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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0790.PDF
788 • ?„ i-. FLIGHT, 10 June 1955 SERVICE AVIATION . . . emblems of the various Allied Forces whofought with Bomber Command. Particu- lar emphasis is placed on the R.N.Z.A.F.as large numbers of New Zealand aircrews served with No. 3 Group. At the bottomof the two centre lights is written: "In honour and memory of the members ofNos. 2, 3, 8 and 100 Groups who served in the Ely district during the SecondWorld War, 1939-45." The window has been designed by Mr.E. Liddall Armitage, Chief Designer at the Whitefriars stained-glass studios ofJames Powell and Sons, Ltd. Naval Appointment THE Admiralty has announced theappointment of Vice-Admiral M. Rich- mond, C.B., D.S.O., O.B.E., to be FlagOfficer (Air) Mediterranean, in succession to Vice-Admiral J. P. L. Reid, C.B., C.V.O. New Fighter Group ON May 30th the Air Ministryannounced the formation of a new group—No. 13—in Fighter Command,with headquarters at Ouston in Northum- berland. It is commanded by A.V-M. W.G. Cheshire. The new group will take over some of the functions of No. 12 Group. During the war, the former No. 13 Group shared with No. 14 the defence of Scotland. Benevolent Fund Appointments IT is announced that Marshal of theRoyal Air Force Sir William Dickson, Chief of the Air Staff, has been electeda vice-president of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. Sir James Barnes, who retires nextmonth, having been Permanent Under- secretary of State at the Air Ministry since1947, has been elected a member of the Fund's Council. No. 264 SQUADRON CELEBRATES AT a dinner, held on May 26th, No. 264• Squadron celebrated the 15th anni- versary of the unit's becoming operational.S/L. H. M. H. Tudor, D.F.C., the CO., welcoming a number of ex-members,regretted the absence of Walter Gibb, assistant chief test pilot at Bristols, whowas with 264 during the war. W/C. E. G. Barwell, who was with thesquadron when it was first formed—and equipped with Fairey Battles andMagisters !—gave the assembled company a graphic description of the live days inMay 1940, when the unit, flying Boulton Paul Defiants, claimed 57 enemy aircraftshot down, 37 of them in one day. This score, he thought, was "pretty genuine."He described how, on May 31st, he had seen one of the squadron Defiants dis-integrate in the air; and how, to his sur- prise, when he himself was later beingpicked up by a destroyer after ditching, he found the pilot, Mike Young, on boardunharmed. W/C. Hughes gave a brief survey of thesquadron's first attempts at night fighting, both "cat's eyes" and using pilot-operatedA.I. The first success, he said, came when one of the Defiants flew by accident withnavigation lights showing—tempting a German bomber to have a go, therebygiving his position away. A more up-to-date story was that toldby S/L. Peter Scott, test pilot at Boscombe Down, who spoke of the Javelin. Hisdescription of the easy flying characteristics of this new all-weather fighter was "Goto Moreton Valence in the morning—fly the Javelin after lunch." He did not,however, speculate as to when, or in which unit, the Javelin would first see service.(The Air Minister has said that it should be in use by next April, but no indicationof which squadron is to receive it first has been given.) No. 264 Squadron's first operational Six Boulton Paul Defiants of No. 264 Squadron in formation in December, 1941. At that time they were operating mostly as night fighters, using pilot-interpreted A.I. equipment. month was undoubtedly terrific; and,whether its total of kills is absolutely accurate or not, there is little doubt thatthe score for the five days—May 27th to May 31st, 1940—was a record. From theunit's archives it appears that five were destroyed on the 27th, six on the 28th, 37on the 29th and a further nine on the 31st. The 37 enemy aircraft comprised twoMe 109s, fifteen Me 110s, nineteen Ju 87s and one Ju 88. AH were destroyed over theDunkirk area without the loss of a single Defiant out of the 12 operating that day.One Defiant did, however, return home minus both elevators and one aileron. Much of the success was credited toS/L. Philip Hunter, who evolved the plan to mix the Defiants with conventionalsingle-seat fighters and use with effect the four-gun power-operated turrets when theLuftwaffe made line-astern attacks. But the Germans were quick to learn, and thenine enemy aircraft shot down on' May 31st cost seven Defiants. In the Battle of Britain the squadronoperated from Hornchurch, using Manston as a forward landing ground. During acomparatively few hectic days 18 E/A destroyed and a fur-ther three damaged were added to theScoreboard. The price paid was 16Defiants and six crews; this was toohigh to be continued jr ^ An N.F.I4 formation "breaks" before making a stream landing during a recent visit to the Gloster Aircraft works at Moreton Valence. and the squadron was relegated to a night-fighter role. One of the crews lost in- cluded S/L. Hunter.The night-fighter tactics were entirely on the "cat's eye" principle, until, onSeptember 16th, the first Defiant Mk 2 arrived. This was equipped with pilot-interpreted A.I. Mk 4, which, if all went well, gave a contact at just under one mile.According to the squadron's diary the first contact—the only one in two months—obligingly crashed without a shot being fired at it. In April 1942 the Defiants gave place toMk 2 Mosquitoes, which were used for day and night intruding over the Con-tinent, and the following March saw the scoring of the squadron's 100th success.On one occasion at this time the S.A.S.O. of No. 10 Group, A. Cdre Basil (now SirBasil) Embry flew with the squadron on "Instep" patrols, the most profitable ofwhich was flown on June 20th, 1943, when five Blohm and Voss 138 flying-boatswere destroyed and one Bv 222 and two further 138s were damaged in an attackon the base on Lake Biscarosse. At the time of the invasion of Europe,264 was operating entirely at night and added a further 22 enemy aircraft to thescore; it was the second night fighter unit to be based in the Cherbourg peninsula.For a while, however, it was diverted to England to cope with the V.I flying bombs,19 of which were destroyed in nine days. Before the war ended the squadron wasoperating as far east as Berlin; and before it was disbanded in July 1945 the score-board stood at: 148 E/A destroyed, 13 probables and 40 damaged. No. 264 was re-formed at Church Fen-ton in November 1945 from No. 135 Squadron and was equipped withMosquito Mk 30 aircraft. Today it has Armstrong Whitworth N.F.14s and isstationed at Linton-on-Ouse. Last year it won the Ingpen Trophy, awarded tothe most proficient all-weather squadron.
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