Whirlwinds, shipping reccos & BC minelaying

[pfP7063]

Good evening all, hopefully this query isn't too far in left field.

With the roadsteads and shipping reccos carried out by 263 and 137 Squadrons in particular, does anyone know if they were carried out to directly follow up a gardening operation by BC in an attempt to catch the German minesweepers in a known location.

Alternatively were they in response to information supplied by the French and Dutch resistance movements?

Or were they just regular patrols carried out at times likely to catch German shipping in the open?

TYIA.

Paul