Traces of World War 2 
RAF - No. 56 Squadron
10/05/1940 - 31/05/1940

      home - latest update 19 January 2008


56 SQUADRON - Fighter, Hawker Hurricane Mk. I

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



Between the Wars, the Squadron proper flew a succession of bi-plane fighters until, in May 1938, the Hurricane arrived.

Tragically, the first aircraft to fall to a Spitfire's guns were two Hurricanes of No 56 Squadron, shot down by aircraft from No 74 Squadron over the Medway on 6 September 1939. This episode, in which a Blenheim was also shot down by friendly anti-aircraft fire, became known as 'The Battle of Barking Creek' and was caused by a technical fault in the fighter control system. The Spitfire pilots were subsequently exonerated from any blame at a court martial, and as a direct result, the highest priority was given to the production of Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment, forerunner of the modern encoding transponder.

It was with the Hurricane that No. 56 Sqdn. provided air cover for the Dunkirk evacuation. Flights operated for short periods from French airfields during the Battle of France.

See ground crew member Eric Clayton's What if the heavens fall for a full account of the operations in France

56 Squadron flew for the entire period of the Battle of Britain in the south of England before replacing them with Typhoon ground-attack aircraft in September 1941.

Mike Hodges (ground crew 56 Sqdn.): 'Holland and France were invaded while the squadron was at Martlesham Heath near Ipswich on 10 May 1940. From then on planes often came back having been in action, including on 30 May, when we lost two planes over Dunkirk with both pilots accounted for. There was a lot of movement of squadrons at this time. We went to Biggin Hill for a few days and then to North Weald where the ground staff stayed until 24 September. Pilots and planes moved about - ours went to Lincolnshire for a few days while we serviced 111 Squadron, which on 31 May claimed 13 German planes without loss.

On 27 June the King visited North Weald and inspected both 56 and 151 Squadrons. Planes were in action most days, except when it rained.'

Promoted flight sergeant in 1940, Frederick William Higginson ('Taffy' Higginson) fought over France as it fell, then found himself in the thick of the fighting over south-east England and London during the Battle of Britain. When awarded the DFM on July 27 1940, 16 days after the battle began, he was praised for having already destroyed at least five enemy aircraft. The citation emphasised that despite being an "airman pilot" he led a section of 56 Squadron during all operations, "his determination in the face of the enemy and his cool and courageous leadership" being an example to his squadron.

Stations
North Weald 28 February 1940
Vitry en Artois, France, 16 May 1940
Norrent Fontes, France, 19 May 1940
North Weald, 22 May 1940
Digby, 31 May 1940
North Weald 4 or 5 June 1940
Boscombe Down 1 September 1940

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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 31/05/1940
Not all operations listed; those with losses are.

16/05/1940: transfer to France

18/05/1940: ?, F, 2 Planes lost, 2 KIA
29/05/1940: Dunkirk?, ?. 1 Plane lost, 1 MIA
30/05/1940: Dunkirk, F. 2 Planes lost

??/06/1940: Patrol, UK. 1 Plane lost, 1 KIA

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16/05/1940: transfer to France

Six aircraft from B Flight took off for France during the afternoon flown by F/L Ian Soden, F/O Tommy Rose, F/O Peter Down, P/O Barry Sutton (recently transferred from A Flight), F/Sgt Taffy Higginson and Sgt Kim Whitehead.

A little later, B Flight groundcrew, numbering about sixteen, boarded a lorry bound for RAF Manston.

Eric Clayton: 'We arrived in the early sunlit evening and after a quick mug of cocoa, we boarded two waiting Dragon Rapide biplanes for an unknown destination in France. Dusk was gathering when, about forty five minutes later, we arrived at our destination - a grass airfield on the outskirts of a village called Vitry en Artois and about five kilometres from the town of Douai. Slightly bewildered, we were driven to an army camp next to the village and told to bed down in a large hut occupied by soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the Ox and Bucks regiment. They were welcoming, friendly and very helpful and we slept well that night.'

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18/05/1940: ?

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk. I
Serial number: ?, US-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 18/05/1940
Flying Officer (Pilot) Frank C. Rose, RAF 39901, 56 Sqdn., age 24, 18/05/1940, Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, F

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Type:
Hawker Hurricane Mk. I
Serial number: ?, US-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 18/05/1940
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Ian S. Soden, RAF 33289, 56 Sqdn., DSO, age 23, 18/05/1940, Biache-St Vaast Communal Cemetery, F

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29/05/1940: Dunkirk,?

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk. I
Serial number: ?, US-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 29/05/1940
Flight Sergeant James W. Elliott, RAF 564608, 56 Sqdn., age 25, 29/05/1940, missing

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30/05/1940: Dunkirk, F

Pilots 'accounted for'.

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk. I
Serial number: ?, US-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 30/05/1940

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk. I
Serial number: ?, US-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 30/05/1940

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??/06/1940: Patrol, UK. 1 Plane lost, 1 KIA

During an operational patrol a tragic event occurred. A section led by F/O Ereminsky had taken off on a grey and murky morning, and soon the weather closed in. On returning, however, only two aircraft emerged from the gloom and landed. On completing the patrol, the leader for some reason had decided to fly low, but he ventured too low and struck the roof of a house with fatal consequences. Thus an experienced pilot was lost before the Battle started. By early July, the squadron was again fully operational with a core of experienced pilots and groundcrew.

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Sources

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Royal Air Force - 56 Squadron
RAF Battle of Britain - 56 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
Service with 56 Hurricane Squadron during the Battle of Britain
The Spitfire - An Operational History
War over Holland
What if heavens fall - by Eric Clayton

Books

R Beaumont 'Flying to the limit' (1942) (PSL 1996)
E Clayton 'What if the heavens fall: reminiscences of 56(F) Squadron in the Battle of Britain' (Private 1993)
H Dundas 'Flying Start' (Penguin 1988)
D Grinnel-Milne 'Wind in the wires' (WW1) (Panther 1957)
O C Holleran 'Holly, his book, Being a diary of the Great War' (SE5As) (1924)
Cecil Lewis 'Sagittarius Rising' (RFC 1916) (Peter Davies 1936)
Cecil Lewis 'All my yesterdays' (RFC 1916) (Element 1993)
J T McCudden 'Flying Fury: five years in the RFC' (1916) (Greenhill 1987/ 2000 - first published 1930)
G Page 'Tale of a Guinea Pig' (Corgi 1983)
A Revell 'Brief Glory - Arthur Rhys Davis DSO MC & Bar' (WW1) (William Kimber 1984)
Revell 'High in the empty blue - the history of 56 Squadron 1916-20' (Flying Machines 1995)
A Revell 'The Vivid Air' (Kimber 1978)
Anthony Robinson 'RAF fighter squadrons in the Battle of Britain'
J Willis 'Churchills Few' (1940) (Paragon House 1987)

Links

Airwar over Denmark
Allied World War II Casualties in the Netherlands
Australian Wargraves
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
Jagdgeschwader 27 (in German)
The National Ex-Prisoners of War Association
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
www.bomber-command.de

The Aerodrome - Aces and Aircraft of World War 1


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This page is dedicated to the men of 56 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