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LATEST UPDATE
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30 September 2008
Update to note the passing of Pam Kemp.
17 September 2008
Update to note the passing of Peter Spooner.
31 July 2008
New pages
Thanks to the kind interest and generosity of the families of two Squadron members, there are two new personal pages:
Revised pages
Personnel Rolls Final Farewells (to mark the passing of Jim Fryatt); group photos and identities, CO notes.
Bristol Beaufighter, India & Burma RM Coles loss and other details
Bob Campbell (Bill Winsor’s loss identified)
Bill Edwards GSM (Palestine clasp) and bio details
Jim Fryatt passed away 19 July 2008
Fred Joerin to include the connection with George Mockridge and Anthony Devenish
Jock Marshall DFM (further information on Jock’s service from the London Gazette and correspondence with son Ian.
Audax & Hind Kabul Hinds recovered: news and pix thanks to Pat Chriswick.
Minor revisions
Honour Roll, RAAF Personnel, Gallantry Awards, Squadron movements, de Havilland Mosquito, Dudman, Farrington, Grierson, Kemp, Sainsbury, Sharratt, Walters, Glossary, Enquiries, Sources, Sites & Links.
FORTHCOMING UPDATES
Regular updates are made on 26 January (Australia Day) and 31 July each year (in time for the annual preservation copy in PANDORA on 6 August). Additional updates may be made from time to time as needed. All are noted on this page.
After 7 years on line, it seems unlikely that many more surviving members will report with personal accounts to put forward. The website in its current state carries a reasonable balance of material from both World Wars, for aircrew and groundcrew, from the main operational theatres, and of the main aircraft types. However, the site does lack very much of the original 211 Squadron record.
Although partly destroyed, partly recompiled, partly incomplete, sometimes illegible and occasionally in error, the remaining mass of Operations Record Book pages offer a detached narrative of the Squadron and its personnel that would make for a more complete view of their war. If presented as a faithful transcript of the text, author and reader alike would have a searchable resource (through the Site search page) of very considerable long term use. Future updates will therefor concentrate on progressively adding that material. It will be a damned long haul.
211 Squadron Operations Record Book
The primary official source, itself partially incomplete but a most valuable resource for building the narrative. With recent acquisitions, my own set now covers all the available material for the period June 1937 to July 1941, and August 1943 to November 1945. A full description can be found on the Sources page, together with references to other relevant official records.
RAF Narrative - Operations in Greece
Simple transcription of this lengthy narrative may ultimately be practical. The alternative, begun long ago but put aside while gathering other’s contributions, is to analyse the ORB and Narrative together against material already here reported, taking the results into the relevant section. Analysis of this kind is a very long-term project.
Aircrew Log Books
Copies of a number of personal Log books are now to hand, thanks to the families involved. These are a valuable primary source for constructing personal narratives and for certain Squadron details. A small number of those to hand have been provided for research but explicitly not for publication.
PAST UPDATES
13 April 2008
New pages
Thanks to the kind interest and generosity of two Squadron crew-mates, for this seventh anniversary of the 211 Squadron website (and the 67th anniversary of Easter Sunday 1941), I have been able to add these new personal narrative pages:
These men are two most recent surviving members to report in, Mont from Queensland (thanks to the VetAffairs Noticeboard last year), and his old mate Kempie from Surrey.
Consequential amendments
Bristol Beaufighter, de Havilland Mosquito, Burma Quintet, TD Taylor, DE Winton, Site Summary.
Minor housekeeping
Squadron movements, Sources.
Source notes added to Airman’s Album, LW Abbs, W Baird.
Revision 18 April
With additional information to hand from Squadron records and the diary of the late Corporal Arthur Goodinson, substantially revised the account of 211 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft losses. Took the opportunity to make some small revisions to pages for Dagnall, Gilmore, Kemp, Mearns, Mitchell, Walters, Wood.
Australia Day 26 January 2008
New pages
ARG Bax An account of 211 Squadron CO Gordon “Porpoise” Bax’s RAF service and his falling captive in action 4 September 1940, thanks to granddaughter Sally Searle and her family in Cornwall.
Revised 14 February with late additions and minor amendments.
AL Farrington Another Australian’s story, thanks to a lot of work on the part of son John in Adelaide.
Revised 14 February with late additions and minor amendments.
MJC Haakenson Lorraine and her mother in Alberta have kindly shared much, to make this account of Mal’s part in the 211 Squadron Burma story possible.
Revised pages
Personnel rolls re-ordered for separate Sources list, CO roll revisions, added Fitzpatrick RCAF service data thanks to HA Halliday, re-ordered ex-72 OTU roll commentary, and additions to Dominion aircrew rolls arising from the narrative for AL Farrington.
