By the summer of 1944, London was under siege from a weapon no one could see coming until it was too late. The V-1 flying bomb — the “doodlebug” — buzzed across the Channel by the hundred, and its droning pulsejet was a sound Londoners learned to dread. When the engine cut out, the terror began: it meant the bomb was about to fall.
The problem was speed. The V-1 flew at around 400 mph, faster than most of the piston-engined fighters sent up to stop it. Britain needed something quicker — and it happened to have a secret parked in the hangars: the Gloster Meteor, the first jet fighter the Allies ever put into service.
What followed, on 4 August 1944, was one of the strangest kills of the war. A jet pilot lined up a flying bomb, pulled the trigger — and nothing happened. What he did next turned the Meteor into a legend.
• Aircraft: Gloster Meteor F.1 — the RAF’s first jet fighter and the first Allied operational jet
• Engines: two Rolls-Royce Welland turbojets, roughly 1,700 lb thrust each; top speed about 417 mph
• Unit: No. 616 Squadron RAF — the world’s first operational jet squadron
• First V-1 kills: 4 August 1944, a month after entering service
• Famous first: with cannons jammed, a pilot used his wing’s airflow — not contact — to flip a V-1
• Total: Meteors destroyed 14 V-1 flying bombs by the end of the war
• Note: kept in Britain for home defence; it never met the German Me 262 in combat
Whittle’s impossible engine
The Meteor existed because of one stubborn man. Frank Whittle had been trying to sell the RAF on the jet engine since the 1930s, and in 1941 his experimental Gloster E.28/39 finally proved the idea in the air. The story goes that when a colleague rushed up with the news, Whittle was entirely unimpressed.
The buzz bomb terror
The V-1 was, in effect, the world’s first operational cruise missile: a pointed steel torpedo with stubby wings and a pulsejet on top that pulsed fifty times a second, carrying nearly a tonne of explosive. From 13 June 1944 they fell on London at a rate that reached more than a hundred a day. Churchill addressed a frightened Parliament and told the public, in effect, to carry on.
The world’s first jet squadron
The answer was so secret it was kept at home. Rather than risk a Meteor coming down in occupied Europe and handing the Germans its jet technology, the RAF held No. 616 Squadron back for the defence of Britain. That made the doodlebug campaign the Meteor’s combat debut — and made 616 the first jet squadron in the world to go operational, weeks before Germany fielded the Me 262.
The wing that flipped a flying bomb
On 4 August 1944, Flying Officer T. D. “Dixie” Dean caught a V-1 in his sights, dived to close the gap, and squeezed off a burst — before his four 20 mm cannons jammed, a chronic fault on the early Meteors. Rather than break off, Dean slid his jet alongside the bomb and eased his wing beneath the V-1’s. Then he banked. The rush of air under the fighter’s wing lifted the little robot’s wing, upset its gyro-autopilot, and flipped it onto its back to dive into a field near Tonbridge.
Contrary to the legend, his wingtip never actually touched the bomb — the risk of damaging the jet, or losing the pilot, was far too high. It was the airflow, not contact, that did the work. Minutes later a second Meteor shot down another V-1 with its guns. The jet age had drawn first blood, and it had done so against a robot.
Fourteen doodlebugs, and a new age
The Meteor’s war against the flying bombs was brief, and its tally — 14 V-1s — was modest next to the piston fighters and anti-aircraft guns that claimed thousands. But the significance was out of all proportion to the numbers. A British jet had proven itself in combat, and the aircraft went on to a long career, later fighting in the skies over Korea. It all began with a secret jet, a jammed gun, and a pilot clever enough to beat a missile with a bank and a gust of air.
Sources: War History Online; RAF Museum; History of Manston Airfield; Hansard (Churchill, 6 July 1944); Wikipedia (Gloster Meteor; V-1 flying bomb). Accounts of the 4 August 1944 engagement vary in small details; the wing-tip flip is described per the historical record.
Related Questions
What was the Gloster Meteor?
The Gloster Meteor was the first jet fighter the Allies put into operational service, and the RAF’s first jet. The Meteor F.1 was powered by two Rolls-Royce Welland turbojets of roughly 1,700 lb thrust each, giving a top speed of about 417 mph. It entered service with No. 616 Squadron RAF in the summer of 1944, just in time to chase V-1 flying bombs.
What was the V-1 flying bomb?
The V-1 — nicknamed the doodlebug — was in effect the world’s first operational cruise missile: a steel torpedo with stubby wings, a pulsejet firing fifty times a second, and nearly a tonne of explosive. From 13 June 1944 the bombs fell on London at rates exceeding a hundred a day, flying at around 400 mph — faster than most piston-engined fighters sent to stop them.
How did a Meteor pilot tip over a V-1 without firing a shot?
On 4 August 1944, Flying Officer T. D. “Dixie” Dean closed on a V-1 and pulled the trigger — but his four 20 mm cannons jammed, a chronic fault on early Meteors. Instead of breaking off, Dean slid his wing beneath the bomb’s wing and banked: the airflow alone, not contact, lifted the V-1’s wing, toppled its gyro-autopilot, and sent it diving into open country.
How many V-1 flying bombs did the Meteor destroy?
Gloster Meteors destroyed 14 V-1 flying bombs by the end of the Second World War. The V-1 campaign was the Meteor’s combat debut, coming just weeks after the type entered service with No. 616 Squadron in July 1944.
Did the Gloster Meteor ever fight the Me 262?
No. The RAF deliberately kept its Meteors in Britain for home defence, fearing that one might come down in occupied Europe and hand Germany its jet technology. As a result the Meteor and Messerschmitt’s Me 262 — the world’s two pioneering operational jet fighters — never met in combat.
What was the world's first operational jet squadron?
No. 616 Squadron RAF became the world’s first operational jet squadron when it began flying the Gloster Meteor in the summer of 1944 — weeks before Germany fielded the Me 262. Its Meteors were held back for the defence of Britain rather than sent to occupied Europe.
Who invented the jet engine in Britain?
Frank Whittle, an RAF officer who had been pushing the idea since the 1930s. His experimental Gloster E.28/39 proved the jet engine in flight in 1941. Told the news, Whittle was famously unimpressed — the aircraft had simply done what it was designed to do.
Why did people fear the V-1's engine cutting out?
Londoners learned that the droning pulsejet was survivable as long as it could be heard — when the engine cut out, the bomb had begun its dive. The silence meant the V-1 was about to fall, giving those below only seconds to take cover.
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