Aviation Art of No.89 Sqn

Beaufighter
Manufacturer : Bristol
Built : 5564

Beaufighter
BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER The Bristol Beaufighter was a Torpedo Bomber and had a crew of two. with a maximum speed of 330mph and a ceiling of 29,000 feet. maximum normal range of 1500 miles but could be extended to 1750 miles. The Bristol Beaufighter carried four 20mm cannon in the belly of the aircraft and upto six .303in browning machine guns in the wings. it could also carry eight 3 -inch rockets, 1605 lb torpedo or a bomb load of 1,000 lb. The Bristol Beaufighter first flew in July 1939 and with some modifications entered service with the Royal Air Force in July 1940. In the winter of 1940 - 1941 the Beaufighter was used as a night fighter. and in March 1941 the aircraft was used at Coastal Command as a long range strike aircraft. and in 1941, the Beaufighter arrived in North Africa and used as a forward ground attack aircraft. The Bristol Beaufighter was used also in India, Burma and Australia. A total of 5,564 Beaufighters were built until production in Britain finished in 1945, but a further 364 were built in Australia for the Australian Air Force

Wellington
Manufacturer : Vickers

Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a Bomber aircraft and also used for maritime reconnaissance. and had a normal crew of six except in the MKV and VI where a crew of three was used. Maximum speed was 235 mph (MK1c) 255 mph (MK III, X) and 299 mph (MK IIII), normal operating range of 1805 miles (except MK III which was 1470miles) The Wellington or Wimpy as it was known, was the major bomber of the Royal Air Force between 1939 and 1943. The Royal Air Force received its first Wellingtons in October 1938 to 99 squadron. and by the outbreak of World war two there were 6 squadrons equipped with the Vickers Wellington. Due to heavy losses on daylight raids, the Wellington became a night bomber and from 1940 was also used as a long range bomber in North Africa. and in 1942 also became a long range bomber for the royal Air Force in India. It was well used by Coastal Command as a U-Boat Hunter. The Wellington remained in service with the Royal Air Force until 1953. Probably due to its versatile use, The aircraft was also used for experimental work including the fitting of a pressure cabin for High altitude tests. The Vickers Wellington could sustain major damage and still fly, probably due to its construction of its geodesic structure and practical application of geodesic lines. Designed by Sir Barnes Wallis

No.89 Sqn RAF
Pilot and aircrew signature details

Squadron Leader Bob Cowper DFC*
Our estimated value of this signature : £15
Died : 2016

Squadron Leader Bob Cowper DFC*

Joining 153 Sqn flying Defiants, changing to Beaufighters. In 1943 he flew Beaufighters in Malta. With 89 Sqn he crashed in Tunisia, having to walk home 65 miles through the Sahara Desert. Went from 89 Sqn to 108 Sqn and then as an instructor teaching night flying. Joined 456 Sqn RAAF before D-Day, finishing the war on Intruder missions and 6 air victories. He became acting CO of 456 Sqn.
Bob Cowper first trained in de Havilland Tiger Moths and continued training in Yorkton, Canada where he gained his wings flying a Harvard trainer before sailing to the UK. In August 1941, he trained as a night-fighter pilot at RAF East Fortune near Edinburgh before being posted to Ballyhalbert, County Down, Northern Ireland. Initially flying Boulton Defiant night-fighters but later Bristol Beaufighters, he flew night sorties to protect not only Ireland but the Atlantic convoys carrying troops and supplies to Europe from North America. Bob was posted in December 1943 to Malta with RAAF 456 Squadron. Having picked up a brand new Beaufighter from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, he and his Scottish navigator Watson were on a secret mission between Gibraltar and Malta in January 1943 when they got lost in darkness and heavy cloud, with an inoperable radio and virtually out of fuel, and crash-landed in pitch darkness and without wheels in the Sahara desert. Guessing correctly that they were behind enemy lines, they torched the Beaufighter as per their training because it contained state-of-the-art radar technology they did not want to fall into enemy hands. They had one box of matches and they used every one because there was so little fuel left in the tank to ignite. 'We decided to start walking to Tripoli but noticed we were being trailed by sword-wielding Arabs on horseback. After firing my service pistol, I yelled that I was Australian and they were not hostile at all.' The Arabs sheltered them in tents for five days before a Hussar corporal from the British 'Desert Rats' picked them up. Within weeks, Cowper and Watson were back in the air, flying out of Malta and bombing and strafing enemy planes over Sicily. Cowper also played a major air role during Operation Husky, the allied invasion of Sicily on July 9th-10th, 1943. On July 11, since Watson was down with dysentery, Cowper had the RAF navigator Farquharson, from Bendochy, Perthshire, behind him when they had a dogfight with a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju88 fighter-bomber they had seen attacking allied ships. Cowper blew it to pieces in a fireball but some of those pieces hit his own Beaufighter and sent it spiralling into the Mediterranean. Cowper called on Farquharson to get out of the bottom hatch before him but apparently he never did. He was missing in action, presumed dead. Cowper parachuted into the ocean, where his automatic mini-dinghy inflated and he drifted all night, exhausted and expecting to die. In the morning, he spotted a ship 'lit up like a Christmas tree' which he assumed was a hospital ship since no others would have their lights on in a combat zone. It was the hospital ship HMHS Aba. Its captain saw his flare and he scrambled ashore with a broken nose and shrapnel in his legs, demanding to be returned to Malta to get back in the battle. He did, and was flying again within a week, wearing a reinforced oxygen mask over his broken nose and shooting down another Ju88 off Sicily, this time with Watson back behind him. The two buddies went on to fly against the Germans in support of the allied thrust towards Berlin. Flying a Mosquito, he shot down four German planes over the beaches of Normandy while his comrades in RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) 456 squadron - Australia's only night-fighter unit - accounted for a total of 35 enemy aircraft. In the weeks after D-Day, Cowper and his squadron also shot down 24 German V-1 flying bombs, probably saving countless lives in and around London. Sadly Bob passed away on 19th June 2016.

