{"id":23655863,"date":"2026-09-20T13:34:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/v-1-flying-bomb-tipping-wingtip-raf-1944\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T13:34:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:34:30","slug":"v-1-flying-bomb-tipping-wingtip-raf-1944","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/v-1-flying-bomb-tipping-wingtip-raf-1944\/","title":{"rendered":"V-1 Flying Bomb: The RAF Trick of Tipping It With a Wingtip"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The V-1 flying bomb carried a warhead of several hundred kilograms of high explosive and crossed the Channel at roughly the speed of a fast fighter. Shooting one down meant closing to gun range behind it and firing into a warhead that might detonate in your face.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>So a handful of pilots stopped shooting. They slid a wingtip underneath the bomb's wing, held it there, and let the air do the rest.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It is one of the strangest tactics of the Second World War, it is frequently described wrongly, and it worked &mdash; though rather less often than the legend suggests.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:26px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.75\">\r\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Campaign:<\/strong> Operation Diver, the defence of Britain against the V-1, from mid-June 1944<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>The technique:<\/strong> Sliding a wingtip to within about 6 inches (15 cm) of the underside of the V-1&rsquo;s wing, using the airflow to lift it and topple the bomb&rsquo;s gyros<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>First recorded tipping:<\/strong> 18 June 1944, by a P-51 Mustang flown by Major R. E. Turner of the 356th Fighter Squadron<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>How many:<\/strong> Sources disagree &mdash; accounts range from at least three to at least sixteen destroyed this way<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Main interceptor:<\/strong> Hawker Tempest; fewer than 30 available at the start, with No. 150 Wing RAF<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Top V-1 killer:<\/strong> Squadron Leader Joseph Berry, credited with 59 and a half, mostly at night<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Tempest total:<\/strong> 638 flying bombs between June and 5 September 1944, of which No. 3 Squadron RAF claimed 305<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Codename origin:<\/strong> &ldquo;Diver&rdquo; was the Royal Observer Corps codeword for a V-1 sighting<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What a Diver Patrol Was Up Against<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The first V-1s fell on England in mid-June 1944. The Royal Observer Corps gave sightings the codeword &ldquo;Diver&rdquo;, and the fighter sorties flown against them became Diver patrols.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The problem was arithmetic. A V-1 flew fast and low, and most Allied fighters could not catch one from level flight without a height advantage to dive from. When the attacks began, the only type with the outright low-altitude speed to be reliably effective was the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/hawker-tempest\/\">Hawker Tempest<\/a>, and there were fewer than thirty of them, concentrated in No. 150 Wing RAF.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/hawker-tempest-v-in-flight-1944.jpg\" alt=\"A Royal Air Force Hawker Tempest V in flight during 1944\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Hawker Tempest V in flight, November 1944. Fewer than thirty were available when the V-1 campaign opened, and they became the backbone of the defence. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Everything else had to be modified to keep up. <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/p-47-thunderbolt\/\">P-47 Thunderbolts<\/a> were stripped of armour plate, half their fuel and half their guns, and had their engines boosted. Griffon-engined <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/supermarine-spitfire\/\">Supermarine Spitfire<\/a> Mk XIVs and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/p-51-mustang\/\">P-51 Mustangs<\/a> were tuned for speed. At night the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/de-havilland-mosquito\/\">de Havilland Mosquito<\/a> shared the work.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Then there was the shooting itself, which was genuinely dangerous. Machine guns did little against the V-1's sheet steel structure, so cannon were needed &mdash; and a cannon shell that detonated the warhead at close range took the fighter with it. Wing Commander Roland Beamont had the 20 mm cannon on his Tempest re-harmonised to converge at 300 yards rather than closer in. It worked well enough that the rest of 150 Wing followed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VSD7vpHKUxA\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The Imperial War Museums' account of the V-1 campaign and why it failed to change the war.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Tipping Manoeuvre, Correctly Described<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Here is the part that almost every retelling gets wrong. The pilots did not hit the bomb.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The V-1 flew on a simple gyroscopic autopilot. Upset the gyros and the bomb loses its reference and goes out of control. A fighter pilot could do that without contact at all, by sliding his wingtip underneath the V-1's wing and holding it there &mdash; about six inches, 15 centimetres, below the surface.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The air being pushed over and around the fighter's wing spilled upward against the underside of the bomb's wing and lifted it. The V-1 rolled, the gyros were overridden, and the bomb dropped away into an uncontrollable dive.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>A wingtip strike would also work, in the sense that both aircraft would then be damaged. That was not the technique. The technique was a very precise piece of formation flying, held for several seconds, alongside a live warhead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Who Did It First, and How Often<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The first recorded success was not British. On 18 June 1944, Major R. E. Turner of the 356th Fighter Squadron tipped a V-1 with a P-51 Mustang.