145 SQUADRON - Fighter, Hawker Hurricane Mk I
History | Operations and losses | Sources | Links | Books | Questions and/or remarks
On 10 October 1939, No 145 reformed at Croydon as a fighter squadron, receiving Blenheims in November. In March 1940 it began to re-equip with Hurricanes and in May became operational over northern France.
On 16th May, Wg/Cdr. Ginger takes over temporary command of No.145 Squadron. No.145 has only recently arrived in France, and is currently based at Crepy.
On 17th May, whilst leading No.145 Squadron on a sortie over St.Quentin, Wg/Cdr. Ginger single-handedly accounted for 5 enemy aircraft destroyed. In recognition of his outstanding dedication to the war effort the French Ministry of War has awarded him the Croix de Guerre (Cross of War).
On 31st May, Wg/Cdr. Ginger is promoted to Group Leader and posted to Group H.Q.
After covering the evacuation from Dunkirk, the squadron took part in the Battle of Britain until withdrawn to Scotland in mid-August, returning south in October.
Stations
Tangmere 10 May 1940
Crepy, France - ca. 15 May 1940?
Tangmere
Westhampnett 31 July 1940
Drem 14 August 1940
Dyce 31 August 1940
Tangmere 9 October 1940
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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940
Not all operations listed; those with fatal losses are.
18/05/1940: Patrol, Belgium. 1 Plane lost.
19/05/1940: ?, France. 1 Plane lost, 1 KIA
27/05/1940: Dunkirk, 2 Planes lost, 1 KIA, 1 MIA
03/06/1940: Dunkirk, F. 1 Plane lost, 1 KIA
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18/05/1940: Patrol, Belgium
No 145 Squadron's first action of the war on the 18th of May. On patrol over Brussels twelve He III's were intercepted in broken cloud. When the German bombers emerged from cover the Hurricane's attacked.
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: N2600, SO-G
Operation: Patrol
Lost: 18/05/1940
F/O Michael Newling
Because of combat damage, F/O Michael Newling was forced to leave his formation and to fly towards his base. Over the village of Pamel-Roosdaal (province of Flemish Brabant), Newling was forced to abandon his Hurricane at 16.25 hours. He landed safely by parachute and was led trough the German lines by a 13-year old boy - see 'The recovery of Hurricane N2600'.
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19/05/1940: ?
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, SO-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 19/05/1940
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Kenneth R. Lucas, RAF 41854, 145 Sqdn., age unknown, 19/05/1940, Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, F
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27/05/1940: Dunkirk
On 27th May though present the entire day on one or other of the different patrol lines, the RAF fighters were usually greatly outnumbered. Eleven Spitfires of No. 74 Squadron, for instance, gave battle to thirty Do.17's and Me.109's; five Hurricanes of No. 145 Squadron attacked the rear section of a Do.17 formation only to find themselves set upon by twenty or thirty Me.110's; twenty Hurricanes and Spitfires of Nos. 56 and 610 Squadrons, trying to pick off a single He.111, at once ran into thirty or forty Me.110's.
But though the fighters could not prevent the enemy reducing the town and port of Dunkirk to rubble, they certainly spoiled his aim against the targets that mattered most—the harbour moles and the ships. For the damage did not, in spite of first impressions, make evacuation from the port impossible; and though there were a dozen concerted assaults against our vessels, as well as many individual attacks, not more than two ships were sunk.
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, SO-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 27/05/1940
Pilot Officer Alan Elson, RAF 41272, 145 Sqdn., age 25, 27/05/1940, missing
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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, SO-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 27/05/1940
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Peter H.O. Rainier, RAF 41869, 145 Sqdn., age 20, 27/05/1940, Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, F
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03/06/1940: Dunkirk, F
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, SO-?
Operation: Dunkirk
Lost: 03/06/1940
Flying Officer (Pilot) Henry P. Dixon, RAF (AAF) 90283, 145 Sqdn., age 25, 03/06/1940, Dunkirk Town Cemetery, F
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Sources
Air of Authority - 145 Squadron
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database
Bail-outs for 1940
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
No. 145 Hurricane Squadron
Obituary Squadron Leader Dennis Usher (2002)
RAF Battle of Britain - 145 Squadron
RAF - Campaign Diary - The Battle of France (May-June 1940)
RAF Museum: British Military Aviation in 1940
RAF Order of Battle, France, 10th May 1940
The recovery of Hurricane N2600 (145 Squadron)
Royal Air Force History Section
The Royal Air Force, 1939-1945
The Second World War - a day by day account
Tangmere Pilots
The War in France and Flanders, 1939-1940, by Major L.F. Ellis, 1954
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Books
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Links
Air Aces
Airwar over Denmark
Allied World War II Casualties in the Netherlands
Armée de l'Air - Order of Battle,
10th May 1940
Australian Wargraves
Axis History Factbook
Battle-of-Britain.com
De Belgen in Engeland 1940-1945 (in Dutch)
Belgian Aviation History Association Archaeological Team
British Aircraft Directory
British Aviation Archaeological Council - Books and research links
HMS Cavalier
Ciel de Gloire (in French)
RAF Squadrons
CWGC Cemeteries Germany
CWGC Cemeteries Netherlands
Czechoslovak airmen in
the RAF 1940-1945
Danish WW2 Pilots
Dutch Pilots in RAF Squadrons
Eagles Squadrons (American pilots in the RAF)
Håkans aviation page (from Sweden, in English)
'High flight', poem by John Gillespie Magee
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, poem by W.B. Yeats
Jagdgeschwader 27 (in German)
Luchtoorlog ('Arial War', in Dutch, with many photos)
Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth
The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945
Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
The National Ex-Prisoners of War Association
Naval History.net
Nordic Aviation during WW2
Pilotfriend.com: aircraft of WW2
Polish Air Force 1940-1947 Operations Record Books
RAF Battle of Britain
RAF Upwood
De Slag om de Grebbeberg (Dutch)
Warbird Alley
War over Holland
World War II Aircraft wrecksites in Norway
www.bomber-command.de
Bills-Bunker.de
The Lancastershire Aircraft Investigation Team
North East Diary 1939-1945
Wartime Leicester and
Leicestershire
The Aerodrome -
Aces and Aircraft of World War 1
WW1 Cemeteries
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This page is dedicated to the men of 145 Squadron.
© Bart FM Droog / Rottend Staal Online 2008. Permission granted for use of the data gathered here for non commercial purposes, if this source is mentioned with a link to http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/index.html
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