RAAF personnel JWB Judge entry expanded, plus revisions arising from the narrative for AL Farrington.
Squadron movements text re-ordered for separate Sources list.
Middle East expanded 72 OTU comments with material moved from Personnel Rolls.
Far East re-ordered for separate Sources list.
Blenheim armament refreshed photos, re-ordered text and separate Sources list.
Bristol Beaufighter further repairs to the account of Squadron losses.
L Abbs A Diamond Wedding anniversary! Congratulations, Len and Betty. Also added a photograph from the Greece period.
RD Campbell Small revision to Squadron group identities and minor re-arrangement of layout.
CFR Clark Small clarification re Hooper brothers
EF Cole added more trades details, re ground gunner party under Tom Fisher.
WH Edwards RAAF text tidied up, and Farrington connection.
TWS Fisher added more trades details, re ground gunner party & Ted Cole.
G Grierson Collier’s crash text tidied up.
C Hansford More photographs, thanks to Cecil.
J Robertson Clarified text and order a little.
M Sainsbury Added a new photograph thanks to Roger and clarified another caption.
Glossary Added piece on currency, pay and prices
Do it yourself Reworked, re-ordered, and revised the personal records hints.
Sources Reworked and amplified.
Housekeeping/minor revisions
Home, Tatoi today, Maps, Enquiries, Sites & Links.
26 February 2008 revise
Revised this page to show future updates direction and Enquiries page to match. Revised Do it yourself Units remarks.
27 October 2007
Revisions
Added George Blake to Final Farewells (Personnel rolls) and Far East PoW survivors (Far East).
Sources Revised and re-ordered.
Sites & links New links added and some revisions.
8 October 2007
Revisions
Re-ordering of text, summary and source notes affecting Site summary; World War I; Honour Roll; RAAF personnel, CFR Clark; Enquiries; Sources.
EF Cole Brief revision of family details.
Sites & links New links added.
31 August 2007
New page
Maps A selection from Middle East maps of World War II origin.
Revisions
Bristol Beaufighter This page seems to have been trampled more than once in the PC adventures of the past six months. Added some missing loss details.
31 July 2007
New pages
Glossary The Usage and abbreviations and Measurement units sections from the Site Summary page, extended with sections for RAF Terms (from the 1943 edition of The King’s Regulations and Air Council Instructions); and for RAF Slang from the 1943 edition of The ABC of the RAF.
Major revisions
World War I Much more complete roll of casualties and of aircraft collated from various sources.
Personnel Rolls Added M Haakenson and JG Sharratt to Final Farewells and extended the list back to 2001.
Bristol Beaufighter Extended the listing of aircraft losses, primarily from the Operations Record Book, where the exact identity of a number of aircraft recorded only by individual letter remains unclear. In time it will be possible to firmly identify aircraft and aircrew losses from the Squadron OpReps - the sortie reports held in TNA AIR 27/1304 to AIR 27/1313. The mass of detail, of sometimes indifferent image quality, will take some considerable time to examine.
Middle East Added Short C Class material thanks to Brian Cassidy.
Sumatra and Java Added material on PI, P2 and Kalidjati airfields.
WH Edwards Added more complete details of Bill’s later RAF career and post-war life, thanks to grandson Ross.
CN Hansford With thanks to Cecil, whose fruitful rummages in his memorabilia have made further photographs available to show here.
JG Sharratt Some additional material and revised to recognise the passing of John Gerard Sharratt, who died on Tuesday 27 March 2007 aged 90.
TD Taylor Added photographs and amplified account of the Webster brothers, both lost on WWII service, thanks to Tom Taylor’s boy, Eric.
Other revisions
Minor housekeeping, amplifications, consequential amends and so on
Home, Site summary, Honour Roll, Gallantry awards, Personnel rolls, RAAF personnel, Squadron markings, Blenheim armament, de Havilland Mosquito, The Far East, India & Burma, LW Abbs, W Baird, A Carter, CFR Clark, KCVD Dundas DFC, JR Gordon-Finlayson, G Manderson DFC, BB Mearns, Enquiries, Do it yourself, Sources, Sites & links, Site search
Australia Day 26 January 2007
New pages
RN Dagnall Acting CO in Burma late in 1944, lost on operations in January 1945. I am indebted to the McCubbin and Jobson families for access to much treasured memorabilia in making this page.
WP Griffin Squadron MO in Greece and senior officer on 14 April 1941. Derived from Squadron and Gazette records.
