[Allan125]

Hello Peter

this is a similar incident, described in "The Black Bull" by Patrick Delaforce. "The cavalry 'gallop' continued. After sleep, replenishment of petrol, rations and mail, the objective for 1 September was to be Aubigny, 10 miles north-west of Arras, some 33 miles north-east of Amiens....I just got to a firing position on high ground near Estree when the engine conked [As Echelon arrived to fill up] a Squadron of Spitfires attacked the Fifes and brewed up one petrol truck and destroyed our barbers' tools. The order to "get your hair cut" was now meaningless"

According to 2TAF Vol 2 Breakout to Bodenplatte July 1944 to January 1945 by Shores & Thomas it relates that it was mainly a day of movement for the fighter wings, and recce wings.

125 Wing for example (in which my late father served) covers the period 29/8/44 to 7/9/44 in one ORB entry, something that happened rarely as it was usually a daily entry - the scribe was obviously busy elsewhere away from his typewriter! (They did a similar thing in late September, early October, when they moved from B.70 Antwerp/Deurne to B.82 Grave)

"In these few days 125 Wing dropped in at 3 different strips and covered a total distance of 223 miles as the crow flies. ‘A’ Party left B.19 at LINGEVRES on the 29th August and moved to B.34 near DAMVILLE and south of EVREUX. This strip proved to be completely unserviceable and when ‘A’ Party had been there 36 hours, orders were received to move on to B.40 which was located S.E. of BEAUVAIS. It was just a case of chasing the Army the whole time, and this time the Allied armies were moving very fast and in the right direction with the Hun showing a clean pair of heels. While the aircraft were left behind at B.19 with the ‘B’ Party, what little flying was done proved entirely uneventful. The front line had moved so fast that with 90 gallon tanks a patrol of short duration over ARRAS-AMIENS was all that was possible.

On September 1st ‘A’ Party moved off to cross the SEINE to B.40, a strip located S.E. of BEAUVAIS between NIVILLERS and VILONGE a distance of 60 miles as the crow flies. ‘B’ Party was left behind at LINGEVRES and when orders came to move they had to do the trip from LINGEVRES to BEAUVAIS by road a distance of approximately 160 miles. The convoy was split into 3 parties and halts were made at 2030 at night and 0830 in the morning for hot meal which was served in very short time under difficult conditions. The journey was commenced at 1600 hrs and BEAUVAIS was reached at approximately 1100 hrs the following morning. There were one or two breakdowns on the road but the convoys as a whole were a most orderly and efficient sight.

BEAUVAIS proved quite a pleasant spot and the strip was shared with 122 Wing. But we were not destined to rest there long and on the 4th of September “A” party were ordered to move again. The Army was evidently out to break all records. B.52 was located S.E. of DOUAI and proved a welcome spot having every appearance of a static station with decent roads and buildings which later served ideally for H.Q.’s and Messes. The lavatories were certainly fully fashioned enough to please the most statically minded personnel. From DOUAI some uneventful front line patrols were flown from BRUSSELS – ANTWERP. Things were moving so fast that we were again being outranged by advances of Allied Troops. We are still wondering why we are still here. Our nomadic life has become such a habit that we begin to fret if we stay in a place much over 24 hours."

I would tend to think that the other Wings ORB's would be completed in a similar manner, so really you would need to find the entries for the individual squadrons involved to see if they claimed any MET (Motorised Enemy Transport, as they obviously presumed it to be), in the case of 125 Wing it would be: 132 (City of Bombay) Squadron, 453 Squadron RAAF, 441 (Silver Fox) Squadron RCAF and 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron, and although nothing is in the Wing ORB précis that does not mean that no MET had been attacked and had been written up in the actual Squadron ORB for that day - not much help I admit, sorry!

"Fighter Command War Diaries" by John Foreman reports "Day: General The Allied advance continued; the enclave at Dieppe was captured by the Canadians. British forces took Arras and the US advance reached Cambrai and Verdun. Offensive Operations: Armed Reconnaissances by Spitfire units resulted in the loss of five pilots reported missing, mostly by flak..."

Good luck in your quest. Please keep us updated if you find an answer.

Allan