Sldr Neville Duke 615 Squadron
 

Does anyone know the date Duke took command of the squadron in 1950 replacing SLdr PK Devitt and the date he left in 1951, passing command to SLdr FB Sowrey? I assume he did not serve in the unit prior to taking command.

regard

Keith

Re: Sldr Neville Duke 615 Squadron
 

615's F540s for the periods are available online at the NA so you will no doubt find the answer there

Re: Sldr Neville Duke 615 Squadron
 

Cheers Chris. All the details are there. Mystery solved :)

Re: Sldr Neville Duke 615 Squadron
 

And for those of us not that skillful can you enlighten us what you found?

Cheers
Stig

Re: Sldr Neville Duke 615 Squadron
 

Sorry Stig, I thought it was not particularly interesting to anyone but me. Duke took command of 615 Squadron in September 1950 and led it until August 1951. He resigned his commission because he was not able to reconcile the command of the squadron with his test pilot job. I have assumed that while he was with 615 Squadron he mostly flew the Meteor F.4 but he may also have flown the Spitfire F.22 for a few weeks in late 1950.

regards

Keith

Re: Sldr Neville Duke 615 Squadron
 

Not so Keith, not so.... :)
I have always been quite fond of Neville Duke
I read his book Test Pilot in my youth and I am certain that too triggered my interest in aviation.
Also thought it was a good opportunity to update Rawlings' Fighter Squadrons of the RAF!
So, hat's off Keith and many thanks
Cheers
Stig

Re: Sldr Neville Duke 615 Squadron
 

I'd recommend the War Diaries that were re-published with annotations. The book is full of details about Duke off-duty.

best regards

Keith