JG Sharratt “JG the AG”, with 211 from the Desert to Wadi Gazouza. Although John is too frail to write these days, the great kindness of his wife Pat (his partner this past 64 years and a wonderful correspondent), has made it a pleasure to compile this page from a rich collection of treasures. Sadly, JG passed away soon after this page made it on-line.
Site search moved the Google search from Enquiries to its own separate page
Major revisions
World War I added material on W/C Norrie, his WWI album, and 211 (Newbury) Squadron ATC.
Honour Roll added entries for Paddy Kavanagh DFM and the RAAF trio lost at Wadi Gazouza late in 1941, Sgts Skinner, Dunstone and Thompson.
Gallantry awards Ribbon illustrations added.
RAAF personnel added Sgts Skinner, Dunstone and Thompson.
W Baird amplified Bill’s later RAF career and clarified 72 OTU photos.
ART Barnes an account of Barnes’ well-known nickname, “Buckshot”, with thanks to Patricia Molloy for access to March of the Gladiators, the memoirs of her father S/Ldr JF Fraser DFC.
RD Campbell My thanks to Paul Campbell, Bob’s son, who sought out some terrific training shots.
G Checketts Expanded the story of Check’s 211 days from his logbook and published writings.
KCVD Dundas DFC Revised to recognise the passing of a friend in a far-off land: Ken’s sister Daphne RL Hodgins 1923-2006, adventurous spirit and lively correspondent this past 10 years.
Enquiries Simplified and reordered, with the Google site-search moved to its own page.
Do it yourself Simplified and reordered
Other revisions
A range of small amplifications, clarifications, and consequential amendments arising out of new material or closer checking of existing material:
Home
Airman’s Album
A Conrad
EL Cooper
TWS Fisher
G Grierson
HF Squire
WB Stack
R Wingrove
Burma Quintet/Woodhouse
A Carter
P Spooner
Site Summary
All pages have new footers with simpler layout and page links.
Monday 31 July 2006: third update for 2006
New pages
None this month.
Major revisions
Personnel rolls the major addition this month comes in the form of a roll of the Squadron’s groundcrew departing Wadi Gazouza in December 1941 for Helwan, to work up to operational readiness and deployment in the Far East.
RD Campbell added photos from Bob Campbell’s collection, thanks to son-in-law Peter Wright.
Blenheim I added photos of Blenheims in the desert and Greece, thanks to Ian Carter.
Other revisions
World War I, RAAF Personnel, Across the Styx, Blenheim IV, G Davies, BB Mearns: various additions, amplifications or refreshing of photographs.
Site updates, Sources, Sites and links: minor updates.
Home, Site summary, Honour Roll, Gallantry Awards, Audax & Hind, Tatoi today, Enquiries, Do it yourself: minor text revisions.
Wednesday 15 March 2006
For the 60th anniversary of the final disbanding of No 211 Squadron RAF at Don Muang in Thailand on 15 March 1946, new pages were particularly chosen to mark the occasion: a summary of the very beginnings of the Squadron, two accounts of operations in Greece, and two of Beaufighter and Mosquito operations in the Far East—bringing the story full circle.
Ave atque Vale, CCXI!
New pages
211 Squadron in World War I
Based on the official record in the UK National Archives, I have been able to add life to the account with contemporary photos from the album of the late W/C J Norrie, who presented his collection to No 211 (Newbury) Squadron Air Training Corps, the last modern echo of a valiant Squadron, in the 1960s. Thanks to the kind efforts of Civilian Instructor Alex Pye, who made the collection available for use here.
Return Trip Across The Styx
By good fortune, another gem retrieved from the mists of the past just in time to add lustre to the record of their time in Greece: Tommy Wisdom’s Parade Middle East Weekly 1941 article, profusely illustrated with photographs fresh and familiar. This is surely the original story that my father so long remembered.
RD Campbell
Thanks to Errol Martyn, Colin Hanson, and son-in-law Peter Wright, an account of Bobby Campbell’s time with 211 Squadron in the Middle East, and his escape from captivity in Italy in 1943.
DA Spencer DFC
Two sparkling yarns from Dennis Spencer, who (with his pilot, the late Geoff Vardigans DFC) completed a tour of 211 Squadron Beaufighter operations in December 1944. Presented with simple generosity by Dennis, from his draft memoirs, Looking Backwards Over Burma.
TD Taylor
With thanks to son Eric and his mother, the story of a young Scot who signed up early in the war and stuck at it through long pilot training to reach 211 Squadron in India in February 1945. In the later period of Beaufighter operations and the conversion to the less-fortunate Mosquito, Tom Taylor and his Nav/W Vic Broome saw the Squadron through to the end. Sourced from Tom’s logbook, RAF record, and photographs, kindly made available by the Taylor family.
