239 Squadron Operations
Selected missions from the Operations Record Book
Following a great deal of training sorties in Summer 1942, 239 squadron were heavily involved in reconnaissance and ground attack sorties. Aircraft were sent out in pairs on either reconnaissance missions, or Populars, or ground attack sorties known as Rhubarbs. Typical missions are shown below and taken from Operational Record Books (ORB) stored at the National Archives, Kew. The record books consist of “summary of events” forms (Form 540) and “detail of work carried out” forms (Form 541)
Record books record the names of the pilots involved in each sortie. the type and registration of the aircraft flown and brief details of the mission including targets and occurrences of enemy flak. They were written as dispassionately as possible and in many cases referred to aircraft that “failed to return” or “crashed into the sea”. All aircraft referred to below were Mustang P 51A
December 17th 1942
S/Ldr H.P.McClean (AP170) and P/O G.F. Collis (AM238) took off at 1210 hours from Hurn on a Popular, in two aircraft fitted with V.H.F. and one camera fitted with a 14” lens camera.
Crossing the English coast just west of Portland Bill, they flew at sea level and after passing the Casquest lighthouse some eight miles to the East, they made landfall at the island of Sark at 1240 hours. An oblique line overlap was taken of the west coastline from 1000 feet at 800/1000 yards distance by S/Ldr McClean. His escort remaining at sea level and abreast of him about 500 yards away. After leaving the island, a trackway made good at sea level keeping some twelve miles South of Guernsey and to Bolt Head arriving at 1310 hours. The English coast was crossed just north west of Portland and the aircraft landed at 1340 hours at base. Wireless communication with Exeter and Middle Wallop was good. Weather at base – cloud 5 – 7 /10 at 3/5000 ft, wind SW 25 mph , visibility 4/6 miles. Heavy rainstorms, low cloud inland.
P/O Gerald Fraser Collis was later interviewed in depth by the Imperial War Museum and in that conversation described his sortie to Sark with S/Ldr McClean (Reel 3). Collis’ training mirrored that of Len Bennett which is also described in full.
20th December 1942
F/L H.L.J. Aitchison (AM181), P/Os D.A. Lloyd (AM204), J.W. Vaughan (AM141) and L.W.Bennett (AM146) took off at 1435 hours on a Popular, from Hurn to take photographs of the coast of Brittany just north of Brest. The aircraft returned through bad wireless communication and landed back at base at 1500 hour. Weather at base – Fine and slight hare at first, cloud increasing to 8-10/10 at 2/3000ft – wind W 10/20 mph
P/Os Vaughan, DeKretser and Bennett promoted to F/Os
22nd December 1942
F/L H.L.J. Aitchison (AM181), F/Os D.A. Lloyd (AM204), J.W. Vaughan (AM141) and L.W.Bennett (AM146) in the same aircraft again took off at 1000 hours to take photographs of the coast of Brittany between Kervenny and I. Pen-knez. Crossing the English coast west of Portland they set course from Bolt Head at 1025 hours
Flying at sea level approximately line abreast at 200 yards apart they made landfall at 1055 hours just east of Kervenny
F/Lt Aitchison climbed to 800/1000ft and took an oblique line overlap with a 14” camera at 10o depression. The other aircraft remained at sea level some 1000 yards further from the shore. Turning for home at 1059 hours they made landfall at Bolt Head at 1135 hours, then recrossed the coast north west of Portland and landed at base at 1203 hours. The aircraft carried V.H.F. R/T equipment which worked well. Weather at base – Low cloud in the morning Wind SSW 10/15 mph visibility 3 – 4 miles improving to 1-3/10 cloud 2/3000ft
4th January 1943
F/Lt E.K. Barnes (AM144) and P/O P.C. Price took off at 1200 hours on a “Popular” and , using VHF sets, crossed the coast at Chesil Bank and set course for Start Point. They then set course for Ile de Batz, but after they had flown for 10 minutes flew into heavy rain and low cloud and returned to base at 1305 hours
7th January 1943
F/L H.L.J. Aitchison (AM181), F/Os B.T. Holmes (AM204), J.W. Vaughan (AM146) and L.W.Bennett (AM141) took off at 1150 hours attempting a “Popular” using V.H.F. sets but shortly after they took off, they flew into heavy rain and low cloud over Dorset and returned to base 1215 hours
8th January 1943
F/L H.L.J. Aitchison (AM181), F/Os B.T. Holmes (AM204), J.W. Vaughan (AM146) and L.W.Bennett (AM141) were missioned with a “Popular” however Vaughan’s aircraft sustained a leak in the air cooler and was unable to take off. The other three pilots took off at 1110 with V.H.F. sets and crossed Chesil Bank at 1130 hours and set course for Start Point which was reached at 1145. They then set course for Ile de Batz flying as near to sea level as possible. The weather over the channel was cloudy 7/10 at 1000 ft with occasional rain, but this cloud was 10/10 with fairly heavy rain near the French coast. Landfall was made at 1210 hours. 1 mile E of Ile de Batz and F/Lt Aitchison climbed to 600 feet (cloud base) and took an oblique line overlap of the coast from Ile de Batz to Plouescat using a 14” lens depressed 10o. Two small boats were seen. No flak was experienced and no enemy aircraft were see. At 1215 our aircraft set course again for Start Point and landfall was made 2 miles W of there at 12.40. Course was then set for base which was reached at 1310 and the aircraft landed at 1320 hours
