Foxmoth, the detail on the link does not make it clear but I am fairly sure he tried it vertically in the Hornet and failed.
I cannot offer any evidence for this but I did read of it a long time ago. . .It was not until that Meteor was loaded with the outboard rockets that the cartwheel became possible.
I am intrigued as to why you call it a roll when any rolling motion would make it a completely different manoeuvre.