Major revisions
Wingrove
Added details of his RAF service and loss on 8 April 1945, added some names to the ‘A’ Flight group photograph.
Beaufighter
Added loss of Lockyer, McCormick, & Bishop June 1944, and additional details of the loss of Fitzpatrick and Lock in February 1945, thanks to Hugh Halliday and Dennis Spencer. Record of aircraft available much amplified thanks to the logbooks of TD Taylor and DA Spencer.
de Havilland Mosquito
Record of aircraft available much amplified thanks to the logbooks of TD Taylor and DA Spencer.
Other revisions
Home Simplified copyright statement.
Honour Roll and Clark Added the last resting place of Bennett, Tunstall and France, thanks to Ian Carter and Aleks Ognjevic.
Blenheim I Minor amplification re armament
India and Burma VCP remarks thank to Dennis Spencer
Hansford Added photo of Cecil as a young airman.
Gordon-Finlayson Added photo of The Bish bearing gifts, newly returned in triumph from Corfu.
Checketts Small amplification of Blenheim Delivery Flight details.
Tatoi today Minor corrections and reordering.
Summary Added new pages as required.
Sources Minor updates.
Australia Day 26 January 2006
New pages
ART Barnes
Compiled from scant surviving records and Wisdom’s remarks, a page for “Buckshot”, the Australian MT officer of the Middle East and Greece.
J Carruthers
Thanks to son Phil in Brazil, the service of a 211 Squadron navigator from January 1944 to April 1945, tour expired.
HF Squire
“Doc” Squire, RAFMO to the Squadron from the Desert to Greece. His sons John and David kindly lent freely from their late father’s wonderful negative collection, making a fine addition to the site as illustrations to my narrative of his service compiled from official records and his own Middle East Scrapbook.
DE Winton
From Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Doug contacted me with photos and logbook details of his service with the Squadron late in the Burma period. As one of the last group of aircrew to join the Squadron, Doug’s photos have added very greatly to the known collection of 211 Squadron Mosquitos.
R Wingrove
Aircraftman Wingrove joined the RAF around 1937 to be posted to 211 Squadron in the Middle East as a Wireless Operator in November 1938. His rich photograph album, covering the period from 1938 to August 1940, came to my hands almost by accident.
Major revisions
Gallantry awards
Thanks largely to assistance from another researcher in the field, added a considerable number of citations and other details.
Personnel rolls
Added Rolls of Canadian & RCAF personnel, of New Zealand and RNZAF personnel (thanks to assistance from Errol Martyn in New Zealand) and added detail to the roll of COs.
RAAF Personnel
Added S/Ldr JWB Judge, CO in the Desert and early War days. Further refinement of the RAAF personnel at Wadi Gazouza. With this update, the count of RAAF and other Australian personnel of 211 Squadron stands at 81.
Bristol Beaufighter
Greatly refined the losses account which may now be close to complete.
de Havilland Mosquito
Greatly refined the losses account which may now be close to complete. Illustrated with Doug Winton’s wonderful photos.
Burma Quintet (Dickinson)
Thanks to a long held aside letter from Bill, added some further details of his service one of only 6 crews of the original 24 surviving to complete their tours.
CFR Clark
The addition of the pages for Squire and Wingrove resulted in revisions to some comments and photos. As these new pages have firmly restored the balance of the site in recording the Middle East work of the Squadron, this seemed a good moment to recast the account of my father’s service on a single page. It’s big.
LE Ramsay
Thanks to son Ray in Gravesend, added some more illustration and discussion of Les’ service, with more to come.
FC Joerin
Thanks once more to Brian Cull, who unearthed some further images and career details, now incorporated in my account.
JR Gordon-Finlayson
Thanks to Sandeha Lynch, added wonderful images from his father’s collection showing the 216 Squadron Valentia flight to Nairobi in January 1939.
Tatoi today
Added discussion of the geography of Menidi-Tatoi, and of Paramythia and the Northern border of Greece in 1941 from official maps of the day. Refreshed several of the photographs.
Other revisions
Mostly clarification of existing material, addition of small additional details, or consequential amendments from other work Home, Summary, Honour Roll, Far East, India & Burma, LW Abbs, G Checketts, EL Cooper, WH Edwards DFC, JE Fryatt, JB Keeping, G Grierson, GY Manderson DFC, BB Mearns, M Sainsbury, Enquiries, Do it yourself, Sources.
31 July 2005
Additions and corrections to 20 October 2005
George Checketts
George passed away peacefully on 17 October 2005 aged 86. Noted his passing on his personal page and in the Final Farewells of the Personnel rolls page. With thanks and best wishes to son-in-law Chris Millard and the Checketts family.
