9 September 1940 Northern Front After a stop, the night before, at Ras Ara, four Bristol Blenheim of No. 11 and No.39 (RAF) Squadron (one [1] and three) took off at 05h55 to bomb the airfield of Dessie in Ethiopia. They are welcomed on the spot by two Fiat CR.32 of the 411a Squadriglia CT,…
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18 May 1940 Unfortunately, there is no concrete detail on the events of this day. At most, the ORB indicates the preparation of an escort mission, for the benefit of Bristol Blenheim at 04h00, which is canceled; while Brian Cull [1] mentions a brief confrontation with Heinkel He.111 of KG 1 without further details. [1]…
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17 May 1940 In the morning, several sections of No.615 Squadron take off from Moorsele for various patrols, details of which are known for at least two of them. For example, the three pilots of No.229 (RAF) Squadron (Pilot Officer John E.M. Collins, Malcolm Ravenhill and Victor B.S. Verity) take off at 05h30. According to…
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16 May 1940 After the renforcement from No.229 (RAF) Squadron, a second backup group arrives with a detachment of three pilots from No.242 (RAF) Squadron, B Flight. They are Pilot Officer Robert D. Grassick [1], William L. McKnight [2] and Percival S. Turner [3]. They already have a little experience since they joined No. 607…
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8 September 1940 Northern Front On this day, the Escadrille d’Aden suffered a tragedy when the Glenn Marin 167-F n° 82 (Lieutnant flight Roger Ritoux-Lachaud [1]; Flying Officer Pierre Fenaux of Maismont; Flight Sergeant Raymond Rolland [2] and Emile Lobato de Faria [3]) is sent on a reconnaissance over the Djibouti – Addis Ababa railway.…
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15 May 1940 Unlike previous days, No.615 Squadron activity is quite intense and relatively well detailed. It is also the occasion of several claims, but also new losses. The day begins with several patrols from the airfield of Le Touquet, without further clarification, according to the ORB. Later in the morning, six Hawker Hurricane Mk…
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14 May 1940 Several reinforcements arrive in No.615 (County of Surrey) Squadron when the RAF decides to detach several Flights to reinforce the units in France. These are pilots from B Flight No.229 (RAF) Squadron : Pilot Officer John E.M. Collins [1], Malcolm Ravenhill [2] and Victor B.S. Verity [3], as well as Pilot Officer…
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7 September 1940 Northern Front The No.430 (RAF) Flight is active during this day as a Vickers Vincent (a second is damaged at takeoff) and two Gloster Gauntlet take off from Azzoza, at 11h20, to attack the airfield of Metemma. After the bombardment at 13h05, a Caproni Ca.133 was sighted by Flight Lieutenant A.B. Mitchell…
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6 September 1940 Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 from 44bis Gruppo BT are back to attack Aden and convoy BS 31/2. The No.94 (RAF) Squadron’s Gloster Gladiators responded and the N5757 (Sergeant F.E. Hendy) and N5787 (Pilot Officer A. Darling) were able to intercept Italian bombers over Khor Umera around 08h30. Several attacks are made, but the British…
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13 May 1940 Brian Cull reports the presence of B Flight on Merville airfield, with a number of training on Hawker Hurricane Mk I [1]. The A Flight remains deployed for the day on Vitry-en-Artois with No.607 (RAF) Squadron. The first mission is to escort a Bristol Blenheim Mk IV, No.18 (RAF) Squadron, over the…
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