[B.F.M. Droog]

Does anyone know how many Westland Lysanders were with 2 Squadron on 10/05/1940?

One source stated: '2 Squadron went into Belgium with seventeen Lysanders and, so as to provide the widest cover for the B.E.F., dispersed about three aircraft to each of the airfields at Abbeville, Bethune, Roncq, Lille and Brussels.' (...) 'By the time of the Dunkirk evacuation the Squadron had scarcely a servicable Lysander left.'

Yet after studying Peter Cornwell's 'The Battle of France Then and Now', 2008 I counted 'only' three planes lost and four damaged (but repairable) before Dunkirk. During Dunkirk the Squadron lost 2 a/c. and one Lysander was damaged, but repairable.

As I didn't find in the CWGC Database any 2 Squadron Casualties missed by Peter Cornwell, I wonder what's the case here. I can think of only these possibilities:

1. The statements 'went into Belgium with seventeen Lysanders' and 'By the time of the Dunkirk evacuation the Squadron had scarcely a servicable Lysander left' are wrong.
2. An unknown number of Lysanders was lost on the ground during German bombings or abandoned (which is unlikely, as Cornwell would have mentioned it, as is the case with other squadrons).
3. The damaged aircraft couldn't be repaired in time.

What's your opinion on this?

Regards,

Bart