A short research inspired by a photograph

The first photograph in this piece is of an operational flight board for 609 Squadron during the height of the Battle of Britain in 1940. It is dated 13^th August 1940 and contains the names of 13 duty pilots for that day.

On that date 609 Squadron was based at Middle Wallop and some interesting names appear here so I have looked up all the pilots and jotted down their histories. The information gleaned here has been mainly drawn from and has to be credited to:

                        “Men of the Battle of Britain” by Kenneth G Wynn.

This research was inspired by a photograph that appeared on a French museums Facebook page called AERO-MEMOIRE 39/45. I have visited the museum in the past, it is very close to my house in the district of Orne and is located in a village called Couterne. The museum has a map of Northern France on the wall that shows the location of over 200 crash sites throughout Normandy of both allied and axis aircraft. It also contains a quantity of debris and related stories from digs over the years.

It is interesting to note here that out of the 13 names on the blackboard shown below:

7: Survived the war, although 2 were killed in flying accidents after the war.

3: Were killed during the Battle of Britain.

3: Were killed later in the war.

The left hand column shows the aircraft number, Darley’s would be (S) 609’s code during WW2 was (PR) therefore Darley’s aircraft would show PR-S. The second column shows the sections, or flights, Darley’s being Blue flight. The right hand column shows reported tallies for the day.

The blanked out white mark at the top must have shown the Squadron number but would have been obliterated by censors on the day.

……………………………………..

Squadron Leader Horace Stanley Darley

Stanley Darley took command of 609 on the 22^nd June 1940. Darley was posted on 4^th October 1940 to be Station Commander at RAF Exeter. He left the RAF 15^th June 1959 as a Group Captain.

Flying Officer Piotr Ostaszewski-Ostoja:

He arrived in England in late 1939 and after training and conversion in Hurricanes he joined 609 at Middle Wallop 5^th August 1940.  On the 13^th he claimed 2 Junkers 87, this can be seen on the blackboard in the right hand column. His Spitfire was damaged in an engagement on the 25^th August and he overshot the runway at Warmwell crashing through the boundary hedge. He was posted away to the operations room of 317 Squadron on 7^TH March 1941. After the war I 1946 he was released as a Wing Commander, he then settled in England and changed his name to Raymond.

       

Flying Officer Piotr Ostaszewski-Ostoja: is on the right

Pilot Officer Michael John Appleby:

Joined 609 at Cambridge as Auxiliary Air Force member in December 1938. He was called up on 24^th August 1939, he re-joined 609 in May 1940. On 26^th November he went to CFS on an instructors course, he served as an instructor till he was released from the RAF in September 1945 as a Flight Lieutenant.

Flight Lieutenant James Henry Gordon McARTHUR:

Was posted from 238 Squadron Middle Wallop to 609 on 1^st August 1940 as B Flight Commander. On 15^th September his oxygen supply failed at 25000 feet. He lost consciousness and came round in a high speed dive, he pulled out but his ears were badly damaged. In late September he handed over his flight to John Dundas and went to hospital losing his operational category. He was released from the RAF in 1947 as a Wing Commander. McArthur was killed in a flying accident at Las  Vegas in 1961.

Flying Officer Tadeusz Nowierski:

Joined 609 Squadron on the 5^th August 1940.  He went onto command 308 at Woodvale, then going on to leading the Northolt wing. He led the wing on the Dieppe operation 19^th August 1942. He was posted as Polish liason officer on 15^th February 1943. He returned to Poland on 8^th June 1947 and died there on 2^nd April 1983.

Pilot Officer David Moore Crook:

He joined 609 Auxiliary whilst at Cambridge University in 1938, he was called up for full time service on 25^th August 1939. After training he re-joined 609 in May 1940. Crook was posted to CFS on 10^th November 1940. On the 18^th November 1944 he took off in Spitfire on a high level photographic sortie. A Spitfire was seen to dive into the sea near Aberdeen, he was never found.