The Sphere corrected photo caption, 211 Squadron aircrew.
de Havilland Mosquito corrected account of RF791 and RF588, regarding the loss of F/O Dunnett.
CFR Clark fixed an unnoticed technical hitch with several photos.
Additions and corrections to 20 September 2005
Blenheim IV speeds clarification. Nov 43 Loss of Russ in Blenheim V AZ887 added to Blenhem V notes.
de Havilland Mosquito additions to aircraft identitities and losses, and a fine Mosquito photo thanks to Doug Winton.
India & Burma March 1944 Loss of Woodall and Waddell added, with Woodall photo thanks to Bill Calver in Canada.
Minor corrections
Squadron markings, Airman’s Album, CFR Clark, G Grierson.
Having grown at about 4MB per year since its launch in 2001, webspace was starting to become tight again after recent additions. With this update, the site has moved to a local internet service provider with a sound history and good facilities. Operating from here in the ACT since 1995, Cyberone offers a personal webspace allowance so generous that it imposes no practical limit on future growth of the site in my hands.
The new service means that it is possible to illustrate the story of the Squadron with very many more photographs, as can be seen from this month’s updates where pages old and new are more lavishly illustrated than was practical before. With the kind permission of the RAAF Association (WA) Aviation Heritage Museum and the Australian War Memorial, among the additions are a number of 211 Squadron images from their collections.
I have also given the site a much more permanent address: www.211squadron.org. For the technically minded, this domain name is parked and used as a pointer to the actual ISP providd personal space at http://users.cyberone.com.au/clardo/.
New pages
Gallantry awards
Spurred on by Peter Spooner’s roll of Squadron decorations from the Burma period, I have been able to compile this roll of World War II awards for gallantry made to Squadron members. The sources The Squadron Operations Record Book, The London Gazette, the Australian War Memorial and published DFM and DFC sources.
WR Cuttiford
Adrian Fryatt got in touch with Geoff Cuttiford, who kindly went through the family treasures to make his father’s Logbook and a collection of great photographs available to me. With these and the aid of his RAAF service record I have been able to add this page for another RAAF member of the Squadron.
FC Joerin
Some little while back, Brian Cull contacted me about 211 Squadron and its efforts in the first Far East campaign. Brian, as co-author of the Bloody Shambles books that record those events, had long ago acquired the logbook of Fred Joerin, the Swiss member of the Squadron. In a most generous gesture, he has passed that logbook on to me. It is a unique record, in which Joerin kept the formal record of his service while adding photographs and cuttings as the events unfolded. This page is the result.
WB Stack
Regular readers will recall that Alan Stack first spotted his father Bill in the group photograph with Hugh Clutterbuck in Greece. Since then, I found that Bill was also shown in one of my father’s photographs, while Alan has kindly put together copies of his Dad’s logbook and photographs. Here at last is the assembled result. Bill amassed 74 operations in the Middle East.
Major revisions
Blenheim I
Expanded narrative of the Squadron’s Blenheim conversion, revisions and additions to aircraft identities, added new photographs thanks to the RAAFA Aviation Heritage Museum and the Bristol Aeroplane Co’s Blenheim handbook, expanded the 211 Squadron/72 OTU discussion.
Blenheim IV
Revisions to aircraft identities, amplified Far East aircraft remarks. Added Blenheim V text.
Beaufighter
Added photographs (thanks to the kind permission of the Australian War Memorial), added introductory text, specifications, and 1943 aircraft identities.
Mosquito
Added photograph, introductory text, specifications and extended 1945 aircraft identities.
RAAF personnel
Added photo of S/L PN Stacey DFC with 211 Squadron armourers, with the kind permission of the Australian War Memorial. Added ‘C’ Flight photo at Helwan 1938 thanks to the RAAF Association Aviation Heritage Museum. Added Barnes, Barrett, Cuttiford, Hartnell, GM Kendrick, MacLennan, White to the RAAF thanks to Les Payne and Geoff Cuttiford; and expanded the 211 Squadron/72 OTU discussion. With this update, the roll of Australian airmen of 211 Squadron now stands at no less than 76, compared with the 34 known just three years ago.
Airman’s Album
Completed the unknown airman’s album. A magnificent collection, thanks to Guy Black’s remarkable find and kindness in sharing it.
Geoff Grierson
Re-ordered the presentation slightly, while adding the greater bulk of Geoff’s fine photographs, thanks to son Mike’s skilful scanning. Consequential amends to Airman’s album, Cooper, Dudman, Fryatt, Sainsbury.
