42 SQUADRON - Bomber, Bristol Beaufort
Coastal Command
History | Operations and losses | Sources | Links | Books | Questions and/or remarks
Equipped with the Vildebeest, which was obsolete by the beginning of WW2, it was April 1940 before replacements in the form of Beauforts arrived. Anti-shipping and minelaying operations began in June 1940 and continued until June 1942 when the squadron was transferred to the Far East.
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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940
Not all operations listed; those with fatal losses are.
04/06/1940: Training sortie, UK. 1 Plane lost, 1 WIA
21/06/1940: Scharnhorst, Norway. 3 Planes lost, 3 KIA, 9 MIA
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04/06/1940: Training sortie, UK
Type: Bristol Beaufort I
Serial number: L4483, AW-L
Operation: Training sortie
Lost: 04/06/1940
Returning from a training sortie when due to a freshening wind the pilot undershot the approach. Struck the roof of a house and dived into a hay field 100 yards NW of the aerodrome. F/Sgt R. MacAskill 560677 was injured, F/Lt Mark Rodney Baillon 37147 and F/O Lloyd were uninjured.
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21/06/1940: Scharnhorst, Norway
Type: Bristol Beaufort
Serial number: L9810, AW-?
Operation: Scharnhorst
Lost: 21/06/1940
Flying Officer William Barrie-Smith, RAF 39178, 42 Sqdn., age unknown, 21/06/1940, missing
Sergeant William J. Bates, RAF 567448, 42 Sqdn., age 21, 21/06/1940, Haugesund (Rossebo) Var Frelsers Cemetery, Norway
Pilot Officer (Nav.) Murray A. Butler, RAF 42103 (Canada), 42 Sqdn., age 27, 21/06/1940, Hjaardemaal Klit Churchyard, Denmark
Sergeant Frederick Dale, RAF 508348, 42 Sqdn., age 30, 21/06/1940, missing
Take off at Wick 14.25 hrs. Target: the German Battle cruiser Scharnhorst in Trondheim harbour, Norway.
L9810 was attacked by two Bf 109s of II./JG 77 but managed to catch up with the formation. Suddenly the starboard landing gear dropped and an engine bust into flames and the aircraft crashed into the sea.
See Airwar over Denmark for more details
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Type: Bristol Beaufort
Serial number: ?, AW-?
Operation: Scharnhorst
Lost: 21/06/1940
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Type: Bristol Beaufort
Serial number: ?, AW-?
Operation: Scharnhorst
Lost: 21/06/1940
Exact crew composition of these two planes (yet) unknown by the editor of this page. The involved crew members were:
Leading Aircraftman Denholm Gow, RAF 532923, 42 Sqdn., age unknown, 21/06/1940, missing
Sergeant Colin A. Malcolm, RAF 523441, 42 Sqdn., age 26, 21/06/1940, missing
Pilot Officer Marcel A. Philips, RAF 44259, 42 Sqdn., age 27, 21/06/1940, missing
Pilot Officer Alan G. Rigg, RAF 41067, 42 Sqdn., age unknown, 21/06/1940, missing
Flying Officer Herbert J. Seagrim, RAF 39176, 42 Sqdn., age unknown, 21/06/1940, missing
Aircraftman 1st Class George E. Tanner, RAF 625471, 42 Sqdn., age 19, 21/06/1940, missing
Leading Aircraftman John White, RAF 627575, 42 Sqdn., age unknown, 21/06/1940, missing
Sergeant (Pilot) Francis J. Willoughby, RAF 565351, 42 Sqdn., age 26, Bergen (Mollendal) Church Cemetery, Norway
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Sources
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
RAF - Campaign Diary - The Battle of France (May-June 1940)
RAF Davidstow Moor Crash Log 1940
RAF Museum: British Military Aviation in 1940
RAF Order of Battle, France, 10th May 1940
Royal Air Force History Section
The Royal Air Force, 1939-1945
The Second World War - a day by day account
www.rafweb.org - 42 Squadron
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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 Aviation Archaeological Council - Books and research links
CWGC Cemeteries Netherlands
Czechoslovak airmen in
the RAF 1940-1945
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)
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
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
North East Diary 1939-1945
Wartime Leicester and
Leicestershire
The Aerodrome -
Aces and Aircraft of World War 1
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This page is dedicated to the men of 42 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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