James O'Meara
Encyclopedia
Squadron Leader
James Joseph "Orange" O'Meara DSO
, DFC & Bar (born 20 February 1919 - died 1974) was a Battle of Britain
Spitfire Ace
with 11 kills, two shared victories, one unconfirmed destroyed, four probables, 11 damaged and one shared damaged.
, Yorkshire
on 20 February 1919, and entered the Royal Air Force
on short commission in April 1938 aged 19.On 18 June he was posted to 9 FTS, RAF Hullavington
.
based at RAF Hornchurch
with whom he obtained his first 'kill' while over Dunkirk on 31 May 1940, when he brought down a Bf 109. He had already damaged a Ju 88 off Calais on 21 May.
His next claim was a Bf 109 of JG 51, shot down in flames over the English Channel
on 19 July and ten days later, while intercepting a raid over Dover
, claimed twoJu 87s. On 11 August he claimed 2 Bf 109 'probables' and on the following day destroyed one more. He claimed a Bf 109 down on 13 August, and on the 15th he damaged three Heinkel He 111
bombers. On 18 August O'Meara claimed shared destruction of a Ju 88 and a He 111 destroyed.
O'Meara was shortly afterwards posted to No. 72 Squadron
at Biggin Hill
, damaging a Do. 17 on 27 September. A D.F.C. was approved the same month and then he was sent for a 'rest period' at 421 Flight at Hawkinge
, working up new pilots who would eventually form the nucleus of No.91 Squadron RAF.
O'Meara shot down an He. 59
of Seenotgruppe 3 on 26 November, a Bf 109 fighter-bomber of LG 2 that was attacking a Royal Navy Minesweeper on 5 December, and then damaged another one immediately afterwards.Whilst with No. 91, he was shot down by a Bf 109 and crash-landed near Folkstone on 17 February 1941. He was awarded a Bar to the DFC on 18 March 1941.
By late April 1941 he had destroyed another Seenotgruppe 3 He. 59
. On 3 September he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and temporarily returned to No. 64 Squadron RAF as a Flight Commander, bringing his score to at least 12 confirmed victories. He was rested from operations in October 1941, joining 1491 Target Towing Flight at Tain
.
In July 1942 after a brief spell with 164 squadron, he was posted to Nigeria
, seving with 1432 Flight until August. After returning to the UK, O'Meara was appointed RAF Liaison Officer to the Army Chief of Staff. In January 1943, O'Meara joined No. 234 Squadron until March, then, with a second D.F.C. In April 1943 he was given command of 131 Squadron at Castletown. He was promoted to Squadron Leader on 1 January 1944 and was in command of 131 Squadron until May 1944, flying 170 sorties, claiming an He. 59 and a Bf 109 and bringing his score to at least 12 victories. .
He was then posted to 10 group HQ, and in October 1944 was recommended for a Second Bar to the D.F.C.. AVM Trafford Leigh-Mallory approved a D.S.O.
on 27 October 1944 instead, as his length of uninterrupted active service warranting higher recognition.
His wartime score totals 11 and 2 shared destroyed, 1 unconfirmed destroyed, 4 probables, 11 and 1 shared damaged.
After several civilian jobs he re-joined the RAF in 1950 where he remained until 1959 and retired in 1959 with the rank of Squadron Leader
.
He then ran a restaurant before buying a Hotel in Port Gaverne, Cornwall.
He died in 1974 in the Barnstaple Hospital in North Devon after suffering for several years with a liver infection picked up from a parasite while stationed in India. He is buried in Old Town Cemetery in Bideford.
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
James Joseph "Orange" O'Meara DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, DFC & Bar (born 20 February 1919 - died 1974) was a Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
Spitfire Ace
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
with 11 kills, two shared victories, one unconfirmed destroyed, four probables, 11 damaged and one shared damaged.
Early life
O'Meara was born in BarnsleyBarnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
on 20 February 1919, and entered the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
on short commission in April 1938 aged 19.On 18 June he was posted to 9 FTS, RAF Hullavington
RAF Hullavington
RAF Hullavington was a Royal Air Force station in Hullavington, near Chippenham, Wiltshire.RAF Hullavington has switched regiments. At the current time it is RLC-Royal Logistic Corps.-History:Opened on 9 July 1937 as a Flying Training School....
.
War Time Service
His first operational posting was to No. 64 SquadronNo. 64 Squadron RAF
No. 64 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was first formed on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. It was last disbanded on 31 January 1991 at RAF Leuchars.- 1916 to 1919 :...
based at RAF Hornchurch
RAF Hornchurch
RAF Hornchurch was an airfield in the south of Hornchurch in what is now the London Borough of Havering. Known as Sutton's Farm during the First World War, it occupied of the farm of the same name and was situated east north-east of Charing Cross...
with whom he obtained his first 'kill' while over Dunkirk on 31 May 1940, when he brought down a Bf 109. He had already damaged a Ju 88 off Calais on 21 May.