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>How many were brought down this way is genuinely uncertain, and it is worth being honest about that. Wikipedia's article on the V-1 states that at least sixteen were destroyed by tipping; its article on Operation Diver says at least three. Both cite the campaign's own records. The truth is probably that tipping was tried more often than it succeeded, and succeeded more often than it was formally credited.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/duUTwUiRA-w\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>British Path&eacute; footage from 1944 of a flying bomb in flight, watched from the ground by families &mdash; which is the other half of this story.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Men Who Did the Real Damage<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Tipping is the story people remember. Guns are what actually stopped the V-1 campaign in the air.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Between June and 5 September 1944, the Tempests of 150 Wing shot down 638 flying bombs, with No. 3 Squadron RAF alone claiming 305. The highest individual score belonged to Squadron Leader Joseph Berry of 501 Squadron, who was credited with 59 and a half, most of them at night, including seven in a single night on 23 July 1944.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;On several occasions his aircraft has been damaged by the explosion of the bombs. As Squadron Commander, Squadron Leader Berry has displayed courage and devotion to duty of a high order and under his inspiring leadership the squadron has attained many successes.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Citation for Squadron Leader Joseph Berry<\/strong> &mdash; Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross, 1944<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Berry had come to the V-1 campaign as an experienced night-fighter pilot. His earlier citation, for work over Italy, gives a sense of the man before he ever saw a flying bomb.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;This officer is an exceptionally capable pilot who has destroyed three enemy aircraft in the course of a long and strenuous tour of duty. Flying Officer Berry has been forced to abandon his aircraft on two occasions and has operated with coolness and courage in the face of heavy enemy action.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Citation for Flying Officer Joseph Berry<\/strong> &mdash; Distinguished Flying Cross, 3 March 1944<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Behind him came the Belgian ace Squadron Leader Remy Van Lierde of 164 Squadron with 44 destroyed and nine shared, Beamont with 31, and Flight Lieutenant Arthur Umbers of No. 3 Squadron with 28. A Dutch pilot in 322 Squadron, Jan Leendert Plesman &mdash; son of the president of KLM &mdash; destroyed twelve flying a Spitfire.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Jet That Arrived Just in Time<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/gloster-meteor\/\">Gloster Meteor<\/a> was not ready. It was rushed into service with No. 616 Squadron RAF anyway, because it had something nothing else had: speed to spare.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/gloster-meteor-616-squadron-manston-1944.jpg\" alt=\"Gloster Meteor Mk I jet fighters of No. 616 Squadron RAF at Manston, Kent, in 1944\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Gloster Meteor Mk Is of No. 616 Squadron RAF at Manston, Kent, 1944. Britain&rsquo;s first operational jet was sent against the V-1 before it was really ready. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>It did not go well. The Meteor's cannon were prone to jamming, and the type shot down only thirteen V-1s &mdash; fewer than a single good Tempest pilot managed on his own. It is a useful corrective to the idea that newer always means better. The jet had the performance and not the reliability; the piston fighter had both, and crews who knew it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z8aTTyHajIg\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Path&eacute; footage of flying bomb damage in Britain during 1944 &mdash; the consequence when one got through.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What It Was Actually For<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The V-1 could not be aimed at anything smaller than a city. It was a terror weapon, and its purpose was to make London unlivable. It failed at that, but not because it was harmless.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Joseph Berry did not survive the war. On 2 October 1944, with the launch sites being overrun and 501 Squadron switched to ground attack, his Tempest was hit by small arms fire at fifty feet over Veendam in the Netherlands. He was 24.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The man who shot down more flying bombs than anyone else was killed by a rifle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:14px;color:#666;font-style:italic;margin-top:28px\">Sources: Wikipedia entries on the V-1 flying bomb, Operation Diver and Joseph Berry, including his published award citations; Imperial War Museums; British Path&eacute; archive footage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Did RAF pilots really tip V-1 flying bombs with their wings?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes, though not by striking them. Pilots slid a wingtip to within about six inches of the underside of the V-1\u2019s wing. The airflow spilling off the fighter lifted the bomb\u2019s wing, overrode its gyroscopic autopilot and sent it into an uncontrollable dive.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who tipped the first V-1?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The first recorded tipping was on 18 June 1944 by Major R. E. Turner of the 356th Fighter Squadron, flying a North American P-51 Mustang. Despite the technique\u2019s association with the RAF, the first success was American.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many V-1s were destroyed by tipping?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Sources disagree. Wikipedia\u2019s article on the V-1 says at least sixteen were destroyed this way, while its article on Operation Diver says at least three. The technique was almost certainly attempted more often than it was formally credited.