|
7 Dec 1936 |
S |
No 269 Squadron was re-formed
at RAF Bircham Newton from C flight of No 206 Squadron (It was No 220
Squadron according to 'RAF Squadrons' by Wg Cdr CG Jefford), equipped
with Anson Mk 1 aircraft. |
|
30 Dec 1936 |
S |
No. 269 Squadron moved to RAF Abbotsinch,
Glasgow. Gp Capt WE Rankin CBE DSO in his book ‘It’s Been A Great Life’
writes: “When I joined the RAF, and up to late 1934, promotion for
officers was very slow…..expansion to meet the growing German threat
began in 1934, with the creation of five new sqadrons. Two more, which
had hitherto been no more than the flying components of two experimental
establishments, were also reactivated as real squadrons. Expansion of
the training organisation was also begun and, by the end of that year, a
very refreshing change started to permeate the service as promotions
began to be speeded up to fill all the new posts being created. By early
1937, most promotions were being made immediately on completion of
minumum qualifying periods and young officers were being given
responsibilities and commands at ages which would have been quite
unthinkable only two years earlier. For those of us anywhere near my
seniority in the service, it was a time of exhilarating challenge. Such
was the state of affairs when I arrived at Abbotsinch. I found that I
was the senior officer in the newly forming squadron and automatically
became its commander for the time being. Its commander designate still
had to do the GR course, and would not be joining until the end of May.
I had strong views on what a squadron should be, and here was a
wonderful opportunity to form a brand new one, and to train and mould it
into the kind of unit I knew the RAF needed. I had magnificent material
to work with. At 28, I was the oldest officer in the squadron. The only
other flight lieutenant in the squadron had about the same length of
service as myself. Apart from him, practically all the officers and NCO
pilots were in their very early twenties, most of them fresh from their
flying training schools or the School of Air Navigation. All of them
seemed keenly aware of the opportunity they had to build up a first
class unit and were eager to respond to any leadership which would show
them how. Ground staff were just as keen and ready to respond.
“ When I joined it, the squadron
consisted of one flight of eight Ansons, partly equipped, and about the
same number of crews, partly trained. As new aircraft were allotted to
us, we collected them from the makers. They were bare of all service
equipment, such as bomb racks, bomb sights, guns, radios, and so on. We
had to draw all this equipment from RAF stores and install it ourselves.
As aircraft numbers grew, I formed two new flights, appointing young
flying officers as flight commanders, giving them whatever guidance they
needed, but encouraging them to think and act for themselves within the
guide lines which we had discussed. They responded splendidly to their
new responsibilities. In this way, in the next three months, I got the
squadron built up to its full establishment of aircraft and crews. Most
of the pilots posted to the squadron during this period had never flown
Ansons, or any other twin engined aircraft, so I turned instructor again
and gave them all the necessary conversion training.
“ Less than four weeks after
joining, I was asked by HQ Coastal Command if the squadron was in a fit
state to take part in an exercise over the English Channel. I said we
would take part; I was not going to miss this opportunity to give both
air and ground crews their first taste of functioning as a squadron. We
had to move to Boscombe Down for the exercise. We were to intercept and
make mock attacks on the ships of the Home Fleet as it returned to
Britain from its spring cruise. At that time, only two of our aircraft
were equipped with radio and we were not supposed to fly over the sea
without it. I stretched the rules a bit and, without telling Command of
our shortage, put up two flights, each led by one of the radio-equipped
machines. We found the fleet and made our attacks, thereby earning a
complimentary signal from Command. The only other squadron taking part
was older than 269, fully formed and equipped, and led by its proper
commanding officer. It failed to find the fleet. This little triumph
gave the whole squadron a feeling of pride in itself.
“ Back at Abbotsinch, while
continuing with the building and training of the squadron, I also went
to several shipping firms in Glasgow and enlisted their co-operation in
an ongoing programme of interception of their inward bound ships, and
exchange of lamp signals with them. This was particularly valuable
training for us. In war time, interception of, and visual communication
with, HM ships would be an important part of our work; but, in peace
time, we had very few opportunities to practice it with them.
