16 October 1940 Northern Front Due to the British presence in Gedaref, the Italians decide to launch an attack on the airfield. For this purpose, General Pietro Piacentini (responsible for the North Sector) joins the Barentu airfield to coordinate the bombing. He took off at 05h25 aboard a Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 followed by eight Fiat CR.42…
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15 October 1940 Northern Front The days of 15 and 16 October are marked by the events related to the deployment on Gedaref. On 12 October 12, eight Vickers Wellesley, No.47 (RAF) Squadron, under the command of Squadron Leader James E. Pelly-Fry, took off at 09h20 to reach the forward aerodrome of Gedaref. They were…
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14 October 1940 Northern Front It should be noted that the Italian anti-aircraft defence claimed the destruction of a British aircraft over the port of Massawa[1], the plane falling into the sea. There is, however, no record of this incident in the British archives. The only presence of a British aircraft is that of Vickers…
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28 – 29 June 1940 These two days are essentially devoted to a series of training sessions during the day and night. Thus, three pilots are sent over the Sutton Bridge firing range. At the same time, a patrol was conducted on the night of 29 June, between 23h35 and 01h25, over Kenley by Flying…
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13 October 1940 Northern Front A Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 of 44bis Gruppo BT (6a Squadriglia BT) makes an attack on Aden at around 07h55. Flying Officer Gordon S.K. Haywood (L9047) of No.94 (RAF) Squadron takes off on alert and succeeds to seriously damaged the italian bomber. The Bristol Blenheim L8384 (Squadron Leader Alan McD Bowman) of…
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27 June 1940 Ten aircraft take off from Kenley at 09:40 am to join Hawkinge to escort a Flight of twelve Bristol Blenheim in charge of an aerial photography mission over northern France. The mission went off without incident and everyone returned to Kenley by 12h25.[1] Pilots and Aircrafts : Flying Officer Herbert S. Giddings…
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12 October 1940 Southern Front On the night of 12 to 13 October, the SAAF organized a combined bombardment of No.11 and No.12 (SAAF) Squadron on the Italian airfield of Yabelo between 22h00 and 01h30. The attack began with the arrival of a first formation of four Junkers Ju.86 [1] who, thanks to the light…
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26 June 1940 Twelve pilots take off from Kenley at 06h44 in the direction of Hawkinge to carry out a reconnaissance of the Dieppe – Rouen – Boos sector. There were no events to report during the patrol and the entire formation returned to Hawkinge et 0840 hours. However, on landing, the Hawker Hurricane Mk…
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11 October 1940 Northern Front At approximately 09h45, HMS Auckland [1] reported an unsuccessful attack by two Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s from an estimated altitude of 3 500 meters off Aden. The Bristol Blenheim L9042 (Flying Officer Grice, Sergeant Jenkins, Leading Aircraftman Ffoulkes, Aircraftman Woolford) of No.203 (RAF) Squadron intervenes to attacks the Italian bombers, but they…
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22 June 1940 Nine Hawker Hurricanes take off from Kenley to join Hawkinge at 05h45. They leave at 07h00 for an offensive reconnaissance of the Abbeville – Poix – Rouen – Dieppe sector. [1] The formation seems to separate during the mission and the ORB indicates that only five pilots encountered, near Rouan, a formation…
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