Spitfire Mk.IX, 'V', LZ894, N° 9 Squadron, Lakatamia, Cyprus, July 1944.
N° 9 squadron received their only 'kill' of the war on the 29th July 1944. At 16:05 two Spitfire Mk.IX's from the detachment at Lakatamia in Cyprus, were scrambled to intercept a hostile aircraft. Lt. Joubert, flying a/c 'V' as 'Red1' and Lt. Retief, flying a/c 'X' as 'Red2', were vectored onto the bandit, and intercepted it at 'Angels' 23,000, some 40 miles west of Limassol. It was identified as a Ju-88, and the pursuit followed out over the sea. Numerous attacks were made on the Ju-88, which was taking violent evasive action and also returning fire. The Ju-88 turned into the sun and 'Red2' lost sight of him. Also due to a Glycol leak, 'Red2' had an underperforminmg engine, and he was unable to continue the attack. 'Red1' however, continued with the attack, and with black smoke later pouring from the Ju'88's engines, she started to dive. At 15,000ft she rolled onto her back and went straight down and was then seen to explode at 8,000 ft. Lt. Joubert, who was now low on fuel, landed at Limassol. Once safe on the ground, the Spitfire was inspected, and three holes were found in the tailplane. He had expended 320 x 20mm rounds and 1400 x .303 rounds in achieving this 'kill'.
I have not seen a photo of this particular aircraft so the profile is an educated guess & based on other photos. The code & serial are correct & are taken from the war diaries,
N° 9 squadron received their only 'kill' of the war on the 29th July 1944. At 16:05 two Spitfire Mk.IX's from the detachment at Lakatamia in Cyprus, were scrambled to intercept a hostile aircraft. Lt. Joubert, flying a/c 'V' as 'Red1' and Lt. Retief, flying a/c 'X' as 'Red2', were vectored onto the bandit, and intercepted it at 'Angels' 23,000, some 40 miles west of Limassol. It was identified as a Ju-88, and the pursuit followed out over the sea. Numerous attacks were made on the Ju-88, which was taking violent evasive action and also returning fire. The Ju-88 turned into the sun and 'Red2' lost sight of him. Also due to a Glycol leak, 'Red2' had an underperforminmg engine, and he was unable to continue the attack. 'Red1' however, continued with the attack, and with black smoke later pouring from the Ju'88's engines, she started to dive. At 15,000ft she rolled onto her back and went straight down and was then seen to explode at 8,000 ft. Lt. Joubert, who was now low on fuel, landed at Limassol. Once safe on the ground, the Spitfire was inspected, and three holes were found in the tailplane. He had expended 320 x 20mm rounds and 1400 x .303 rounds in achieving this 'kill'.
I have not seen a photo of this particular aircraft so the profile is an educated guess & based on other photos. The code & serial are correct & are taken from the war diaries,
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Brent Best