“ When the commander designate,
Squadron Leader Norman Allinson, arrived to take up his command, I was
able to hand over a fully formed and equipped squadron, in a good state
of training, and with its tail well in the air. After thoroughly
checking over his new command, he found there was nothing which he
wanted to change, and was good enough to say so. It had been a
wonderfully challenging and deeply satisfying three months for me.
“ After handing over the squadron to its new
commanding officer, I took over "C" Flight and became squadron training
officer. In that capacity, I continued to give a lot of dual instruction
to incoming pilots who had never flown twin engined aircraft…..” |
|
17 Jan 1938 |
S |
No 269 Squadron detached to RAF
Eastleigh |
|
24 Mar1938 |
S |
No 269 Squadron returned to RAF
Abbotsinch. |
|
29 Sep 1938 |
S |
No 269 Squadron detached to RAF
Thornaby. Gp Capt Rankin continues “At the end of September, RAF
squadrons were ordered to their war stations, and 269 Squadron moved to
Thornaby, near Middlesborough, on the 30th. This was the day on which Mr
Chamberlain and M. Daladier signed the infamous Munich Treaty with
Hitler, after which Mr Chamberlain returned to London, waved his
umbrella as he stepped out of his aeroplane, and said he had brought
home peace with honour. The move to war stations, and the preparations
which we had to make there for going to war, were a valuable exercise.
Many weaknesses of organisation and shortages of supplies were brought
to light or emphasised, and we were given the chance to do something
about them before we finally had to go to war, almost twelve months
later. About this time, one of the squadron pilots lost control while
flying in cloud and dived vertically into the ground at high speed,
smashing the aeroplane and all aboard to pieces, literally. Local people
removed the bodies, or as much of them as could be found, before anyone
from the squadron arrived on the scene. Next day, I took a working party
to remove the debris and clean up the site, which was on private
property. It was a gruesome job. About this time also, we learnt that
the production of the Blackburn Botha aeroplane, which had been
specially designed for maritime reconnaissance work, had lagged so badly
that a stop-gap replacement for the Anson, this time with real military
capability, had had to be ordered. This was the Lockheed Hudson, a well
revised design based on the Lockheed 14 passenger aeroplane. The Hudsons
were to start coming into service in the spring of 1939. |
|
6 Oct 1938 |
S |
No 269 Squadron returned to RAF
Abbotsinch. Gp Capt Rankin “I then returned to 269 Squadron and
resumed normal squadron duties for about a month while waiting for the
first Hudsons to be delivered to the RAF….. I was still only detached
from 269 Squadron, which meant that no one could be posted to the
squadron in my place. The squadrons to be converted onto Hudsons were
located at AbbotsiInch and Leuchars in Scotland, Thornaby in Yorkshire,
Bircham Newton in Norfolk, and Tangmere in Sussex. Converting them was
expected to take at least a year. It was therefore necessary that I be
posted out of 269 Squadron so that a replacement could be posted in……
This would enable 269 Squadron to get a replacement for its missing
flight commander.” |
|
1 Dec 1938 |
S |
“In December, I was asked to
nominate an officer pilot to go to British Airways, at Heston, for
training on Lockheed 14s, and then undertake the training of the
squadron and flight commanders in the squadrons receiving the Hudsons,
as they were introduced. I was keen to learn about the new aeroplane and
I knew that the training of new pilots on it would be very important. I
was the only officer on the station with the necessary qualifications
for this task, so I nominated myself, and got the job. |
|
1 Jan 1939 |
S |
“I went to Heston early in
January. The intention of Air Ministry and Coastal Command was that we
should do a conversion course on Lockheed 14s with British Airways,
after which we would be competent to fly the Hudsons. As the squadrons
started to get their Hudsons, we would visit each squadron in turn and
teach the flight commanders and commanding officers to fly them. Those
officers would then be responsible for teaching their own pilots. We
felt there was a grave danger, indeed a virtual certainty, that some of
the flight commanders would fail to understand fully the importance of
what we taught them and that the training ultimately received by their
pilots would become dangerously defective. Once we reached that
conclusion, I went to HQ Coastal Command to discuss the matter with the
staff officer in charge of training Wing Commander Allinson who, until
three months previously, had been commanding 269 Squadron. Wing
Commander Allinson said he had complete faith in my judgment, but I
would have to be the one to go to Air Ministry and sell the idea to the
Director of Training. The Director, naturally enough, questioned me
sharply about why I thought the traditional method of converting
squadrons to new aircraft would not work with Hudsons……..he felt he must
accept my advice, and I got my little team, which quickly became known
as the Hudson Training Circus.…….. |
|
1 May1939 |
S |
First Hudson Mk 1 aircraft
delivered to RAF in UK. |
|
26 July 1939 |
S |
15 Ansons in three Vics of five
were returning to Abbotsinch from Belfast when, after crossing the Irish
Sea, they ran into bad weather over the Scottish hills. Anson M (K6255)
crashed in heavy mist when its wing tip hit the top of Shield Hill,
Inverkip, Renfrewshire . The pilot, Sgt Robson, died later but was the
only fatal casualty.
