242 RCAF in BOF

[VonWaffen]

Hi
Any close pic of 242 Squadron hurricane 2 or 3 blade prop ,base near rennes around 15 of june 1940 , Rec said Noel K Stansfeld was one of them ,landing is a/c in a ditch near the village of Blain , any pic of this plane will be a must..... thank you

[Brian]

Hi

No picture but Brian Cull's FIRST OF THE FEW has a good account of 242 Squadron RAF (not RCAF) in France.

Cheers
Brian

[VonWaffen]

Well
On 3 nov 39 Squadron leader Fowler Morgan Gobeil receive the first of his new command 242 Squadron air crew in the form of his 2 flight commanders. They were flight lt Donald R miller of Saskatoon , Saskatchewan and John L Sullivan of Guelph,Ontario .Both of whom had joined the RAF in 1936...These two were soon followed by flying officer John W Graaffstra of Souris , Manitoba and pilot officer Robert D Grassick of London Ontario....
On 6 nov 39 the squadron was deluged with new air crew arrival,the vast majority of the unit's initial complement.
F/O Lorne E Chambers of Vernom,British Colombia
P/O Marvin K Brown of Kincardine ,Ontario
Arthure H Deacon ,Dale F Jones ,Hugh L Niccolls ,Joseph B Smiley and Rusell H Wiens, All prairie boys from Sasskachewan. John B Latta of Victoria ,British Colombia , William L McKnight of Calgary, Alberta Donald G McQueen of High River ,Alberta
Garfileld A Madore of Fort William,Ontario and James W Mitchell from Winfield ,British Colombia.
The next days brought F/O Richard Coe of Winfield ,British Colombia, and finally on 20 nov the last 3 of initial cadre of pilot reported:P/O James F Howitt from Guelph,Ontario
Percival Stanley Turner from Toronto,Ontario and William A Waterton from Camrose,Alberta
So all Canadian squadron here...
On 14 may F/L Sullivan with P/O Grassick , McKnight and Turner in tow as 242's contribution to the reinforcement effort , was sent to Vitry en Artois...
they return to Britain on 19 may for week 's leave and rest

On 17 may as part of new deployment plan "A" flight of 242 squadron was send to Lille/seclin commanded by F/L Miller and consisting of F/O Chambers and P/O Brown , Deacon , McQueen and Wiens

In a brief two day of combat , the flight had lost almost half their number , one KIA and other wonded , though their loss rate was generally representational of other RAF Hurricane squadron on deployment.
During their next visit to France, things would be significantly different .They return to England on 20 may
On 21 may ,along with Gobeil and the rest of 242,who were on stand by at Church Fentom were ordered forward to RAF Bigging Hill. 242 Squadron add its first offensive patrol on the 22 with 2 confirmed kills
In late june 242 was regrouping at Coltishall in Norfolk ,Squadron Leader Gobeil return to Canada
On 24 june RAF Squadron Leader Douglas Robert Steward Bader arrived to take command of the Squadron

Like you can see many of RAF unit s was in fact Canadian and other commonwealth country unit's , sometime lead by RAF Squadron leader as J E (Johnnie) Johnson who was leading a other well know Canadian Squadron and even Canadian Squadron leader leading all british RAF unit's...Even at the beginning of the war the RAF unit's was a amalgam of many country......... 242 Squadron was most of the time 80 to 90% RCAF
Cheers
Eric
National Defence RCAF
CFB St Jean Qc Canada

[VonWaffen]

Some of the other Familiar name --- RCAF UNITS in RAF

Day fighter
401 squadron 402 squadron 403 squadron 411 squadron 412 squadron
416 squadron 417 squadron 421 squadron 441 squadron 442 squadron

Night fighter
406 squadron 409 squadron 410 squadron 418 squadron

Recon squadron
400 squadron 414 squadron 430 squadron

Fighter-bombers
438 squadron 439 squadron 440 squadron

[Kutscha]

Doesn't matter how many Canadians were in the squadron, it still doesn't make it a RCAF squadron.

Only the 400 - 449 squadrons were RCAF.

[VonWaffen]

Yep sound better in British record , It was a brilliant way to hide the true history , also the main resson why this was corrected later.....

[Brian]

Hi VonWaffen (it would be nice to know your name)

Just what point are to endeavouring to make?

Cheers
Brian

[SMF144]

Since we are plugging books might as well add Hugh Halliday's excellent book on the squadron, "Tumbling Skies". If you haven't already VonWaffen, check it out. Copies should be available in Quebec.

Stephen

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

Wrong book Mate! Hugh Halliday's book on No.242 squadron, is:

No.242 Squadron The Canadian Years:The story of the RAF's 'all-Canadian' Fighter Squadron.
Halliday,Hugh.
Stittsville:Canada's Wings,1981.

Col.

[John Vasco]

Originally Posted by VonWaffen

Yep sound better in British record , It was a brilliant way to hide the true history , also the main resson why this was corrected later.....

Load of rubbish.

242 was 242 Squadron RAF.

As was 303 Squadron.

If you want an example of how things really were in 1940, take the following: There were TWO No.1 Squadrons in RAF Fighter Command. No1. Squadron RAF, and No. 1 Squadron RCAF. No.1 Squadron RCAF was a Canadian-constituted squadron sent over to supplement RAF Fighter Command.

So no hidden agenda, no 'hiding the true history'. If you're going to post on here, don't try to feed people in the know a load of rubbish...