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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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7 November 1940 Northern Front Despite the dramatic events of the previous day, the British are not abandoning the idea of winning the air superiority, although they are more cautious. Four Gloster Gladiators of No.1 (SAAF) Squadron take off at 05h25 to escort five Vickers Wellesley of No.47 (RAF) Squadron to bomb Italian positions at…
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6 November 1940 Northern Front The village of Gallabat is one of the border posts between Sudan and Ethiopia, and controls one of the main roads in the region (with the village of Metemma on the other side of the border). On 4 July 1940, a column under the command of General Pietro Gazzara occupies…
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Introduction Until now the situation of the two belligerents was relatively balanced and oriented towards a wait-and-see attitude or at least a defensive attitude. On the Italian side, this strategy corresponds to the orientations of the Duce and the General Staff. Isolated geographically, poorly prepared and lacking modern equipment, the Italian troops have no interest…
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