Wednesday, 22 May 1940

France

The German Army has already reached the Channel coast on the 20th. The BEF and much of the French army is now cut off from the rest of France. The German forces now launch twin assaults on the Channel ports of Boulogne and Calais, crucial to Britain’s ability to resupply its forces.

56 Squadron


Shortly after 4 p.m. S/Ldr ‘Teddy’ Knowles, 56 Squadron’s Commanding Officer, is flying with ‘A’ Flight over France, part of a larger group of about 20 Hurricanes. (The others are from 213 Squadron and 242 Squadron.) At about 4.15 a Henschel 123, a German reconnaissance aircraft which resembles a Lysander, is spotted. The exact location can’t be identified from Knowles’s report as his handwriting is poor; nor can the Henschel’s height, which may have been two, three or seven thousand feet. Knowles attacks the Henschel from 250-300 yards with a 2-second burst; so does another Hurricane which Knowles cannot identify. The Henschel ‘bursts into flames and goes down almost immediately. One of the occupants jumps out and lands by parachute.’ Credit for the victory is shared.

Tuesday, 21 May 1940

No. 24 Squadron

Pilot Officer Louis Strange, DSO, MC, DFC, an air movements officer with No 24 Squadron, coaxes three unserviceable Hurricanes into flyable condition at Merville airfield. Faced with the imminent arrival of German ground-forces, he finds two pilots who have been shot down, allocates them a Hurricane each, and tells them to make for England. With the Germans not far away, he takes off in the third Hurricane and flies it home, unarmed, pursued by German fighters which he shakes off. He has never flown a Hurricane before. For this he is awarded a second DFC. The first had been earned in 1918.

For more information about Louis Strange, visit his Wikipedia page.

Pilot Officer Ron Hockey flies four unnamed passengers from Hendon to Le Bourget. It is a routine flight until his D.H.95 De Havilland Flamingo is attacked by Ju87 Stukas bombing a target somewhere near Hockey’s route. He logs it as his first operational sortie. He returns to Hendon the same day with 8 passengers plus his crew of four, but doesn’t list the second flight as a separate operation. Up to this point Keast’s and Hockey’s cross-Channel flights have been non-operational.

This particular Flamingo (G-AFUF) had been delivered to Guernsey Airways in May 1939 for its service to Southampton. On the outbreak of war it was impounded and sent to No. 24 Squadron. Flights to the Channel Islands, operated since November 1939 by the umbrella organisation National Air Communications, ceased on 13 June 1940.

Monday, 20 May 1940

France

German forces reach the English Channel. The BEF and the cream of the French Army are trapped in north-eastern France and Belgium, unable to join the rest of the French Army further west and south.

24 Squadron

F/Lt Frank Keast flies a D.H.89 Dragon Rapide to the fighter airfield at Merville and returns to Hendon. Though Keast’s logbook does not mention his passengers, or the purpose of the flight, he was probably dropping off P/O Louis Strange, who was to act as an Air Movements Officer to organise the safe evacuation of RAF men and machines back to the UK.

51 Squadron

Flying Officer Albert John Oettle flies as Second Pilot in Whitley V No. 4972, on a 51 Squadron raid to attack German forces at Ribemont. Jack Oettle had joined the RAF in 1937 and this was his eighth operation. His first had been flown from Rheims, dropping leaflets over Germany two nights after war had been declared. More recently, on the night of 3 May, Oettle has had to bale out over England from a 51 Squadron Whitley when it ran low on fuel after a raid on Norway.

Sunday, 19 May 1940

No. 56 Squadron, over France

At about ten minutes past three on a clear afternoon, ‘A’ Flight is on what Coghlan describes as a ‘flap patrol’ over Lille. He is at 6,000 feet, but seems to have become detached from his formation, which is somewhere astern at about 8,000 feet. He sees a formation of Hurricanes heading south-east, but then spots black anti-aircraft fire behind them — quaintly he calls it “archie” — and the Hurricanes resolve into a formation of fifteen He111 bombers flying in five vics of three. He approaches the bombers on a rapid climb.  Coghlan enagages the left-hand He111 of the rear vic.  By this time the other Hurricanes, having started their pursuit from 2,000 feet higher, have almost caught up.

The Heinkel’s lower rear gunner engages Coghlan with tracer, but Coghlan silences him with a burst to the fuselage at a range of about 200 yards. Coghlan then concentrates on the engines, closing to 150 yards: one burst to the port engine and another to the starboard. White smoke streams from both, and the Heinkel breaks away, turning to port in a slight dive. Coghlan disengages. He’s run out of ammunition. A Hurricane carries 2,400 rounds, giving only about 15 seconds’ fire. He claims the Heinkel as a ‘probable’.

Saturday, 18 May 1940

No. 56 Squadron, North Weald

‘B’ Flight of 56 Squadron has been detached to northern France since May 16. ‘A’ Flight remains at North Weald, but it also flies patrols over northern France. It soon finds itself in combat.

In the early afternoon over Mauberge, F/O Coghlan sees a group of eight Me109s approaching on the flank of his formation. He is flying as No. 2 in the section. He tries to warn the others but his R/T (radio-telephone) doesn’t work. The sky breaks into a confused melee. He makes a head-on attack against a 109 attacking another Hurricane, giving it a 2-3 second burst. He then sees three Me109s attacking another Hurricane: he engages the rearmost 109, giving it a 10-12 second burst at 100 yards. The 109 flips over and disappears. He climbs through cloud and sees five of the eight 109s re-forming. His combat report doesn’t say what happens next, but he’s used about 2,400 rounds, and must be almost out of ammunition. He claims the Me109 as a ‘probable’.

Sources

TNA AIR 50/22, Combat reports for No. 56(F) Squadron