Joe Berry

Joseph Berry, (28 February 1920 – 2 October 1944) was a British aviator and flying ace who shot down 59½ V-1 missiles ("flying bombs") during the Second World War, more than any other fighter pilot.

Early life Berry was born in Quarrington, Teesdale, County Durham and attended Dukes Grammar School in Alnwick, Northumberland.

Royal Air Force fighter pilot

Berry joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 8 August 1940 as aircraftman 2nd class with service number 1177137.

In August 1941, after completing pilot training, Berry was appointed to the rank of sergeant and posted to a night fighter unit, No. 256 Squadron RAF at RAF Squires Gate and flew Boulton Paul Defiants. He was promoted to flying officer on 1 October 1942.

Transferred to nightfighter operations in North Africa from 30 January 1943, Berry flew Bristol Beaufighters, initially with No. 153 Squadron RAF. Detachments flew from Bone, Setif, Souk el Arba, Souk el Khemis, and Tingley. On 11 April, while Berry and his observer were returning from patrol, the port engine caught fire on Beaufighter VIF ("TB-N"; V8629), forcing them to bale out over the Mediterranean, and wait in a rubber dinghy for six-and-a-half hours, before they were rescued.

From 8 May 1943, Berry flew Beaufighters with No. 255 Squadron RAF, which in August moved to Western Sicily, where sorties were flown over the Salerno invasion fleet and beachhead in September. Berry shot down three enemy aircraft: on 9 September a Messerschmitt Me 210, on 10 September another Me 210 in the Salerno area, and on 24 October he destroyed a Junkers Ju 88 over the Naples area. Following the second kill, Berry was forced to bail out of his Beaufighter Mk VIF (squadron code "YD-F"). As a result of his victories over Salerno and Naples, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 3 March 1944, and was promoted to flight lieutenant on 14 March. The citation for Berry's DFC read:

On 3 October 1943, while serving with No. 255 Squadron, Berry was involved in the "Great E-Boat Raid" at Cos, Greece. Sixty aircraft were involved; several Beaufighter squadrons and one Beaufort squadron attacked the German Invasion Force North of the Allied occupied Island. The German invasion force consisted of several large vessels used as troop ships, destroyers, e-boats and landing barges. The attack had mixed results due to heavy enemy fire and bad weather with head winds on the return journey; the Allied squadrons took overall losses of 27%. The Beaufighter had a range of 370 miles, and due to heavy fuel consumption 25 got back, most of the others ditched or were shot down.

V-1 campaign

In 1944, Berry was posted to the elite Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) at RAF Wittering in East Anglia as a temporary squadron leader, and began flying night sorties against V-1s in single-engined Hawker Tempests and was awarded a Bar to his DFC on 1 September 1944.

Berry quickly became the pilot most successful in destroying V-1s. He claimed 52 in less than two months, including seven destroyed in one night, on 23 July 1944.

His successes were: 28 June 1944, 2 V-1s; 29 June 1944, V-1; 30 June 1944, 3 V-1s at night; 2 July 1944, V-1; 3 July 1944, V-1; 5 July 1944, 2 V-1s; 6 July 1944, 4 V-1s at night; 8 July 1944, 3 V-1s at night; 9 July 1944, V-1; 17 July 1944, 2 V-1s at night; 19 July 1944, 4 V-1s; 21 July 1944, V-1; 23 July 1944, 7 V-1s at night; 25 July 1944, 4 V-1s at night; 27 July 1944, shared V-1; 29 July 1944, 2 V-1s; 3 August 1944, 5 V-1s at night; 5 August 1944, 5 V-1s; 7 August 1944, 4 V-1s; 12 August 1944, 2 V-1s at night; 13 August 1944, V-1 at night; 15 August 1944, 2 V-1s at night; 20 August 1944, V-1; 31 August 1944, V-1.

On 23 August 1944 the Tempest flight from FIU was merged into an existing fighter unit, No. 501 Squadron RAF, at RAF Manston. Berry was appointed commanding officer of No. 501 Squadron. His citation read:

Death

Allied ground forces began to overrun the V-1 launch sites and No. 501 Squadron began to undertake ground attack missions over the Netherlands and Germany.

On the morning of 2 October 1944 Berry was flying a "dawn ranger" patrol south-west of Assen in a Tempest Mark V (serial number EJ600, squadron code SD-F). His aircraft was hit by small arms fire while he was flying at 50 feet over Veendam, in Groningen, leading two other Tempests on a sortie against an airfield and rail yards near Bad Zwischenahn. His final radio message was "I've had it chaps; you go on."

Berry is buried in Scheemda Protestant Cemetery, Netherlands.