16th January 1943
F/O G.C.D. Green (AM144), P/O P.C.Price (AG560) and P/O G.F. Collis took off on a “Popular” at 1430 hours and ,using V.H.F. sets, crossed the English coast at 1445. They set course from Portland Bill to a point between Cap de la Hague and Alderney and flew at sea level in line abreast. They then set course for Les Pieux where landfall was made after a further 4 minutes. F/O Green climbed to 300 feet and took an oblique line overlap of the coast using a 14” lens depressed 2o . The aircraft then set course NW between Guernsey and Alderney for 11 minutes. They then set course for start point where landfall was made at 1540 and landed at base at 1615 hours. No flak was experienced or enemy aircraft see. There was about 3/10 cloud over the target
16th January 1943
W/C P. Legge (AM141), F.LT Aitchison (AM181), F/O J.M. Vaughan (AM146) and F/O B.T. Holmes (AM204) took off at 1400 hours on a “Popular” using V.H.F. sets . F/Lt Aitchison was carrying 14” camera depressed 2o. The target was in the Cap Frehel area. Course was set at 1410 from St Albans Head for a point in the Channel west of Guernsey, but after 28 minutes flying, the aircraft returned as there was no cloud cover to the south. Landfall was made again at St Albans Head and the aircraft landed at 1505
17th January 1943
F/L H.L.J. Aitchison (AM181), F/Os B.T. Holmes (AM204), J.W. Vaughan (AM146) and L.W.Bennett (AM141) took off at 1100 hours on a “Popular” heading for the same target (Cap Frehel). Course was set at 1110 from St Albans Head for a point in the Channel west of Guernsey. The aircraft flew in line abreast at sea level. After 25 minutes, a south easterly course was set for Cap Frehel, but landfall was made at Rotheneuf north west of St Malo. Photographs were taken of Cancale Harbour and the Pointe de Grouin, where small arms fire was experienced, but did not cause any damage. Photographs were the taken of the Cap Frehel area and the aircraft returned to base on the same track, landing at 1305. There was 6/10 cloud over the Channel, but a clear sky and sunny weather over the French Coast. On the return journey, the aircraft ran into heavy rain and low cloud near Portland Bill. A 14” camera with 2o depression was used
17th January 1943
F/O G.C.D. Green (AM144), P/O P.C.Price (AG560) P/O G.F. Collis (AM238) and P/O W.A Damsell (AM204) took off on a “Popular” at 1400 hours using V.H.F sets and set course for Portland Bill for a point west of the Casquets and then for Sark. The aircraft again flew abreast at sea level. F/O Green photographed the west coast of Sark from 300 feet using a 14” lens and 2o depression. No enemy aircraft were seen. There was no cloud cover.
The aircraft then set course south west of Guernsey and changed course to make landfall at Start Point, returning to base at Hurn and landing at 15.45
18th January 1943
S/L H.P. McClean (AP170), F/O G.C.D. Green (AM144), F/O I.H. Fryer (AG560) and P/O G.F. Collis all took off on a “Popular” at 1230 hours using V.H.F. sets to photograph the Cap Frehel area, a sortie that was originally intended for the 16th January but abandoned because of lack of cloud cover. Landfall was made as expected in the Plurien area at about 1300 and S/L McClean photographed Cap Frehel from 300 feet with a 14” lens depressed 2o. No flak or enemy aircraft were seen. Two armed trawlers of about 500 tons were seen and a fishing fleet. Weather was poor near the English coast, but cleared over Northern France to 5 – 6 /10. The aircraft left the area on a northerly track, but changed course and passed west of Guernsey to Start Point returning thence to base and landed at 1435 hours
29th January 1943
F/O G.C.D.Green (AM144), P/O W.A. Damsell (AM238), F/O L.W. Bennett (AM146) and F/O P. Shepherd-Smith (AM204) took off for a “Popular” to take photographs of thre coast of Brittany in the St Brieuc area. They crossed the English coast at Chesil Bank at 1150 and set course for the target from Start Point 20 minutes later. After flying for 20 minutes across the sea and when 16 miles off the French Coast the aircraft turned back owing to complete absence of cloud cover. All four aircraft landed back at 1300 hours without incident
Summary
It is interesting to note that most sorties carried out by 239 Squadron, through December 1942 and January 1943, were “Populars” whereby 1000’s of photos were taken of the North Western French Coast. It may well be assumed that the intention was an intelligence gathering operation prior to an invasion. Many more similar reconnaissance missions would be made further up the coast around the eventual D-Day landing sites at Arromanches, near Caen and the success of D-Day would rely on this reconnaissance.
As part of the Allied Forces offensive to disrupt German supply lines in Northern France, 239 Squadron was tasked more frequently with “Rhubarbs” or ground attack missions. Such missions were fraught with danger, with not only flak and enemy aircraft to contend with, but also the extreme concentration required to fly at very low levels. The Mustang P 51 was perhaps the best aircraft capable of such missions.
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