[bearoutwest]

Hi Faenor,

It wouldn't surprise me if I am mixing up details on Paul Richey. It's been at least 10 years since I read the book properly, and my copy is currently in a box while I change out a few rooms in the house.

To my view, I think the individual aircraft codes might be in the wrong place for No 1 or 73 Squadrons. Two other RAF squadrons - No 85 and No 87 - were also based in France as part of the air component of the BEF. They also had the full rudder tricolour, and coincidentally neither squadron made much use of the regular RAF fin-flash (a lot of photos of the 1939-1940, pre-Battle of Britain period show the 85 Sqn hexagon or the 87 Sqn arrowhead located where the RAF type fin-flash would normally be). The full squadron codes & individual aircraft letter locations are more consistent with either of these squadrons.

I think there is a good possibility that what appears as a thin hexagon in one of your linked photos may be a shadow from a cut out hexagon or part of a cut out (i.e. souvenired) arrowhead marking. What do you think?

I wonder if anyone knows if 85 Sqn or 87 Sqn lost and aircraft 'G' in France in 1940?

...geoff