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Which aircraft were used against the V-1?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Hawker Tempest was the most effective, with fewer than thirty available when the campaign began. Griffon-engined Spitfire Mk XIVs, P-51 Mustangs and stripped-down P-47 Thunderbolts were tuned for speed, Mosquitos flew at night, and Gloster Meteor jets joined later.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who shot down the most V-1 flying bombs?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Squadron Leader Joseph Berry of No. 501 Squadron, credited with 59 and a half, mostly at night, including seven in a single night on 23 July 1944. He was killed on 2 October 1944 by small arms fire during a ground attack sortie over the Netherlands, aged 24.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why was shooting at a V-1 so dangerous?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Machine guns had little effect on the V-1\u2019s sheet steel structure, so cannon were needed. A cannon shell that detonated the warhead at close range could destroy the attacking fighter too. Wing Commander Roland Beamont had his Tempest\u2019s cannon re-harmonised to converge at 300 yards to open the gap.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How did the Gloster Meteor perform against the V-1?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Poorly, relative to expectations. Britain\u2019s first operational jet was rushed into service with No. 616 Squadron RAF and had ample speed, but its cannon were prone to jamming. It destroyed only thirteen V-1s, far fewer than leading Tempest pilots managed individually.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was Operation Diver?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Operation Diver was the British defensive campaign against the V-1 flying bomb from mid-June 1944. The name came from \u201cDiver\u201d, the Royal Observer Corps codeword for a V-1 sighting, and fighter sorties flown against the bombs became known as Diver patrols.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did RAF pilots really tip V-1 flying bombs with their wings?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes, though not by striking them. Pilots slid a wingtip to within about six inches of the underside of the V-1\u2019s wing. The airflow spilling off the fighter lifted the bomb\u2019s wing, overrode its gyroscopic autopilot and sent it into an uncontrollable dive.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who tipped the first V-1?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The first recorded tipping was on 18 June 1944 by Major R. E. Turner of the 356th Fighter Squadron, flying a North American P-51 Mustang. Despite the technique\u2019s association with the RAF, the first success was American.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many V-1s were destroyed by tipping?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Sources disagree. Wikipedia\u2019s article on the V-1 says at least sixteen were destroyed this way, while its article on Operation Diver says at least three. The technique was almost certainly attempted more often than it was formally credited.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Which aircraft were used against the V-1?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Hawker Tempest was the most effective, with fewer than thirty available when the campaign began. Griffon-engined Spitfire Mk XIVs, P-51 Mustangs and stripped-down P-47 Thunderbolts were tuned for speed, Mosquitos flew at night, and Gloster Meteor jets joined later.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who shot down the most V-1 flying bombs?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Squadron Leader Joseph Berry of No. 501 Squadron, credited with 59 and a half, mostly at night, including seven in a single night on 23 July 1944. He was killed on 2 October 1944 by small arms fire during a ground attack sortie over the Netherlands, aged 24.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why was shooting at a V-1 so dangerous?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Machine guns had little effect on the V-1\u2019s sheet steel structure, so cannon were needed. A cannon shell that detonated the warhead at close range could destroy the attacking fighter too. Wing Commander Roland Beamont had his Tempest\u2019s cannon re-harmonised to converge at 300 yards to open the gap.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How did the Gloster Meteor perform against the V-1?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Poorly, relative to expectations. Britain\u2019s first operational jet was rushed into service with No. 616 Squadron RAF and had ample speed, but its cannon were prone to jamming. It destroyed only thirteen V-1s, far fewer than leading Tempest pilots managed individually.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was Operation Diver?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Operation Diver was the British defensive campaign against the V-1 flying bomb from mid-June 1944. The name came from \u201cDiver\u201d, the Royal Observer Corps codeword for a V-1 sighting, and fighter sorties flown against the bombs became known as Diver patrols.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hawker-tempest-overlooked-best-raf-fighter\/\">The Best RAF Fighter Nobody Remembers<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/david-mccampbell-nine-kills-one-mission-leyte-gulf-1944\/\">David McCampbell: Nine Kills in a Single Mission<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/tallboy-grand-slam-barnes-wallis-earthquake-bombs\/\">The Bomb Designed to Miss<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The V-1 flying bomb carried a warhead of several hundred kilograms of high explosive and crossed the Channel at roughly the speed of a fast fighter. Shooting one down meant closing to gun range behind it and firing into a warhead that might detonate in your face. So a handful of pilots stopped shooting. They [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":23654611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23655863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>V-1 Flying Bomb: The Wingtip Tipping Trick | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"RAF and USAAF pilots flipped V-1 flying bombs out of the sky with a wingtip, six inches from the wing. 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