4 July 1940 A letter from Pilot Officer Cecil R. Young to his parents (dated 4 July 1940) partly restores the atmosphere: « Well, I expect you all know about the situation at home nowdays. A the moment we’re working terrible hard, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week more or less. The chief…
Read more
16 November 1940 Northern Front Taking advantage of bad weather (with a cloudy ceiling of just 1 200 meters above the Eritrean mountain) Flight Lieutenant John K. Buchanan, of No. 14 (RAF) Squadron, takes off at 10h10 aboard the Bristol Blenheim T1877 for lead an attack on Gura, then carry out a photographic reconnaissance of…
Read more
3 July 1940 Kenley airfield was bombed by the Luftwaffe at 16h43. A single Dornier Do.17Z of II./KG 77 dropped six bombs on the airfield. [1] The attack did not cause any significant material damage and the German bomber was intercepted and shot down by three Hawker Hurricane of No.32 (RAF) Squadron (Pilot Officer Peter…
Read more
15 November 1940 Northern Front Two Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 of the 44bis Gruppo are attacked and claimed damaged over Aden by Pilot Officer Gordon A. Wolsey of K (RAF) Flight [1]. Four Wellesley of No.223 (RAF) Squadron took off from Khartoum in the afternoon to conduct a bombing raid on Kassala. According to information received after…
Read more
1st Juillet 1940 The beginning of the month begins calmly and is mainly aimed at reinforcing the training of the pilots. The Red Section (Squadron Leader Joseph R. Kayll ; Flying Officer Peter Collard ; Pilot Officer Cecil R. Montgomery) took off at 12h09 for a patrol over Beachy Head (Raid X38). The unknown contact…
Read more
14 November 1940 Northern Front Three Bristol Blenheims of No.8 (RAF) Squadron took off between 19h15 and 02h20 to attack individually various infrastructures at Dire Dawa. L6648 (Pilot Officer R.C. Young, Flying Officer Montcalm and Pilot Officer Saward) is damaged by air defence. Italian fighters were also reported. In any case, Pilot Officer R.C. Young…
Read more
30 June 1940 Eleven aircraft take off from Hawkinge at 09:25 to participate in a joint mission with No.111 (RAF) Squadron to escort several Bristol Blenheim Mk IV aircraft over Merville. Once again, the ORB of No.615 Squadron contains little information. Just mentioned is a clash with Bf 109s (four inconclusive victories are claimed), while…
Read more
12 – 13 November 1940 Northern Front The French of the Escadrille d’Aden ara still active on 12 November 1940 with a reconnaissance flight over Dire Dawa, Shinile, Urso and Djibouti in the Glenn Martin 167 F No. 102 (Flight Lieutenant Jacques Dodelier ; Warrant Officer Yves Trécan ; Flight Sergeant Ronan Michel) between 10h20…
Read more
11 November 1940 Northern Front The Hawker Hardy K4316 (Flight Lieutenant Neville S.F. Tyas, Sergeant H.L. Maltas) of No.237 (Rhodesia) Squadron is sent to bomb vehicles on the Metemma – Gondar road between 10h30 and 12h40.[1] At around 12h30, several Fiat CR.42s of 412a Squadriglia CT took off to intercept the intruder. At the same…
Read more
8 – 10 November 1940 Northern Front If the bulk of the battle of Gallabat – Metemma is over, Major General William Platt decides to regain control. He decides to move towards a new method by using the Gazelle Force. This denomination designates a group, under the orders of Colonel Frank Messervy, composed of elements…
Read more
