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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0504.PDF
504 FLIGHT, 27 April 1956 Squadron officers at Beaupre Farm, La Gorgue, in June 1916. Only surnames are on record, and they are as follows (left to right):— Least, Owles, Buck, Howe//, Minot, Budgen,Davidson. Davidson, Maj. Powell, Diamond Shaw, Ellis, Nejbrtt, Pent land, Waller, TrascottWaddington and Welsh. Three of the squadron's Hawker Audaxes caught by "Flight's" cameraman in the Old Sarum area in 1935. NO. 16 SQUADRON . . . troops in Mora. A.A. fire nil."Disbanded on December 31st, 1919, the squadron was re-formed as No. 16(Army Co-operation) Squadron on April 1st, 1924, under the command ofS/L. J. O. Atcher, C.B.E. Based at Old Sarum, it was first equipped with Bris-tol Fighters and then with A-W. Atlas (1933), Hawker Audax (1935), Hector,and Lysander (1939). It spent alto- gether fifteen peaceful and happy yearson Salisbury Plain, training in tactical reconnaissance, photography, gunneryand bombing, and taking part in exercises with the Army. During the "phoney war" of 1939the squadron stayed out of action, so the tempo of training was stepped up.Then, in February 1940, it moved to Hawkinge and in April went over toFrance. The battle there, when it arrived, was short and fierce; and with-in three weeks of the German invasion of the Low Countries the squadron wasback in England. Several successful reconnaissance and bombing missions had been accomplished, but the squadron had lost one-third of itsaircraft and aircrew to German fighters and flak. F/L. Yorks won the D.S.O. for his leadership in operations and in bringing theremains of the squadron home, and F/L. Dudgeon and F/L. Rust each won the D.F.C. for their exploits. During the Battle of Britain No. 16 Sqn. were forced to take aback seat. Their Lysanders, naturally, did not have the height, speed or fire-power necessary to counter German fighters orbombers. The squadron was therefore used for daily dawn and dusk reconnaissance of the beaches against invasion. Each nightall aircraft, even the Tiger Moths, were bombed-up in readiness to attack German troops should they land on English beaches thenext day. Base was moved frequently during these months—to Redhill, Cambridge and Okehampton—but the role remained thesame. In October 1940 the squadron moved from Okehampton toWeston Zoyland, where it was to remain for the next two years; and during that winter and throughout 1941 there was very littleoperational flying. The dawn reconnaissances round the coast of Dorset, Devon and Cornwall continued and some early essays inair/sea rescue were accomplished. In June 1941 the squadron had the misfortune to lose both its CO. and second-in-commandin quick succession. W/C. Hancock was killed in a Proctor take- off accident and the next day S/L. D. Walker was flying toRoborough to make funeral arrangements when he was inter- cepted by four Me 109s. Although the rear gunner shot down oneof the enemy aircraft the Lysander was destroyed and both crew members killed. In June 1942, when the squadron had been re-equipped with Mustangs, W/C. Hancock's successor, W/C. P. W. Stansfield,was seriously injured in an accident and W/C. J. R. Davensport, who had served in No. 16 Sqn. before the war, came to take over. In November 1942, under the leadership of W/C. T. F. D.Morgan, D.F.C., productive operational flying began in earnest for the first time since the brief battle of France. Each flight inturn, detached to Exeter, was detailed for daily low-level shipping reconnaissance in the bay of St. Malo and along the Brittany coast.These missions were flown by pairs of aircraft with the alternative task of taking low-level oblique photographs of the enemy coast-line, defences and shipping convoys. During the first month's operations three pilots failed to return. One of these was thesecond-in-command, S/L. K. Currie, who had just transferred from No. 208 Sqn. in Egypt. On New Year's Day, 1943, the squadron moved to Andover andthe task was increased to include the whole Cherbourg Peninsula and the bay of the Seine. Over Normandy and Brittany a startwas also made on "Rhubarb" operations, i.e., low-level attacks on trains and other targets. Then, on June 1st, 1943, the old ArmyCo-operation Command was disbanded to make way for the for- mation of 2nd T.A.F., which was to be the principal air weaponsupporting the Allied invasion of North-West Europe. The squadron moved again, this time to Hartford Bridge, and joinedNo. 34 Wing, which had been reformed as the Strategical Recon- naissance Wing of 2nd T.A.F. The move brought a change inboth tactics and equipment. The new role was to be high-altitude tactical photography from single and unarmed Spitfire Mk 11s(replaced later by Mks 14 and 19). While waiting for its new air- craft, the squadron continued its "Rhubarb" operations and atthe same time trained for the new tactics and techniques of high- altitude vertical photography. The last operations carried out with Mustangs included somehighly successful "Rhubarbs," during one of which F/L. R. E. Pughe bagged the record number of twelve trains. For this andother sorties he was awarded the D.F.C., as were F/Ls. A. M- Davis and D. A. Greville-Heygate. These were the first decoia- _tions won since the battle of France. Among the squadron's most important tasks in the early part of1944 was the survey of V.I launching sites, but the tempo of air operations in preparation for the invasion was now speeding up,and from March 1944 the emphasis was switched to photography of damage caused by the numerous bombing attacks aimed at.-. Back in France: "B" Flight at Bertangles in 1940 with a Lysander.
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