[bearoutwest]

Hi Peter,

Christopher Shores in his volume "Those Other Eagles" records Denby's claim as being the first of No 600 Squadron's kills after re-equipping with Beaufighters. Though it isn't specific whether the squadron was fully re-equipped or whether it was the first kill while the squadron had Beaufighters (in which case Denby may have been flying a Blenheim). It is possible that either Shores or Onderwater are mistaken.

A second possibility is as you say a turretless Blenheim. There were discussions which I noted some time ago in my reading, that it was recommended removing the weight of turret (and gunner) from the fighter Blenheims in order to improve performance, replacing it with a cupola. I can't for the life of me recall where I read this comment.

A third possibility is that the gunner was a ground crew volunteer, and his name is simply not recorded in some documents, especially as the other two crewman (pilot and radar op) were officers. As an example of this heirachial blind-spot, who recalls the name of the gunner from the No 12 Squadron raid on the Meuse bridgeheads. The same crew where the two officers (pilot and observer-bomb-aimer) both received VCs?

The last possibility is that the crew of two flew the Blenheim (if that's what it was) without the gunner that night.

Interesting,
...geoff