Other revisions
Home added reference to HF Squire’s Middle East Scrapbook, re-ordering text as a result. Redrafted the Acknowledgements and Copyright sections.
Personnel Rolls added Squadron group photos from 1938. Amplified text.
Audax and Hind corrected omissions and transcription errors in Hind identities.
Blenheim armament re-ordered the narrative with minor clarifications.
The Far East Added KPM van der Hagen commentary to Bill Maitland’s Oosthaven photograph thanks to Dick Schouten in Holland.
The Far East, India and Burma, and Peter Spooner added a number of the fine photographs from Peter’s collection.
Bill Baird added notes on Paddy Kavanagh’s DFM and death
Gordon-Finlayson DSO DFC minor revisions to text.
Tatoi today added modern Paramythia photographs thanks to Kyprianos Biris of Athens, amending a caption of CFR Clark’s collection in the process.
Enquiries and Site updates these pages are more like back-matter than front-matter, therefore moved to the rear of the site to aid the flow of the narrative.
Sources added some very useful additional references, including Middle East Scrapbook, the war memoirs of S/Ldr HF Squire, Squadron MO in the Desert and Greece..
Sites and links moved Java Index FE PoW links from the Far East page.
30 April 2005
Squadron summary Abbreviations section—added note on the BCAUR site’s Service abbreviations and terms pages.
Personnel rolls Added chronological roll of Squadron COs from Air Force Lists, Operations Record Book and individual logbooks. Now includes the Final Farewells roll.
Audax & Hind small revision to design notes and Royal Afghan Air Force Hind notes.
Blenheim I conversion dates finally resolved, by reference to Operations Record Book.
Blenheim armament added Mark IV turret shot thanks to Les Payne.
The Sphere... at last replaced poor photocopied images with clean scans, having unearthed some vintage copies of The Sphere and with thanks to Appley Hoare.
RAAF personnel added details for Ted Tyzack & Lindsay “Charger” Cameron with thanks to Les Payne, together with personal notes and photographs for him.
Gordon-Finlayson small revisions to posting date and aircrew background, added DFC (Greece).
Oddie refreshed bookplate photograph.
Wood added further detailed notes to vehicle photographs.
Sources Added additional official sources and numerous other references.
Sites & Links Rechecked and refreshed where necessary.
2 April postscript
Revised IAW Gilmore’s page after rethinking letter and posting issues and ORB entries.
31 March 2005
Not such a large update this time, however, thanks to the generosity of the families concerned, there are two new pages this month.
New pages
1175158 LAC EF “Ted” Cole
The RAF service of an Essex farm lad, which I’ve been able to write up from his Form 543A service record and other little treasures thanks to his niece Alison Barton and her mother. Alison had been researching Ted’s war service and death in captivity after falling PoW in Java, leading her to the 211 Squadron connection.
1072498 F/Sgt IAW “Bill” Gilmore
Kate Masheder was going through old family photos when she noticed that her Uncle Bill Gilmore, lost over Burma in 1944, had served in 211 Squadron. With the aid of his service record, his letters and photographs, I’ve been able to recount something of his part in the 211 Squadron story.
Major revisions
Edwards
Amplified background notes and added another photograph from the Edwards family collection. Reorganised the whole text into chronological order, for clarity.
Other revisions
Home added note on qualifications.
Squadron summary minor revision for new personal pages
Audax & Hind minor text revisions to notes on the Audax in 211 Squadron service.
Personnel rolls Jan 38 added ground crew; Jan 39 added Burnett.
RAAF personnel Corrected Kendrick, Manton and O’Brien. Added photo of Manton and O’Brien, thanks to the Woodward family.
Gordon-Finlayson added last raid date.
Sources brought up to date.
28 February 2005
This has been a major update. Apart from bringing much of the existing backlog of material to its proper place in the Squadron story, the new Squadron Honour Roll and the start of a set of Squadron Personnel Rolls over time brought with them an opportunity to reorganise a little. The Squadron Summary page, having grown rather unwieldy in scope, returns to its intended use as a site map by giving up some of its more detailed content to several new pages. The update also includes some remarkable new material.
New pages
Personnel rolls
The start of a set of nominal rolls of Squadron personnel over time, using the Air Force List as a starting point for the period 1937 to 1939. Further rolls will be added, eg for Australian and RAAF personnel, Canadian & RCAF personnel, and for New Zealand and RNZAF personnel.
Squadron movements
Extracted from the Squadron summary page to stand on its own
Bristol Beaufighter
Extracted from the Squadron summary page to stand on its own, with added Beaufighter aircraft allocations.
de Havilland Mosquito
Extracted from the Squadron summary page to stand on its own.
