23rd May 1940

[Peter Cornwell]

'A' Flight of No.253 Squadron & 'A' Flight of No.229 Squadron operated as a composite unit in France between May 20 - 24, 1940.

[Martin Gleeson]

Part 2a,

To recap some salient points in the AE article.

Peter Hearn the author states that Strange was sent to Merville with a party of airmen. They found, as Alex has mentioned already, 15 unserviceable Hurricanes and proceeded to make flyable at least two. The German Army was quite near the airfield.

That day - whatever day it was - P/O Linney was shot down by Bf 109s 'immediately over their heads'. He baled out and landed safely on the airfield, was given one of the now-flyable Hurricanes and departed quickly.

That afternoon with the German Army only 500 yards from the airfield Strange sent his party off with a retreating British army unit. He then took off in another flyable Hurricane. It is clear from the article that only TWO Hurricanes were flown out of Merville. The first by Linney and the second by Strange. If this is correct it probably explains why the name of the third pilot cannot be found.

Martin.

[Martin Gleeson]

Part 2b,

A verbatim account by Strange of his very eventful flight to England (Manston) is included in the article. The obituary referred to earlier is incorrect in stating that Strange sparred with the German fighters in order to shake them off. By his own account he was merely - and very wisely - trying to flee from them.

The date of these events is not recorded in the article. However a letter from Lord Balfour to Strange congratulating the latter on his achievement is reproduced in full. It too does not identify the date of the incident but the letter is dated May 29th. This means there can be no confusion with Linneys bale-out over Dunkirk on the 29th.

I presume the Manston, Hawkinge and 229 Sqn. ORBs have been well checked for any information on this incident. A possible scenario exists for Linney in that he took off in one Hurricane and came back in a different one. This may not have been noticed as he apparently was not overdue because of the quick turnaround at Merville. Almost certainly the Hurricane he came back in would need to have been sent elsewhere for full repair. Does anyone have a list of all the sorties flown by Linney in the period May 20th - 29th ? That is assuming the 229 Sqn. ORB was well maintained.

The end. Regards for now,

Martin.