|
|
25 Aug 1939 |
S |
No 269 Squadron moved to RAF
Montrose, Scotland. |
|
3 Sep 1939 |
S |
Flg Off JC Graham was a member
of No 269 Squadron at the outbreak of war and first left the squadron
after it later deployed to RAF Wick. |
|
15 Sep 1939 |
S |
Sgt Smith, flying Anson Y
(K8744) dropped two 100lb bombs in an attack on a U-boat at 1725hrs in
position 5729N 0018W. A claim was made for a kill but disallowed by
the Admiralty Assessment Committee who considered, however, that the
boat might have been considerably damaged. It appears that this was the
first Coastal Command attack on an enemy submarine and was made by No
269 Squadron. Not confirmed by German records which do not show U-boat
at sea in this area. |
|
19 Sep 1939 |
S |
Extract from Form Blue signed
by Wg Cdr FN Pearce, Officer Commanding No 269 Squadron, concerning Plt
Off Burrell, pilot of Anson V/269: “ reports seeing enemy Flying Boat to
North. A/C V went to attack as FB circled two tankers. ‘V’ gave chase
and was about to open fire on rear of FB when a burst of fire from FB
killed pilot instantly. Navigator managed with difficulty to get pilot
out of seat and took control bringing A/C back. The Air Gunner had no
chance of bringing gun to bear at any time. FB last seen flying out of
range. Position QSSV 2737. 1010 hours approx.” Sgt Willits was the
Navigator and was awarded a DFM, the first person to get a decoration in
WW2. |
|
10 Oct 1939 |
S |
No 269 Squadron moved to RAF
Wick |
|
18 Oct 1939 |
S |
Anson aircraft E (K6317) of No
269 Squadron, pilot's name unknown, attacked what it believed to be a
periscope at 1145hrs in 5553N 0201W with one 100lb a/s bomb. A marker
was dropped and later on D.C. attacks were made by destroyers HMS
Afridi and HMS Woolston. The Admiralty assessment was
serious damage shared between the aircraft and the destroyers. (n.b.
