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James Baird Coward |
 James Baird Coward Name : James Baird Coward Born : 18th May 1915 Service Number : 39412 Awards : Air Force Cross |
James Baird Coward was born on May 18 1915 at Teddington and educated at St John’s School, Leatherhead. After a few years as an apprentice bookkeeper, he joined the RAF in October 1936 and trained as a pilot. When Coward joined No.19 Squadron at Duxford a year later, it was equipped with the Gauntlet biplane fighter. A fine artist, he executed a set of caricatures of his fellow pilots and was then asked to paint the squadron badge on the fins of the silver fabric covered aircraft. After weeks of painstaking work, he had just completed the final aircraft when the Munich crisis erupted and all RAF aircraft had camouflage paint applied to their skins. Shortly afterwards No.19 became the first RAF squadron to be equipped with the Spitfire. The squadron was heavily engaged in providing support during the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk, and on June 2 1940 Coward was credited with the probable destruction of a Messerschmitt Bf 109. Coward, who had seen action over Dunkirk, was one of the more senior pilots on No.19 Squadron flying from Duxford. Early on the morning of August 31 1940 the squadron was scrambled to intercept an incoming raid, and Coward was leading his section at 22,000ft when they identified a formation of Dornier bombers escorted by a force of 60 fighters. Coward dived on the bombers but his cannons jammed as he opened fire. As he pulled away, he felt a dull thud on his left leg and looked down to see his foot almost severed. The controls of his Spitfire Mk.I X4231 were damaged and he was forced to bail out. He decided to free-fall to a lower height but could not stand the pain as his foot twisted in the slipstream. He was also losing a great deal of blood, so he pulled the ripcord. Fearing that he would bleed to death in the long descent, he took off his helmet and used the long radio lead to tie a tourniquet to arrest the bleeding. The Spitfire I (X4231) crashed at Little Shelford, Essex. His leg was amputated, and after five months recovering from his wounds, Coward joined Winston Churchill’s personal staff. Each weekend was spent at Chequers or the Prime Minister’s private home at Chartwell, where Coward coordinated the roof-spotting organisation. In January 1942 Coward returned to flying and became an instructor at a fighter training unit. He later commanded the Aircraft Delivery Unit at Croydon. He remained in the post-war RAF, serving as the air attaché in Oslo and at the RAF College Cranwell before taking command of an advanced flying training school equipped with the twin-engined Meteor fighter. He carried out many test flights investigating the spinning characteristics of the jet, and at the end of his appointment was awarded an AFC. In 1957 Coward assumed command of RAF Boulmer in Northumberland, one of the RAF’s main radar early warning and fighter control units. Three years later he left for Australia to join the British Defence Liaison Staff. For four years he was the Air Officer Commanding Air Cadets and Commandant of the Air Training Corps before being appointed, in 1966, defence attaché in Pretoria. On leaving South Africa in 1969, Coward retired from the RAF and moved with his wife, Cynthia, to Australia. He passed away on 25th July 2012. |
Known Service Details : | |||||||
Squadron | Rank | Start of Service | End of Service | Known Dates | Aircraft | Airframes | Notes |
1937 | 31st August 1940 | ||||||
Photos Submitted Through Our Directory |
 James Baird Coward |
Known Victory Claims : | ||||||||
Date | Rank | Squadron | Claimed | Location | Time | Aircraft Flown | Notes | |
02/06/1940 | Probable victory | |||||||
Known Individual Aircraft : | ||||||||
Type | Serial | Codes | First Flew | Squadron History | Aircrew History | History Notes | Engine | Factory |
09/08/1940 | Merlin III | Eastleigh | ||||||
| Aircraft for : James Baird Coward | ||
| A list of all aircraft associated with James Baird Coward. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | ||
| Aircraft | Info | |
Gauntlet
Manufacturer : Gloster | Gauntlet Full profile not yet available. | |
Meteor 
Manufacturer : Gloster Production Began : 1944 Number Built : 3947 | Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet. Designed by George Carter, and built by the Gloster Aircraft Company, Armstrong-Whitworth, the Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Gloster Meteor was not an aerodynamically advanced aircraft but the Gloster design team succeeded in producing an effective jet fighter that served the RAF and other air forces for decades. Meteors saw action with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in the Korean War and other air forces used the Meteor. The Royal Danish Air Force, The Belgian Air Force and Isreali Air Force kept the Meteor in service until the early 1970's. A Total of 3947 meteors were built and two Meteors, WL419 and WA638, remain in service with the Martin-Baker company as ejection seat testbeds. | |
Spitfire 
Manufacturer : Supermarine Production Began : 1936 Retired : 1948 Number Built : 20351 | Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954. | |
| Squadrons for : James Baird Coward | ||
| A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by James Baird Coward. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name. | ||
| Squadron | Info | |
No.19 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 1st September 1915 Possunt quia posse videntur - They can because they think they can | No.19 Sqn RAF o. 19 Squadron was formed from a nucleus provided by No. 5 Reserve Squadron at Castle Bromwich on 1 September 1915. It was almost a year later that the Squadron went to France, flying contact patrols with BE12s before re-equipping with French-built Spads. These were used to strafe ground troops during the battles at Arras, Messines Ridge and Ypres. Early in 1918, Sopwith Dolphins arrived and these were used in bomber escort duties. A year after the end of the War, the Squadron was disbanded reforming on 1 April 1924 at Duxford. The Squadron remained at Duxford throughout the inter-war years with a succession of fighters: Siskins, Bulldogs and Gauntlets receiving Spitifre on the 4th August 1938 The Squadron was stationed in the UK after the outbreak of the Second World War,the Squadron fought well over the evacuation at Dunkirk where they lost 4 aircraft for the destruction of 13 E.A.'s. The Squadron destroyed 2 He 111's on the night of the 19th of June 1940, and was part of No. 12 Group RAF, RAF Fighter Command, during the Battle of Britain. 19 Squadron formed part of the Duxford Wing, 12 Group's 'Big Wing' formation. Later versions of Spitfires were flown until the arrival of Mustangs for close-support duties in early 1944. After D-Day, No. 19 briefly went across the English Channel before starting long-range escort duties from RAF Peterhead for Coastal Command off the coast of Norway. After world war two the squadron flew at first de Havilland Hornets and later a variety of jet fighter aircraft including the Hawker Hunter fighter then re-equipping with English Electric Lightning, (1962 - 1964) at that time 19 Sqdn was based at RAF Station Leconfield. The Squadron and the sister Squadron 92 were called upon as fast response interceptors during the "cold war", later being disbanded on 9 January 1992. Their final location before being disbanded was RAF Wildenrath in Germany near Geilenkirchen | |
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