Apologies if this has already been posted:
Flying Desert Rat: The Combat Career of Squadron Leader Bert Houle
Page 3 (of 9)
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Houle's first taste of action happened on 30 October (1941) and was in fact a friendly fire incident. 213 was attached to 272 Squadron, a Beaufighter unit tasked with the defence of Alexandria. Several 213 pilots including Houle decided to hitch a ride during a training exercise with the Beaufighters making some practice runs on the Allied shipping about 30 miles off the coast. Despite being forewarned and having other 272 Squadron members on the ships the navy gunners opened up on the Beaufighters, bringing one down. Houle and the others made it back to base a sad and unforgiving group; the waste of life caused by his own side was a difficult baptism of fire.
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http://www.wlu.ca/lcmsds/cmh/back%20...rt%20Houle.pdf