235 Squadron - 8 August 1940

[Andy Saunders]

On this day three 235 Sqn Blenheims escorted a "recconaissance" machine to the mouth of the Seine. I believe that this was in the evening, but do not have a time. On the return flight fifteen Me 110's were encountered, seven of which attacked the Blenheims. A running fight ensued, during which it was claimed that one of the Me 110's were shot down in flames. Do we have a time for (a) 235's departure and (b) the engagement with 110's?

Also on 8 August a 59 Sqn Blenheim (N3590) was lost some time after 15.50 on operations over the Channel. All three crew were killed. The ORB states that the sortie was HACH. Can anyone enlighten me as to what HACH was?
Also, could this Blenheim have been the machine that 235 Sqn were escorting? If not, then who/what were they escorting??

In addition, how did N3590 come to be lost as I can find no L/W claims that might fit the bill. In fact, what unit were the Me 110's from that 235 Sqn encountered?

Lots of questions, but if anyone could fill in ANY missing detail I'd be hugely grateful!

[rafcommands]

Hi Andy,

The No.59 Sqn was on an independant sortie, no escort.

Coastal patrol names usually consisted of the highly secret intitals of where from/to eg

HACH
le Havre to Cherbourg

HABO
Le Havre to Boulogne

I have no conclusive reason for the loss of N3590

Regards
Ross

[Andy Saunders]

Thank you, Ross.

Most helpful and greatly appreciated!

[Peter Cornwell]

Andy,

I don’t know if this has any bearing, but No.2 Group were tasked with attacks on enemy airfields on August 8, 1940, sending a total of 15 aircraft from Nos.18, 21, 82, and 105 Squadrons off throughout the day (05.35 – 17.40 hours) mainly as singletons but with two pairs and one section included. Twelve of these sorties were abandoned due to lack of cloud cover but one aircraft was scheduled for Caen which is at least in the right area ?

More to the point, the No.59 Squadron Blenheim returning from HACH patrol apparently had the misfortune to meet the Bf110s of II./ZG2 which escorted the I./StG3 attack on CW9 mounted by Fliegerkorps IV. They claimed a total of three Blenheims (one by Oberlt Hermann GRASSER) which suggests there was certainly more than one Blenheim in evidence so would appear to be that escorted by No.235 Squadron.

Sorry for the late response but was away from my desk yesterday attending a family funeral at Sellindge.