Short Stirling & RAF Bomber Command Forum

G'day Stuart,

There would have been multiple JO-Ts. The JO, as you no doubt know, denotes 463 Squadron and the T is the individual aircraft code letter. So there would be a JO-A, JO-B, JO-C etc etc on strength at any one time. When the current JO-D went missing or was damaged or was otherwise made unavailable for service, a new aircraft would arrive from the factory. It would be given the JO-D codes (or whatever 'spare' codes there were available at the time). It was not unknown for there to be multiple aircraft with the same code letter at the same time, in which case one would be given a small "2" superscript on its codes and called, for example, "Dog Squared". It was also not unusual for individual aircraft to return to the same squadron from whence they came (after repairs or extended maintenance, for example) and be given a new letter because the original one had been reallocated already. In short, there was more than one JO-T... you need the serial number (ME453... LM475... R5868... variations on that theme) to be able to nail down the correct one.

As for the Waddington photo albums, they would be the ones held by the Heritage Centre on the base. Visits to the Centre can be arranged, though some notice is required to allow for security checks etc. See http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafwaddington/abo ... centre.cfm. A couple of us are lucky enough to have access to CDs of scanned images from the albums courtesy a friend who was instrumental in setting the Heritage Centre up a few years ago, but I don't think they are available for general sale or access. If you can work out which JO-T you are interested in though (ie find a serial number) I can have a look through them for you.

Cheers,
Adam

Hello John

Thank you for your welcome and the recommendation. I shall indeed seek out Max.

Stuart

Dear Adam,
Thank you for you informative message. It was interesting to learn as to the reason for the use of small numbers in conjunction with the codes. The image i have seen for JO-T is LM675. In the link below:

http://aircrewremembered.com/tanner-kej.html

is the ops log for JO-T and F/O Tanner with the aircraft code being LM675.

I have no other details concerning other aircraft being listed under JO-T.
Thank you for the link. I shall try to arrange a visit. Those of you with CDs are blessed. Period photos of the aerodrome and crew would be very interesting. I am planning on painting a few pictures of such scenes as I find. It was a delight to see a Lancaster close- up for the first time a few months ago on a visit to Hendon. Duxford next?

Any help would be appreciated for general interest as well as modelling. My spitfires are on hold at present. The Lancaster is an exorcise project requiring four of all the expensive bits !

Thanks to you both Adam and John

G'day Stuart,
I've had a look but can't see any of that particular aircraft - sorry!
Adam

Adam
Thank you for looking in your archive. I appreciate that very much. Considering that it was wartime, that few had cameras and that photography likely was not allowed due to security, it is surprising that we have as much as we do. The photo of JO-T after its crash, it is amazing that anyone in the countryside of a war-torn occupied country had a camera, let alone film for it or developing fluid etc in the printing of negatives.

Do you think it likely that I would find anything at the museum?


Stuart