An airman’s album
Thanks to a remarkable find by Guy Black of Aero Vintage and his kindness in sharing it, this new page provides a wonderful view of the Squadron’s pre-war days at home and in the Middle East, adding a great deal to the photographic record.
Major revisions
Honour Roll
Reorganised text, added Personnel losses summary from the Squadron Summary page, and some minor revisions to roll entries.
Audax and Hind
Amplified discussion of Hinds in 211 Squadron service and passed to the Royal Afghan Air Force, added photos of Hawker Hinds L7175 and L7181 in the UK 1938 thanks to Guy Black.
Blenheim I
Added two terrific Blenheim I photographs at Wadi Gazouza, thanks to Les Payne in Queensland.
Far East
Much enlarged discussion of the 1942 sea party voyage aboard HMT Yoma and Operation Stepsister, and of the Java evacuation, with added photographs, in part thanks to Jack Woodward (late of 27 Squadron) and his son Charlie.
RAAF Personnel
Corrected, re-illustrated and revised discussion of the first four Australians to grace the Squadron (Boehm, Cameron, Edwards and Farrington).
Abbs added Len’s photograph of Revett, Pettit and Fryatt aboard Yoma thanks to Adrian and Jim Fryatt, and two shots of 72 OTU mates thanks to Len himself.
Cooper
Added Len Cooper’s own narrative of the 1942 voyage aboard Yoma to the Far East and events in Sumatra and Java.
Fryatt
Added more details of RAF service and refreshed several photographs of armourers at work thanks to Adrian and Jim Fryatt.
Gordon-Finlayson DSO DFC
Greatly expanded service narrative from Air Force Lists, GF’s 1938 to 1940 Logbook entries and from news cuttings. Added fresh pen and wash sketches from an unexpected and remarkable source.
Wood
Added several photographs of ELW in East Africa, held aside while seeking more information, now incorporated with other revisions to photograph commentary, with thanks to Elizabeth Kaegi and the Wood family.
Other revisions
Squadron summary revised to take into account recent page additions, and simplified as a site summary by giving the Movements, Beaufighter and Mosquito sections their own pages.
Edwards added cleaner, larger photos of Bill (Grantham Trio 1938 and Helwan 1938) thanks to Mike Grierson, with slightly revised commentary.
Embros Gladiator N5916 caption expanded.
Grierson corrected birthplace.
Do it yourself added Canadian and New Zealand references.
Sites & Links corrected 30 Squadron Association reference.
Australia Day 26 January 2005
This update brings some long-awaited major additions, and a number of significant revisions. There is still much material to deal with, including a remarkable find of 211 Squadron Hind photographs from Guy Black of Aero Vintage.
New pages
211 Squadron Honour Roll
The Squadron’s war dead of World War 2 commemorated, from a comparison of records supplied by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission with those of the Australian War Memorial, with L&P Stubbs Unsung Heroes of the RAF The Far East Prisoners of War, the Squadron Operations Record Book, and the existing rolls already on site.
S/L JR Gordon-Finlayson DSO DFC
At long last, a page for the redoubtable GF, 211 Squadron CO in the Western Desert and Greece. Sourced from published records, his logbook, and with some additional background from Chris Gordon-Finlayson in South Africa.
Revised pages
Home and Squadron summary revised to make a clearer introduction.
Squadron summary, Blenheim I and Far East clarified the disposition of Blenheim units at the start of the Far East campaign. Added a 211 Squadron Losses summary table.
Blenheim I, Blenheim IV Blenheim I K7096 photograph added thanks to Jim Wyse. Revised details of 72 OTU & Far East aircraft.
Far East added nominal roll of all known PoW fatalities.
India and Burma revisions to nominal roll personal details arising from Honour Roll compilation.
G Davies thanks to Nigel Williams and Gerald’s Service records, with Gordon-Finlayon’s Logbook and the Squadron ORB, it has now been possible to very much enlarge this page.
G Grierson the end of an era – aged 90, Lorna Grierson passed way on 15 December 2004.
C Hansford revised post-war remarks thanks to recent reminiscences from Cecil.
JS Robertson slightly expanded text and better quality photographs for Stuart.
Sites and Links added a number of related RAF Squadron links.
21 December
Minor revisions to Home, Enquiries and Do it yourself.
17 December
EL Cooper added fuller description of 112 Squadron Gladiator K7977.
J Robertson added fuller identification of 177 Squadron Beaufighter Y-Yoke NV127.
Sites and Links added, eg, 45 Squadron and 112 Squadron links.
26 November
New page
KCVD Dundas DFC page for Ken “Nem” Dundas, with thanks to Rankin and Daphne (née Dundas) Hodgins and their wonderful little Life of Kenelm CVD Dundas.
