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.

[keith A]

Just found my information - sort of. This was Rodeo "A" on this date. Several squadrons were involved but only three made claims. 71 Squadron and 401 Squadron damaged five enemy fighters, and 485 Squadron made three confirmed claims. This isn't in the Tony Woods lists but evidence elsewhere indicates that it was missed. I originally though this was a mis-reporting on 24.04.42 but so many of the details are not consistent I believe there was some confusion between the two dates.

[Bruce Lander]

Hi Keith,
have you seen this link:-
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/schol...-WH2-1RAF.html
It is a full download of "New Zealanders with The Royal Air Force"
Regards

Bruce Lander

[keith A]

Yep, thanks anyway Bruce. It is a good read , especially the volumes on the Middle East and the Pacific.

best regards

Keith