground-attack for almost all of the time we never had much opportunity to do aerobatics, but if required the Typhoon could loop the loop without trouble. We would usually take off in formation in pairs and just concentrate on our next target, which also meant that we never mixed with enemy fighters, although I do remember on one occasion meeting up with a couple of German fighters. However, they flew away towards a town protected by balloons and there was no point in getting involved, so I never had the chance to shoot anything down which was a bit of a disappointment. That said, not being involved in air-to-air combat was an advantage because it meant that our operations were much simpler to plan and carry out. The Typhoon was not so good at high altitudes, and we never went above 21,000 feet, in fact we usually flew to our targets at about 10,000ft.

The day I was shot down we were attacking a building in Northern Germany, just over the Rhine. At the time we were at a base just outside Germany and had been there for just a few days. [B.89 Mill, Holland] During the operation our CO told us he could not identify the specific building we were to attack, but I was flying as No 2 to my Flight Commander and we were able to identify it and made our diving attack. As we pulled up I moved to the side behind my Flight Commander, a move which I think was very lucky for me because, had I not done so, I think the shell which then hit me would have come into the fuselage or cockpit rather than hitting the engine. I was hit while only at about 2,000ft altitude, but my luck held because I was able to climb to 8,000ft when I could then see our airfield.

[P/O Derek Tapson was shot down over the River Rhine by a German AA battery on February 10, 1945.]

However, fire broke out which prevented me from trying for base and I had no choice but to bale out. I jettisoned the canopy and put the stick forward to prevent a spin but having already undone my harness this move made the aircraft throw me out of the cockpit. I was in fact briefly knocked out – I think my head hit the fixed part of the windscreen – and I fell to 1,500ft before releasing my parachute. On landing, I was surrounded by German troops, but I was well looked after, although my eyebrows had been burned away by the cockpit fire.

I look back on my time with 197 Squadron as just a job really – that was how we approached it – but I made a lot of good friends.

Derek Tapson was one of the longest-serving members of 197 Squadron to survive the war. He was also the last surviving veteran of 197 Squadron. When he passed away peacefully, on July 16, 2024, at the ripe old age of 102 he was the last of an exceptional group of men.

Flying Officer Derek Tapson

Born: December 23, 1921, died: July 16, 2024

Introduction by L.K.Byrne. These recollections were first published in Hawker Typhoon: The RAF’s Ground-Breaking Fighter-Bomber, Tony Buttler, Key Publishing, Stamford, UK, 2020, courtesy of the Tapson family.

Title image: (Then) Sergeant Derek Tapson, UK, Summer 1943 or 1944.