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Re: Mosquito Losses on the 15th January 1945
Alex:
The 333 Squadron loss is described starting at the bottom of 329 (of 432 - Adobe page number) of the AIR 27-1732 file. Crew as noted above, full names Kvm. Kåre Oscar Sjølie and Sjt. Ingvar Sigurd Gausland aircraft R of 333. Air Britain says this was HP904.
Andy Bird's excellent "A Separate Little War" says HP904 was hit by heavy-calibre flak as the wing commenced its attack on the ships. Aircraft A of 235 (RS523, Chew and Couttie) was also hit by flak and eventually had to ditch.
Total wing losses were five Mosquitos, the other three, all from 143 Squadron, being claimed by 190s, who also lost three of their number. I've not been able to link the squadron letters of the 143 Sqn aircraft to serial numbers - Maurice and Langley were in K, Alexandre and McMullin in V and Morton-Montcrieff and Cash in D. The MACR for this date is for Alexandre, who was a USAAF flyer.
I owe Andy an email, too...
Cheers,
Mark
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