Other records give date as 8 Oct 1939). No German record of incident. |
|
28 Oct 1939 |
S |
Plt Off Holmes, Anson aircraft
Z (N4959) of No 269 Squadron attacked U-boat at 1120hrs in position
5959N 0601W with one 100lb a/s bomb, no damage. Sgt G Rees (Reen?) in
Anson aircraft K8760 attacked oil slick some time after U-boat had been
seen to dive with one 100lb a/s bomb at 0834hrs. in Northern Transit
area - no position given in record. No damage. |
|
3 Nov 1939 |
S |
Sqn Ldr R A McMurtrie in Anson
aircraft U (K8839) of N 269 Squadron attacked U-boat at 1038hrs in
position 5953N 0540W with two a/s bombs. No damage. From German records
this was U37 reporting two bombs dropped with no damage. |
|
19 Nov 1939 |
S |
Plt Off I Patterson in Anson
aircraft L (N9535) of No 269 Squadron attacked U-boat at 1255hrs in
position 5900N 0550W with two 100 a/s bombs. No damage. |
|
8 Dec 1939 |
S |
Plt Off D D Weightman in Anson
aircraft K (K6253) of No 269 Squadron attacked a U-boat at 0930hrs in
position 5932N 0700W with two 100lb a/s bombs. Admiralty assessment was
no damage but the German records establish that this was U43 who
reported that both bombs exploded close to the boat though only slight
damage was caused. |
|
3 Jan 1940 |
S |
Anson K8744, the aircraft
involved in the attack on 15 September, was struck off charge. |
|
7 Feb 1940 |
S |
Sgt G McGuinness in Anson
aircraft D (N9677) attacked U-boat at 0845hrs in position 5925N 0646W
with one 100lb a/s bomb. German records establish this was U48 - no
damage. (n.b. Other record gives date as 20 Feb 1940). Flt Lt Mossford
in Anson aircraft N (N9675) attacked U-boat at 0900hrs in position 5904N
0422W. No damage. |
|
10 Feb 1940 |
S |
Flt Lt Bray in Anson aircraft S
(N9674) attacked U-boat at 1325hrs in position 6016N 0630W. No damage.
Sgt Willits in Anson aircraft Z (N4959) attacked U-boat at 1540hrs in
position 5954N 0650W. No damage. |
|
20 Feb 1940 |
S |
Sgt McGuinness in Anson
aircraft D (N9677) attacked U-boat at 0845hrs in position 5925N 0646W.
German records establish U48 attacked. No damage. |
|
21 Feb 1940 |
S |
Sqn Ldr McMurtrie in Anson
aircraft S (N9674) attacked U-boat at 1245hrs in position 5820N 0233W.
Report states U53 was target. No damage. Later in day destroyers in
position 30 miles north of sighting attacked a U-boat. Between 2100hrs
and 0110hrs more destroyer attacks on asdic contact 10 miles further
north. Admiralty Committee credit share in these results to Anson
N9674. German report U19 slight damage. |
|
23 Feb 1940 |
S |
Flt Lt Price in Anson aircraft
L (N9535) attacked U37 at 1525hrs in position 5917N 0612W. No damage. |
|
23 Feb 1940 |
S |
Flt Lt Price in Anson aircraft
U (K8839) attacked U-boat in moonlight at 2157hrs in position 5954N
0742W. No damage. |
|
8 Apr 1940 |
S |
Anson Mark 1, N9678 went down
in the sea while on U Boat patrol, West off the Shetlands. Those missing
in action were: Capt/ 1st Pilot Flg Off Peter D. Aldous, RAF
40582 (from Canada), 2nd Pilot/Nav Sgt G.H. Scott, WOp/Ags
Cpl. G.A. Verlaque and LAC Norman McReynolds. Wg Cdr JC Graham (then
Flg Off) writes: “Peter Aldous and I, both Canadians, joined the RAF in
1938. After training we were both posted to No 269 Squadron. We became
close driends. By 1940 we were well-experienced Anson pilots and
qualified navigators. The role of the Squadron was to find and attack
U-boats. In April 1940, the squadron was maintaining a ‘continuous line
patrol’ from dawn ro dusk between the north of Scotland and the Faeroe
Islands. Aircraft followed each other at intervals. On 8 April I was
on an early morning flight, whereas Aldous took off some hours later.
When I was about half way back to the Scottish coast, we intercepted a
radio message (morse code) telling us that Peter’s aircraft was missing
and to keep a special lookout, which of course we did. Sometime later
bits of wreckage from the aircraft were found on the sea some distance
south of the Faeroes……At the start of the war all aircrew in the
squadron were pilots and all trained as navigators. We took turns as
pilot or navigator. At that time ground crew in the appropriate trades
could volunteer as wireless operators or air gunners when required.
