Banff Wing air fight 21 April 1945

[keith A]

I finally got the ORBs for 143, 235 and 248 Squadrons on this date.

It appears the actuall tally of bombers shot down and damaged is as follows

143 Squadron

WO R. Johnson Ju88 destroyed
WO GW Blake Ju188 destroyed and Ju188 damaged
FO Keohane Ju188 destroyed

235 Squadron

FO Webster Ju88 destroyed
WO Cogswell Ju88 destroyed and Ju188 damaged

248 Squadron

FO Goodwin Ju88 destroyed
FO Goodwin and WO Furness Ju88 destroyed
FO Price Ju188 destroyed

This gives an RAF total of 5 Ju88 destroyed and 3 Ju188 destroyed with two more damaged. The tally was later revised to four Ju188 destroyed and therefore I assume Keohane's claim for a "damaged" was upgraded to destroyed.

It would appear that 333 Squadron also are awarded a Ju88 therefore Keohane second claim might not had been upgraded after all. Although the 248 ORB only credites the Banff Wing squadrons with victories, and wrongly gives 143 Squadron just a single "kill".

The previous posts on this site definitely indicate that many of the confused but that the LW suffered heavily.

It would appear that 235 and 248 Squadron vie for the title of top-scoring coastal command squadron. Both scred heavily against LW units in the Bay of Biscay in 1942 and 1943.

regards

Keith

Regards

Keith