Traces of World War 2 
RAF - No. 504 Squadron
10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940

      home - latest update 5 February 2008


504 SQUADRON - Fighter, Hawker Hurricane Mk I

History | Operations and losses | Sources | Links | Books | Questions and/or remarks



On 31 October 1938 No 504 became a fighter squadron and received Hurricanes in March 1939. A few days before the outbreak of war, the squadron moved to Digby to fly defensive patrols and in October joined the Debden Sector, using Martlesham Heath as a forward base and alternating between the two airfields at approximately weekly intervals until the Germans invaded France in May 1940. No 504 moved to France for a short period to cover the BEF.

S/L John Sample (former 607 Squadron) was given command of 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron at Wick in Northern Scotland in late May 1940. The squadron was in the process of rest and rebuild of strength and took on the responsibility of providing the air defence of the naval base at Scapa Flow. Later the squadron moved to Castletown on the Pentand Firth, bringing it closer to its patrol area.

In September, it came south again to take part in the latter half of the Battle of Britain.

Stations
Digby, Sept-Oct 1939
Wick, end of May 1940
Castletown 21 June 1940
Catterick 1 September 1940
Hendon 5 September 1940
Filton 26 September 1940

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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940
Not all operations listed; those with fatal losses are.

Between 10 and 14/05/1940, ?, Belgium. 1 Plane lost, 1 MIA
14/05/1940, Patrol, B. 1 Plane lost
15/05/1940, Patrol, B. 2 Planes lost, 1 KIA, 1 MIA
18/05/1940, Patrol, F/B. 2 Planes lost, 1 KIA, 1 POW
19/05/1940, Patrol, F. 3 Planes lost, 1 WIA

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Between 10 and 14/05/1940, ?, Belgium.

Type:
Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: N2492, TM-?
Operation: ?
Lost: between 10 and 14/05/1940, Vollezele, Belgium
Sergeant Stanley Hamblett, RAF 563152, 504 Sqdn., age 27, 14/05/1940, missing
Crashed on the hill called the Congoberg at Vollezele. Pilot baled out safely and was taken away by the British troops. Slightly wounded. Transported to the coast. The ship he boarded was torpedoed or bombed and the pilot who survived at Vollezele, met his end in the waves of the North Sea. (source: Hawker Hurricane N2492, The Belgian Aviation History Association)

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14/05/1940, Patrol, B

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: L1950, TM-?
Operation: Patrol
Lost: 14/05/1940
F/O M.E.A. Royce
Bailed out near Louvignies after ombat with Me-110s

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15/05/1940, Patrol, B

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, TM-?
Operation: Patrol, B
Lost: 15/05/1940
Squadron Leader (Pilot) James B. Parnall, RAF (AAF) 90060, 504 Sqdn., age 34, 15/05/1940, Chaussee-Notre-Dame- Louvignies Communal Cemetery, B. His brother, Pilot Officer, (Pilot) Stuart Boyd Parnall also fell.

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, TM-?
Operation: Patrol, B
Lost: 15/05/1940
Pilot Officer Samuel A.C. Sibley, RAF 33549, 504 Sqdn., age unknown, 15/05/1940, missing

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18/05/1940, Patrol, F/B

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: L1912, TM-?
Operation: Patrol, F/B
Lost: 18/05/1940
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) John S. Owen, RAF (AAF) 90070, 504 Sqdn., age 25, 18/05/1940, Cambrai (Route de Solesmes) Communal Cemetery, F.
Bailed out near Mons (B) after combat with Me 109s. He was killed in his parachute.

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: L1944, TM-?
Operation: Patrol, F/B
Lost: 18/05/1940
P/O R.J. Renison
Bailed out near Mons (B) after combat with Me 109s. Taken Prisoner of War.

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19/05/1940, Patrol, F

Type:
Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3555, TM-?
Operation: Patrol, F
Lost: 19/05/1940
P/O J.R. Hardacre
Bailed out at 10.00 hrs east of Lille (F) after combat with Me 109s. returned to unit.

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3551, TM-?
Operation: Patrol, F
Lost: 19/05/1940
S/Ldr J.H. Hill
Bailed out after combat with Me 109s. After landing he was assaulted by French civilians. Returned to unit.

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: N2355, TM-?
Operation: Patrol, F
Lost: 19/05/1940
Sgt (Pilot) M.V. Mapletoft
Bailed out after combat with Me 109s of JG2. Wounded. Returned to unit.

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Sources

Air of Authority - 504 Squadron
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database
Australian War Memorial
Bail-outs for 1940
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Prisoners of War captured in Europe 1940
RAF Battle of Britain - 504 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
Royal Air Force History Section
The Royal Air Force, 1939-1945
The Second World War - a day by day account

The War in France and Flanders, 1939-1940, by Major L.F. Ellis, 1954

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Books

D Sweeting 'Wings of chance' (Hurricanes) (Asian Business Press 1990)

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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
Canada's Air Force History
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
Luftfahrt-Archäologie in Schleswig Holstein (in German)
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 504 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