They received six pence (or was it nine?) a day extra pay. The Air
Gunners wore a brass winged-bullet on their left sleeve and were very
proud of it. As soon as the war started these ground crew/air crew were
required regularly to fill a very large gap. Meantime wireless
operators and air gunners were being trained as a matter of urgency to
join squadrons as Sergeant aircrew. At about this time, the ground
crew/air crew could volunteer to become full-time aircrew and they would
then be promoted to Sergeant. I believe that had LAC McReynolds not
been killed he would very soon become an NCO……” |
|
15 Apr 1940 |
S |
No 269 Squadron had re-equipped
with Hudson Mk1 and had nine aircraft on strength. |
|
1 May 1940 |
S |
Three Hudson aircraft of No 269
Squadron attacked Stavanger airfield. One aircraft was shot down by a
Bf 109e. |
|
10 May 1940 |
I |
British Occupation of Iceland. |
|
30 May 1940 |
S |
78669 Pilot Officer Albert
Victor Norman Bartlett (Nobby) was reported killed in action when Hudson
I Serial N7335 code UA-F took off from RAF Wick at 11.15hrs on
reconnaissance and set course for the Norwegian coast. At 1430 hrs the
aircraft was shot down by Fw R Menge of 5/JG77near the battery at
Hellesto Island off Stavanger, Norway. The other crew members also
reported killed in action were 580215 Sergeant Albert Allen Townsend and
43136 Pilot Officer William Newell Hammond. One member of the crew
taken Prisoner of war was 524386 LAC S Mackenzie (transferred to Stalag
344 (Lamsdorf) POW no 26883.) |
|
1 Jun 1940 |
O |
British Area Combined
Headquarters formed at Mentaskolinn, being joined by the administrative
section the following month. Later both moved into Atlantic Camp. |
|
1 Jun 1940 |
S |
No 269 Squadron ceased to
operate Anson aircraft. |
|
11 Jun 1940 |
S |
12 Hudsons led by Wing Commander Pearce took off in
bad weather from Sumburgh, Shetland at 1130hrs. Their mission was to
attack the "Scharnhorst" "Gneisenau" and "Admiral Hipper" in Trondheim
harbour. Over the target at 15,000 feet they were attacked by four Me
109E of 11/JG77 and one Me 110 of 3/ZG76 from Vaernes airfield. UA-P
(P5131) was probably shot down by flak over Trondheim, and spiralled
down into the Gaulosen fjord outside the mill in Buvika. Sgt.John Craig
(20) was shot dead by one of the Messerschmitts while hanging in his
parachute. Sgt.George William Robson went down in the sea with the
plane, the rest of the crew managed to bail out. Leading Aircraftman A.
Napier became POW. The navigator Sgt. Alex Sherwood managed to escape to
Sweden with help from Norwegians. UA-G(N7361) made a forced landing on
the fjord, 400m outside Steinshylla. All four on board managed to jump
into the dinghy before the aircraft sank. Sgt. Erich T D Machell was
badly wounded and died at the Red Cross Hospital in Trondheim the next
day and is buried in Stavne Cemetery. The others: Sgt.E B Laschelles,
Sgt A M S Brodie and Sgt J G Hepburn, became POW. |
|
15 Jun 1940 |
S |
Germany occupied naval bases from
Norway to Bay of Biscay. |
|
22 Jun 1940 |
S |
Scharnhorst
attacked (no damage) 50 miles north of Bergen by six Hudson aircraft of
No 269 Squadron followed by Beaufort aircraft of No 442 Squadron. Heavy
flak caused damage to all the Hudson aircraft which, nevertheless,
returned safely to Wick. |
|
27 Jun 1940 |
S |
Special reconnaissance of
Norwegian Coast . Hudson I N7330/C - took off at 0600 hrs with one
other and shot down by fighters off the Norwegian Coast, killing the
four crew. No trace of the captain was found and he is commemorated on
the Runnymede Memorial. Captain: 36183 Plt Off Peter Noel Trolove RAF -
age 25. 658hrs. 31st op. (Two of of Trolove's brothers died while
serving with the RNZAF). Trolove was shot down by Luftwaffe ace Anton
Hackl. Anton “Toni” Hackl was born on 25 March 1915 at Regensburg. and
completed Pilot training in the autumn of 1936. On 1 May 1940,
Unteroffizier Hackl was based in Norway serving with 5./JG 77. He
achieved his first victories on 15 June 1940 when he shot down two RAF
Hudsons over Stavanger. On 27 June he shot down a Hudson, but was
wounded in this battle. He was promoted from Oberfeldwebel to
Oberleutnant for bravery in combat. He had recorded four victories
during his time in Norway. He shot down his 118th and last enemy
aircraft on the Eastern Front, a LaGG-3, on 19 September 1942.
