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HMS BITER gallery

Images and memorabilia  from the private collections of Air Mechanic (Ordinance) John Crowther are marked †.   Additional Images, marked © IWM, are reproduced under the terms of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence.

Most of these images are sized to fit the screen, however where possible those containing groups of personnel will open large enough to see individuals. Many, but not all, of these images are available in larger, high-res versions and copies can be supplied upon receipt of a photo request.  If you have pictures or other memorabilia that you can contribute to this project please contact the Webmaster using the Offer of assistance form.

 The Royal Navy Research Archive is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License See our terms of use for conditions regarding using these images in other works.

 

 

In UK waters and early operations

HMS BITER, at anchor Greenock. © IWM A 16880
HMS BITER, at anchor Greenock. © IWM A 16879
HMS BITER underway with one Wildcat and one Swordfish on deck. © IWM FL 2164
Swordfish launch. †

 

 

Swordfish launch. †
Pilots view as a Swordfish approaches to land on the deck. © IWM A 22717
Pilots view as a Swordfish approaches to land on the deck. © IWM A 22718
A successful landing. †

 

September 19th 1943: A Fulmar fighter of 808 squadron comes in for a practice landing on BITER.  †
September 19th 1943: A Fulmar fighter of 808 squadron catches a wire during a practice landing session on BITER.  †
BITER during her work-up period with the Home Fleet in October 1943. © IWM A 20062

 

 

Convoy protection & anti-submarine sweeps

BITER on convoy escort duties.
March 1944:  The Observer's view from a Swordfish just after take-off.  †
BITER escorting a convoy. © IWM A 22716
BITER escorting a convoy. v
A swordfish launched depth charge explodes over  a suspected U-Boat.
Wildcat fighter  on  deck preparing fro take-off. © IWM A 22241
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BI16 February 1944 Lieutenant (A) E. S. Erikson, RNZNVR, Wildcat pilot after he had helped to destroy the Junkers 290.
16 February 1944, Lieutenant (A) W. C. Dimes, RNZNVR, Wildcat pilot after he had helped to destroy the Junkers 290

 

 

Ship and squadron personnel

 

Captain Boswell †
AM(O)s of 811 squadron on BITER 1943, John Crowther is front row far right.f  †
AM(O)s of 811 squadron on BITER escorting a Freetown bound convoy 1944, John Crowther is front row second from right. †
Personnel of 811 squadron pose on BITER with one ot their Wildcat fighters. †

 

Cartoon showering  the various departments that made up HMS BITER. †
HMS BITER unofficial ship's badge. †

 

 

 

 



 

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