Revisions
CFR Clark, LW Abbs, JE Fryatt minor amplifications arising from research on KCVD Dundas DFC.
Home; Enquiries updated PANDORA links. Google search bar now on Enquiries page only.
Sources updated.
Sites & Links new links added.
18 November 2004
Sites & Links links checked and refreshed where necessary.
17 November 2004
EL Wood added two photographs and minor amends to the 9c OTU Crosby-on-Eden photo caption.
11 November 2004
EL Cooper corrected history of Hawker Hind K6734.
1 November 2004
Thanks to son Ian, added John Chamberlain to Final farewells. Corporal John “Neville” Chamberlain died earlier in October, in York District Hospital. He served with 211 Squadron from 1939 to 1941 in North Africa and Greece.
28 October 2004
Added Google search facility to Home and Enquiries pages
Minors amendments to Jack Luing’s page
5 August 2004 postscript
New page
EL Wood
With thanks to the family of Fred Wood in England and Elizabeth Kaegi in Canada, I’ve been able to construct this narrative from his Logbook and photographs, with help from the 211 Squadron Operations Record Book.
31 July 2004
Thanks to the kindness of contributors old and new, a very large amount of material has come to hand, rich with new parts of existing stories and with altogether fresh material.
This has been a very testing update, and I hope readers will not be too diappointed that I need further time to complete material on AL Farrington, KCVD Dundas DFC, 211 Squadron nominal rolls and 211 Squadron aircraft markings.
Rather than delay the site update, I proceeded with the 31 July release and will continue to add additional material over coming weeks.
New pages and major revisions
Alan Carter
Thanks to son Dave, the late Alan Carter’s days with the Squadron in Burma
John Luing
Narrative and photographs of Jack, thanks to his brother Peter Luing
Barney Mearns
Letter about PoW conditions and death of Jack Luing, thanks to Peter and Tessa Luing
Squadron summary
Re-ordered. Expanded Squadron summary. Beaufighter and Mosquito serials
Squadron markings
Separated from above, re-ordered, additional photographs. Incomplete
India & Burma
Operations and 211 Squadron personnel photos thanks to Peter Spooner
RAAF personnel
Added 5 RAAF personnel and photographs.
Other revisions
Other amplifications, amendments consequent on larger revisions, or photograph additions, improvements or caption amplifications
Home Refreshed and reordered
Hawker Audax & Hind Serials revised. Afghan and preserved 211 aircraft
Blenheim I Serials revised and expanded
Blenheim IV Mark IV engine discussion from above. Serials revised and expanded, Z7643 photos added
Blenheim armament Mark I twin Brownings noted
The Far East Added Oosthaven photos thanks to Bill Maitland and David Vincent
CFR Clark Revised summary, added discussion of JKRV aircraft at Paramythia thanks to Aleksandar Ognjevic
Bill Baird Thanks again to Bob Barclay, additional identification of 72 OTU crews
RJ Dudman JKRV photo notes
WH Edwards and Geoff Grierson annotations and identification of Squadron personnel, Grantham 1938
JB Keeping RAAF personnel photo identification thanks to David Vincent and Gar Gaston
Mike Sainsbury Expanded Valentia and Hangar photo captions
Burma Quintet, Des Marsh-Collis Some corrections and Beaufighter M Mother identified
Peter Spooner Added Mosquito V-Victor photograph
Sources Added numerous entries.
2002–2003
The site continued to grow, the update programme varying in frequency depending on the volume of material at hand. A general sense of the growth of the site can be gathered from the PANDORA archive copies, which began in May 2002 and continue annually from August 2002.
December 2001
After a demanding period of monthly updates, by December 2001 the site had grown to some 30 pages (in about half its then allotted space of 10MB), with additional information on the Blenheim IV, the Far East, and individual pages for LW Abbs, G Checketts, J D W H Clutterbuck, EL Cooper, A Conrad, G Davies, RJ Dudman, WH Edwards DFC, T Fisher, JE Fryatt, C Hansford, JS Robertson, and Burma contributors W Dickinson, G Manderson DFC, D Marsh Collis, S Spicer, S Woodhouse and AB Wythe DFM.
Easter Sunday 15 April 2001
Site launch
The 60th anniversary of the Squadron’s disastrous Easter Sunday raid in Greece. In this early form, the site’s content was little more than an incomplete web-based version of the original 211 Squadron RAF—An Observer’s Notes and Recollections.
www.211squadron.org © DR Clark & others 1998–2008
Site created 15 Apr 2001, last updated 31 Jul 2008. Page created 15 Apr 2001, last updated 30 Sep 2008
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