Group Captain Dennis David CBE DFC AFC
Our estimated value of this signature : £75
Died : 2000

Group Captain Dennis David CBE DFC AFC

Dennis David served with distinction in both the Battle of France and Battle of Britain. He regards the RAFs success in the former - during which he was credited with 11.5 victories - as crucial to victory in the Battle of Britain. He was a member of 87 Squadron at the outbreak of war and was posted to France in 1939 as part of the Air Component. When the Blitzkrieg began on 10th May 1940, he was a Flying Officer. He destroyed a Do17 and shared a He111 on the first day, and by the time the squadron withdrew to the United Kingdom late in the month he had brought his score to 11.5 and been awarded the DFC and Bar. He continued to fly during the Battle of Britain, destroying a Ju88 and a Bf109 on the 11th August, a Ju87, a Bf110 and another shared on the 15th and a Ju88 and Bf109 on the 25th. He shot down a He111 on 15th September and the following month was posted as a Flight Commander to 213 Squadron. On 19th October he destroyed a Ju88 to bring his score to 20 and in November was posted to 152 Squadron. In 1943, with the rank of Wing Commander, he was posted to the Middle East to command 89 Squadron on Beaufighters. In November he led the Squadron to Ceylon and early the following year was promoted again to Group Captai. He served in Burma until the end of the war, after which he remained in the RAF with the Rank of Wing Commander. He died 25th August 2000.

Wing Commander Moose Fumerton DFC* AFC
Our estimated value of this signature : £10
Died : 2006

Wing Commander Moose Fumerton DFC* AFC

One of the finest Canadian Beaufighter and Mosquito Aces, 14 victories. Moose Fumerton flew in the Battle of Britain with 32 Sqn before joining 1 RCAF Sqn. Converting to night fighting, he flew successfully in Egypt with 89 Sqn. In June 1942 he and his radar operator Sgt L.P.S. Bing flew with the squadron detachment to Malta. Here they were rapidly to become the islands top scoring night fighter team with 9 victories, Fumerton receiving the DFC and bar, and Bing the DFC and bar and a commission. On his second tour Fumerton commanded 406 Sqn on Mosquitoes, where he claimed the last of his 14 victories. He died 10th July 2006.

Wing Commander Geoffrey Goodman
Our estimated value of this signature : £15

Wing Commander Geoffrey Goodman

Initially serving with 89 Sqn, he completed a full tour of Operations as a Pilot on Wellingtons. Having converted to Mosquitos he then completed another one-and-a-half tours, amassing over 500 hours of flying over enemy territory, with 544 and 541 Squadrons of the Photo Reconnaissance Unit.

Flight Lieutenant Merv Shipard DFC*
Our estimated value of this signature : £20
Died : 2003

Flight Lieutenant Merv Shipard DFC*

In August 1941 Australian Merv Shipard was posted to 68 Sqn, along with his radar operator Douggie Oxby (later to become the RAFs top scoring radar operator, assisting in 22 kills), here they scored their first victory. On the 1st of November 1941 Mervyn Shipard DFC intercepted and destroyed a bomb laden Heinkel III headed for Liverpool. The stricken aircraft crashed into farmland near Llangefni on Anglesey – which is an island off Wales. Shipard and Oxby deliberately sought out more opportunities together to become involved in the thick of the action. In early 1942 they were posted to Egypt to join 89 Sqn, before being sent to Malta on 22nd June, where they quickly scored six confirmed kills, and probably one more. They the claimed 6 kills in North Africa. Merv Shipard was posted back to Australia, having achieved 13 confirmed victories. Merv Shipard joined Qantas in 1957 he started flying L1049, Electras and then 707s his final flight was in June 1973 after which he was appointed B707 flight simulator instructor, retireing from Qantas in June 1979. Sadly Mervyn Charles Shipard DFC and Bar passed away on the 1st March 2003.

Aces for : No.89 Sqn RAF
A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking the pilots name.
Name	Victories	Info
William Dennis David	20.00	The signature of William Dennis David features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Robert Carl Fumerton	13.00	The signature of Robert Carl Fumerton features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.