Circus N° 20 23 June 1941

[Erik Mombeeck]

Hello to all,

we are now checking a few last things before to start the lay-out of JG 2 volume 2 (1941).

Face to the amount of confirmed claims by JG 2 and JG 26 at the evening of 23 June 1941 (no less than 5 Spitfires and 5 Blenheims for JG 2 as well as 5 Spitfires and 1 Blenheim for JG 26), I wonder if I have not missed a few losses at the RAF side.
I found :
_ two Blenheims (V5517 and V6195) of N° 107 Squadron
_ two Spitfires (R6761 and P7975) of N° 93 and 485 Sq
as well as the Spitfire (P8330) of N° 303 (Polish) Sq damaged.

An overclaiming isn't, for sure, not very rare, but this one appears to be remarkable. Does anyone have losses that I should have missed?

Thanks in advance for your remarks and best wishes for 2008!

Erik
www.luftwaffe.be

[Brian]

Hi Erik

I can offer the following from my notes, but have no times.

2 Spits 609 Sqn damaged in combat
Spit 92 Sqn FTR (Bowen-Morris)
Spit 485 Sqn FTR (Bullen)
Spit 603 Sqn damaged (Lamb)
2 Spits 266 Sqn damaged

Spit 603 Sqn damaged (Douglas)
Spit 616 Sqn FTR (Beedham)
Spit 303 Sqn damaged (Gladych)

2 Blenheim 107 Sqn FTR (Redfern-Smith and Fairbanks)
Blenheim 107 Sqn c/landed (Ballands Z6271)
2 Blenheim 53 Sqn FTR (Bolton and Hewson)

Hope this helps.
Happy New Year
Brian

[Fairlop]

Hi Erik,

The evening action was Circus No.20 to Mardyck. I have these losses for that sweep:

92 Sqn
Spitfire V, R6761 destroyed
Sgt Bowen-Morris, WIA & POW

303 Sqn
Spitfire II, P8330 damaged
P/O Gladych, WIA

609 Sqn
Spitfire V, W3240 damaged
F/L Richey
and
Spitfire V, ??? damaged
P/O Wilmet

616 Sqn
Spitfire II, P7435 destroyed
Sgt Beedham

107 Sqn
Blenheim IV, V5517 destroyed
F/O Fairbanks & crew, POW
and
Blenheim IV, V6195 destroyed
F/O Redfern-Smith & crew, KIA
and
Blenheim IV, Z6271 damaged
Sgt Ballands & crew, Sgt Sanders KIA

Happy New Year,
Michal Havrda

[Leendert]

Erik,

Found as other Spits than you've already mentioned:

P8025 485 Sqn damaged
P8170 266 Sqn damaged
R7253 611 Sqn damaged

Unfortunately no times known.

The two 53 Squadron Blenheims being lost on 23 June 1941 as in Brian's reply: likely to have had no part in Circus 20?

Groet,

Leendert
Brugge/Belgium

[Franek Grabowski]

Six Blenheims were escorted by 242 and 303 Sqns. German attack resulted in fierce dog fights involving Blenheims. One Polish pilot reported a Me 109 wearing yellow stripes exploded under his fire. P/O Bolesław Gładych flying P8330 RF-D collided or rammed a Me 109 and was wounded by a piece of German aircraft.

[kaki3152]

Wasn't this the sortie where PO Gladych was unconscious and his Spitfire crash landed on the grounds of a hospital?
There is good description of this combat in "Polish Aces"-Osprey, pg 50-51. At least 8 Bf-109E/Fs were shot down on this date, most from JG-2.

[montana]

Hi Michal,

From the log-book of P/O Wilmet dated June 23, 1941 : Spit Vb W3207 - Offensive Sweep - 1.25 h - Forced landed at Hawkinge.

Happy New Year

Rgds.

[Franek Grabowski]

Indeed. He landed in field near Manston unconscious destroying his aircraft.

[kaki3152]

While trolling through the Internet, I found this
"In 2001, a physical injury led Susan to Yogi master Michael Gladych, age 95".

Someone should definitively write his biography.Working Title - "From WWII fighter pilot to Yogi master"!

[Franek Grabowski]

Oh, he is not that old, he will be 90 the next (still) year. He is a very interesting character, but it is extremely hard to separate facts from fiction in his case. There are thousands of stories about him and his achievements. Also, it seems that he and Lanny Łanowski for a period flew combat missions as members of no Air Force. His early post-war period seems a bit mysterious as well. The problem is that the old man himself is not interested in the past.