His next claim was a Bf 109 of JG 51, shot down in flames over the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
on 19 July and ten days later, while intercepting a raid over Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
, claimed twoJu 87s. On 11 August he claimed 2 Bf 109 'probables' and on the following day destroyed one more. He claimed a Bf 109 down on 13 August, and on the 15th he damaged three Heinkel He 111
Heinkel He 111
The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
bombers. On 18 August O'Meara claimed shared destruction of a Ju 88 and a He 111 destroyed.
O'Meara was shortly afterwards posted to No. 72 Squadron
No. 72 Squadron RAF
No. 72 Squadron Royal Air Force started its service life supporting the army during World War I on operations in Middle East and afterwards was quickly disbanded. In its second incarnation the squadron was a real fighter unit, transitioning from Gloster Gladiator biplanes to Gloster Javelin...
at Biggin Hill
Biggin Hill
Biggin Hill is an area and electoral ward in the outskirts of the London Borough of Bromley in southeast London, United Kingdom.-History:Historically the settlement was known as Aperfield and formed part of the parish of Cudham...
, damaging a Do. 17 on 27 September. A D.F.C. was approved the same month and then he was sent for a 'rest period' at 421 Flight at Hawkinge
Hawkinge
Hawkinge is a village and civil parish in the Shepway District of Kent, England. The original village of Hawkinge is actually just less than a mile due east of the present village centre ; the modern, much larger, village of Hawkinge was formed by the merging of Hawkinge and Uphill...
, working up new pilots who would eventually form the nucleus of No.91 Squadron RAF.
O'Meara shot down an He. 59
Heinkel He 59
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Green, William.War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Six: Floatplanes. London: Macdonald, 1962.* Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. New York: Doubleday, 1972. ISBN 0-385-05782-2....
of Seenotgruppe 3 on 26 November, a Bf 109 fighter-bomber of LG 2 that was attacking a Royal Navy Minesweeper on 5 December, and then damaged another one immediately afterwards.Whilst with No. 91, he was shot down by a Bf 109 and crash-landed near Folkstone on 17 February 1941. He was awarded a Bar to the DFC on 18 March 1941.
By late April 1941 he had destroyed another Seenotgruppe 3 He. 59
Heinkel He 59
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Green, William.War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Six: Floatplanes. London: Macdonald, 1962.* Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. New York: Doubleday, 1972. ISBN 0-385-05782-2....
. On 3 September he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and temporarily returned to No. 64 Squadron RAF as a Flight Commander, bringing his score to at least 12 confirmed victories. He was rested from operations in October 1941, joining 1491 Target Towing Flight at Tain
Tain
Tain is a royal burgh and post town in the committee area of Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland area of Scotland.-Etymology:...
.
In July 1942 after a brief spell with 164 squadron, he was posted to Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, seving with 1432 Flight until August. After returning to the UK, O'Meara was appointed RAF Liaison Officer to the Army Chief of Staff. In January 1943, O'Meara joined No. 234 Squadron until March, then, with a second D.F.C. In April 1943 he was given command of 131 Squadron at Castletown. He was promoted to Squadron Leader on 1 January 1944 and was in command of 131 Squadron until May 1944, flying 170 sorties, claiming an He. 59 and a Bf 109 and bringing his score to at least 12 victories. .
He was then posted to 10 group HQ, and in October 1944 was recommended for a Second Bar to the D.F.C.. AVM Trafford Leigh-Mallory approved a D.S.O.
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
on 27 October 1944 instead, as his length of uninterrupted active service warranting higher recognition.
His wartime score totals 11 and 2 shared destroyed, 1 unconfirmed destroyed, 4 probables, 11 and 1 shared damaged.
After several civilian jobs he re-joined the RAF in 1950 where he remained until 1959 and retired in 1959 with the rank of Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
.
Post-war and death
After his retirement he worked as an architect for Wimpey Homes before running several business enterprises. His daughter was hit and killed by a car in 1969 and his relationship with his wife deterioated and they divorced.He then ran a restaurant before buying a Hotel in Port Gaverne, Cornwall.
He died in 1974 in the Barnstaple Hospital in North Devon after suffering for several years with a liver infection picked up from a parasite while stationed in India. He is buried in Old Town Cemetery in Bideford.
External links
Sources
- Pilot's flying log book (Form 414) J.J. O'Meara.
- Aces High; C. Shores & C. Williams, grub Street, 1994 (p. 470)
- Price, Dr Alfred. (1996) Mark I/II Spitfire Aces 1939 - 1941. Osprey Publishing, London. ISBN 978-1-85532-627-9