German forces cross the borders of Holland and Belgium. French and British forces move over the Belgian border in reaction to the invasion.

Flying Officer Frank Keast, a pilot with No. 24 (Communications) Squadron, flies from Hendon to Le Bourget, then to Amiens in a DH95 Flamingo. He has been with 24 Squadron since the end of February, ferrying senior officers and politicians around the UK, and between England and the British Expeditionary Force in northern France. Highly-experienced, with more than 3,500 hours, Keast is one of many pilots trained by the RAF in the early 1930s then put out to the Reserve. During the later 1930s he had flown with domestic civilian airlines, including Railway Air Services, and he may have had a spell with Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus. After his recall in 1939, Keast had flown Ansons at No. 3 Air Observers’ Navigation School, putting trainee Observers through their paces in practical navigation exercises.

Pilot Officer Ron Hockey has been with 24 Squadron since the beginning of 1940. He flies a brace of generals, two squadron-leaders and a wing-commander to Amiens from Hendon in a DH86b. He takes the two squadron-leaders on to Le Bourget before returning to Hendon with six new passengers. On these flights he is accompanied by a rigger for the elegant four-engined biplane.

Notes:

FJB Keast logbook: copy available in the RAF Museum.
Grp Capt. R.C. Hockey logbook, now in the Imperial War Museum; copy available in the RAF Museum.