FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1828.PDF
59* FLIGHT. 3 November 1949 One of the dispersal points among the olive groves of Sicily. THE QUEEN'S SQUADRON . . . sion. Twelfth Tactical Air Command had, indeed, asked for the squadron, but Desert Air Force insisted upon keeping them. On August 25th, 1944, the 8th Army started its assault on Rimini and No. 600 left the 5th Army and moved over to Falconara. For the first month on the new front there was a fair amount of trade in the shape of JU87S which were attacking forward troop positions at night. In eight nights 10 were destroyed and two damaged without loss to the squadron. In t)ecember, 1944, the last move before the end of the war was made. It was to Cesenatico, by comparison with Falconara a fine, roomy and comfortable base. W/C. Styles was posted home and W/C. A. H. Drummond assumed command/ After Christmas the first pilots went down to Foggia to convert to Mosquito 19s, and the New Year brought a period of stagnation. In January the weather was bad and only two enemy aircraft were seen during the whole month. Both were shot down. February proved to be the first complete month in Italy during which no victories were scored. Opportunities were nil and " intruders" laid on for Udine to try to catch the enemy at home were equally unfruitful. A good deal of flying was done on the new Mosquitoes. March proved to be another blank, and in April, the last month of the war, only on three occasions did the enemy put in an appearance at night. On one of these S/L. Ham- mond destroyed an Fwioo—the squadron's last victory of the war. News of the capitulation was received quietly. There were celebrations, of coarse, but the news had been expected for so long that it came'somewhat as an anti-climax. In fact, to judge from the writings of a diarist at the time. No. 600 seemed more concerned about adding golf to the list of squadron sports. Total equipment, one club and two balls. A week after the war. ended a move was made to Campo- formido, near Udine, where a month earlier the squadron had been intruding. Here they practised formation flying for the D.A.F. fly-past which took place on May 28th. From then on,^ until it was reduced '' to number only'' on August 21st, 1945, the squadron was a unit without a purpose. The bottom had fallen out of its world. The last flights were made by W/C. Drummond, F/L. Clark, F/L. Taylor and P/O. Leech when they took up visitors from the Honourable Artillery Company—the squadron's companions at Finsbury Barracks. The Mosquitos then went to No. 256 Squadron. Farewell parties were held in all messes on the night of August 17th, finishing up with a midnight game of volley ball by the aid of a Chance light. W/C. Drummond left to com- mand No. 114 Squadron. Funds were distributed, tents were struck and, except as a number, one of the greatest night fighter squadrons ceased for a while to exist. It is appropriate here to include an appreciation by S/L. Hughes, D.F.C. and two Bars, who was one of the squadron's most successful pilots (he is now at Fighter Command): — Decorations awarded up to the cessation of hostilities GEORGE CROSS—Frying Officar A. Tollamache. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER.—Wing Commander C. P. Green, Pilot OfHcar Harvey. SECOND BAR TO THE D.F.C.—Squadron LeaderHughes. BAR TO THE D.F.C—Wing Commander Styles. Squadron Leader Hughes. Flying Officers Dixon. Turnbull and Gillies. DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS—Squadron Leaden Pritchard, Boyd,Horn*, Bailey and Burke. Flight-Lieutenanta Clegg, H»nus, Parton, Hilken, Thompson, Whaler and Rees. Flying Officer* Hayes, Woodward, Dixon,Gillie*, Mellersh, Turnbull, Roberts, Armstrong, Newhouse, Tate, McAnulty, Downing, Ritchie, Beaumont, Bartictt, Brewer and Judd. Pilot OfficersMaine, Kramer, Denby, Wickstaed, Thompson and Lyons. Warrant Officar Harrop. BAR TO THE D.F.M—Flight Sergeant Fowler. DISTINGUISHED FLYING MEDAI Flight Sergeant* Downing, Fowler, Lyons and Wine Sergeant* Holmes, Owen, McAllister and Parkinson. M.B.E.—Flight Lieutenant Clennet. Warrant Officer* Nicholson and Nelson. AIRCRAFT Das*. 165 Prob. 13 Dam. 34 M.T. Dest. 16 Dam. 15 RAILWAYS Dest. 3 locos. 1 electric loco. 20 trains Dam. 10 trains SHIPPING Dest. One "1" boat. Dam. One "t" boat, t barges. Enemy Targets: No. 600 Squadron's final score. , "After so long it is not easy to pick any one incident for detailed account. Rather is it better to set out one or two lasting impressions which jump readily to the memory. " 1 he squadron operated in conditions varying from the snow of Setif and the mud of Souk el Khemis to the searing heat of Sicily and the thunderstorms of Italy. One remembers with affection the model tented camp at Setif, the railway station dispersal at Souk el Khemis, the mosquito and fly plague at Bone, the stone buildings and petrol-can blast bays of Malta, the vineyard in Sicily and the orange grove at Salerno. " On the flying side, there were grim early days at Maison Blanche Algiers) when the aircraft, flown out from U.K. without their A.I. radar equipment and useless as night fighters, suffered damage and destruction whilst ground-borne during enemy night raids. One remembers the period when we reckoned we were just keeping pace with the enemy produc- tion of Piaggio 108 four-engined bombers, and F/Sgt. Down- ing's dawn action in which he shot five JU52 transports into the sea—and had his own aircraft damaged by a type who hung out of a window firing a tommy gun. There followed some extremely well-planned enemy attacks on Bone, which were difficult to combat, and then that fantastic first week of the assault on Sicily, when the squadron notched 25 ' kills,' seven by the CO., W/C. ' Paddy' Green, and his navigator, F/L. Reg Gillies (including four in one sortie), and six by F/L. John Turnbull, R.C.A.F., and F/Sgt. Fowler—nor will one ever forget the cheers of the ground crews when Turnbull got a. perfect ' flamer' right over the camp at Cassibile' Syracuse. "Outstanding was the G.C.I, control by S/L. J. L. Brown (' Brownie') and others, such as that which presented the writer and F/O. Laurie Dixon with three Ju88s during a night attack with incendiaries on the day fighter airfields near Catania, and F/L.s Newhouse and Tate with a similar bag over the Salerno beaches. " But most of all, perhaps, one remembers the terrific morale and devotion to duty of the ground crews, and their amazing powers of improvization under working conditions which were at times quite appalling. The spoils of war were there for the taking but, without their untiring efforts, the story of 600's Mediterranean journey would have been quite different." . -' .. / '.-' ' •••'i-3* . * •;:..- - W-- •-.. :• .'• . .<:..[-•: ' ' In July, 1946, the squadron was re-established as a day- fighter unit under the command of S/'L. Norman Hayes, the Rt. Hon. Sir Archibald Sinclair still remaining as the honorary air commodore. Flying was resumed and the aircraft main- tenance looked after by the permanent staff. Recruiting for Auxiliary personnel started in November, 1946, and at the time of writing there is only one vacancy for an officer and 30 for other ranks. Headquarters remained at Finsbury Barracks, but Hendon was no longer suitable for modern fighters and the squadron now shares Biggin Hill with the County of Surrey Squadron. S/L. Hayes gave up command in July of last year and handed over to S/L. D. E. Proudlove, who served for much of the war in No. 91 Squadron of Fighter Command. In July, No. 600 was The present commanding officer, S/L D. E. Proudlove. accorded the signal honour of Her Majesty the Queen accepting the appointment as the new honorary air commodore. The story of her first visit to her com- mand is told elsewhere in this issue. Since the war the train- ing aircraft have been Spitfire 14s and Harvards and the operational types Spitfire 21s and 22s. Within the last month two Vampire is have appeared on the strength—a sign of good things to come. \
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
