Wee Ronny,
Touché - I misread my "
Vengeance" (Peter C. Smith), and there are occasional misdesciptions in my log, too (but mostly I got it right !)
To set the story straight (Peter C. Smith):
Vengeance II AN538-AN837 Vultee-built, British contract.
Vengeance I AN838-AN999 Northrop-built, British contract.
Vengeance I AF series Vultee-built, and AP series Northrop- built, British contract.
("British Contract": we paid cash (around $63,000 each), before Lend Lease took over).
Vengeance IA EZ series, Northrop-built, Lend Lease. *
Vengeance III FB and FD series, Vultee-built, both Lend Lease.
Don't think I ever saw a IV, still less flew one. But a small number were supplied to the UK, and modified as Target Tugs. (All IVs were Lend-lease).
Your Dad's remark:
"Two flights of VV from the Squadron were to go back to the front on 30th Dec but this was quickly cancelled as the Mossie's were coming earlier than was expected" is most interesting. I arrived in Yelahanka on 26th October, to be told that the decision to reinstate the VVs in place of the Mossies had only just been rescinded. It would seem that (alone ?) among the four RAF Squadrons, 84 had been allowed to keep their full complement.
AFAIK, all the others had their VVs taken away from them in the summer (and the VV crews dispersed as the "new boys" came in). The two IAF Squadrons (7 & 8) kept their VVs until the Spitfire XIVs arrived to replace them.
It would take weeks to gather all the old RAF crews back in and collect the aircraft from all corners of the subcontinent; I'd think that mid-February'45 would be about the earliest date they could hope to have a battle-ready VV force again. But 84 looks as if it had been chosen as the "standard-bearer", perhaps for that reason they had the 4 x Mk.IIIs, but I never saw a III until April '45.
It was only one of the many "what if"s of the war: how would the VVs have performed in Burma if they'd been used for a third "dry season" ? The Japs were being pushed back, I think they would have done very well, hampering the Jap retreat by knocking out "strong points" delaying our advance, and generally making themselves useful on opportunity targets.
Of course, we'll never know now. (And
why couldn't we have kept the VVs
and the Mossies as well ?) The Mossies took the
numbers of the squadrons, but the old crews were no use to them.
But the longest serving old timers had only come out in Spring '42, they would only have done 3 years when the '45 monsoon stopped play. And their aircraft were still all in Theatre !
Cheers, Danny.
EDIT: * But always the same aeroplane ! (the differences were only administrative)