Kenley Wing mystery 16 April 1942

[keith A]

Looking at John Foremans books Fighter Command War Diaries and RAF Fighter Command Victory Claims in WW2 I note that he lists 485 Squadron claimimg 3 Fw190 kills on this date, the victors being FL Crawford-Compton, SL Wells and FL Kilian. However I cannot find any other mention of these events in other sources. Woods lists no sorties for 485 on that date although their sister squadrons in the Kenley Wing escort Hurricane fighter bombers.

No corresponding information in AH with none of the victors identified above being credited with victories in their biographies, however the AH Vol.2 does give a 16.04.42 kill to Kilian. A contemporary source states Compton made four and a half kills in March and April 1942, which would indicate he made a claim on 16 April. Also AH states that Compton made 20/21 kills with another shared but only lists 20. AH states Wells made 12 kills but almost all other sources cite 13.

So - the 16 April mission - did it happen?

regards

Keith

The 485 Squadron illustrated history does not include this event.