|
|
7 Jul 1940 |
O |
One battalion Cameron
Highlanders of Ottawa and one battalion Fusiliers Mont Royal arrived at
Reykjavik and two days later were deployed to Hveragerdi (Headquarters),
Kaldađarnes and other locations in defence of Southland.. |
|
15 Jul 1940 |
S |
No 269 Squadron was fully
operational with 18 Hudson Mk1 aircraft. |
|
23 Jul 1940 |
S |
Hudson I P5152(P or J) took off
at 0415 hrs captained by Flt Lt ‘Weaver’ Price RAF and immediately
collided with a 3 Sqdn Hurricane I (P2862), the bomb load exploding
after it had crashed and caught fire. All four crew died (Plt Off James
Fleming, Plt Off Billy Appleby and Sgt Laurie Land). The Hurricane pilot
(Flt Lt Bisgood) survived but was severely injured. |
|
1 Aug 1940 |
O |
Work had started on an RAF
operational base in Iceland. No 30 Wing arrived to administer a
landplane force at the airfield under construction at Kaldađarnes. The
Wing was controlled by No 18 Group at Pitreavie Castle in Scotland. |
|
4 Aug 1940 |
S |
An aircraft of No 269 Squadron
attacked a U-boat in position 5948N 0530W. |
|
9 Aug 1940 |
S |
Wg Cdr RA McMurtrie appointed
OC No 269 Squadron |
|
27 Aug 1940 |
S |
Battle aircraft of No 98
Squadron, having been transferred from Bomber Command, arrived at
Kaldađarnes equipped with Battle aircraft; also a Tiger Moth and some
Hurricane 1a and started operations. The officers of the squadron were
invited to dinner at the Headquarters of the Canadian regiments in Hveragerdi. |
|
12 Sep 1940 |
S |
Detachment of No 98 Squadron
deployed from Kaldađarnes to Melgerdi for five days |
|
13 Sep 1940 |
S |
Battle aircraft L5343 of No 98
Squadron made a successful wheels down forced landing in the interior of
Iceland on boulder strewn terrain. The aircraft was restored after the
war and is Now on display at the RAF Museum, Hendon. |
|
24 Oct 1940 |
S |
Hudson P5132, (Flt Lt NB Mole 37779) reported
missing. Other members of crew were three WOp/Ags: Sgt John (Jack)
Sharvin 550430, Sgt DAJ Smith 742822 and Sgt AW Campbell 545658. |
|
11 Nov 1940 |
O |
Admiral Dönitz moved U-boat
Headquarters from Paris to a large chateau overlooking River Scorff at
Kerneval, outside Lorient. |
|
1 Dec 1940 |
A |
Airfields were still under
construction at Reykjavik and Kaldađarnes |
|
18 Dec 1940 |
S |
Flg Off HH Eccles joined No 269
Squadron at Wick. |
|
22 Dec 1940 |
S |
An estimated crowd of 20,000
people was present at the Union Air Terminal, Burbank, California to
witness the presentation of the Hudson aircraft “Spirit of
Lockheed-Vega Employees” to the people of Great Britain.
This gift was made possible by the spontaneous and voluntary donation of
two hours or more time on the part of each of some 18,000 of the
Lockheed and Vega employees. |