Flight Lieutenant Frank Jonathon Howell:

Joined 609 Squadron at Drem on the 14^th November 1939 after being with 80 squadron in Egypt. He was then appointed Flight commander on 1^st June 1940. On 21^st February he went onto form 118 squadron at Pembrey. In 1941 he took command of 243 squadron at Kallang in the Far East arriving in Singapore 2^nd December. In Buffaloes. On 12^th February 1942 he was reported as missing. After years of grueling imprisonment by the Japanese he was released after the Japanese surrender.  Returning to to England he went on a refresher course. On 9^th May 1948 he was struck on the head by a Vampire jet during a cinematic flight.

He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died from the injury.

Flying Officer Henry MacDonald Goodwin:  

He joined 609 on 20^th May 1940 at Northolt. He failed to return from a combat on the 14^th August. Ten days later his body was washed up on the Isle of Wight. He is buried in St Cassians churchyard, Corbett in Worcestershire. His brother was killed on active service in July 1940.

Sergeant Alan Norman Feary:

Alan Feary was posted to 609 Squadron at Northolt on 11^th June 1940. He originally joined the RAFR in 1936, he transferred to RAFVR in 1938 and gained his wings in November of 1938. Called up on 1^st September 1939. In April of 1940 he went to advanced training at Aston Down and then got posted to 600 Squadron before joining 609 in June. He had some considerable success in combat up until October 7^th when he was shot down in a surprise attack by BF109’s. He baled out but was too low. Feary is buried at the Holy Trinity Churchyard at Warmwell.

Pilot Officer Charles Neville Overton:

Charles joined 609 Squadron at Drem in November 1939. He flew air cover over Dunkirk on 31^ST May and destroyed a BF109 and shared the destruction of a He 111. He was posted in February of 1940 to 59 OTU, based at Crosby-on-Eden as an instructor. In December 1941 he went back to combat duties with 145 Squadron at Catterick and went with the Squadron to the Middle East. Overton returned to the UK in September 1945 and was released from the RAF in June 1946 as a Wing Commander. He died in October 1998. 

Pilot Officer Michael Edmund Staples:

He joined 609 at Middle Wallop on 8^th July 1940. Staples, like Feary, had considerable success before being shot down in the same surprise attack as Feary did on 7^th October. He also had to bale out wounded and was admitted to Blandford Hospital. He did not return to 609 Squadron. Staples was killed November 9^th 1941 with 604 Squadron. He crashed whilst coming into land at night at Colerne. He was 24 and is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, Woking.

Pilot Officer. Rogers Freeman Garland Miller:

Miller was posted to 609 at Drem on 4^th May 1940. He damaged a Do17 in July, claimed a Ju87 destroyed on 13^th August and shared a He111 25^th September. Miller was killed on 27^th September 1940 when he collided with a BF110 over Chesilbourne, his Spitfire exploded. Miller was 20 years old. He is buried in St Nicholas Churchyard, Radford, Warwickshire.

Pilot Officer. Rogers Freeman Garland Miller

 

Flying Officer. John Charles Dundas:

John was the elder brother of Hugh “Cocky” Dundas. John joined 609 Aux AF in 1938 and was called to full time service in August of 1939. He took part in the air cover over Dunkirk and destroyed a He 111 on 31^st May 1940. He had considerable success throughout the Battle of Britain, being awarded a DFC. On the 27^th November 1940 he destroyed a BF109 flown by Major Helmut Wick, but was almost immediately attacked by Wicks number two and shot down after being chased out to sea south of the Isle of Wight. He was never seen again. John Dundas was 24 and is remembered on the Runnymede memorial, panel 4.

He was awarded a bar to his DFC in 1941.

A memorial to John Dundas’ also overlooks Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight, it lies just to the east of Freshwater. The very understated memorial contains a powerful inscription :

“Stranger, do not just pass by, but bide awhile before this
simple memorial stone which marks the place near where an airman died half-a-century ago. Not now, as then, unknown to you who stands beneath a
friendly sky that was his last arena to tilt at strife against outnumbering foe, which he would not deny.
He met obligations due and paid for with his life …

So, stranger, before you go upon your tranquil way,
learn this man’s name and the manner of his end above your
head, on that distant November day.
And if you find sorrow, you’re not a stranger, but a friend …”

Thank you Andy Bailey for making me aware of that memorial.

During August 1940 609 Squadron destroyed 46 enemy aircraft, however, by now almost all of the pre war auxiliary pilots were dead or missing. On 21 October 1940 the squadron became the first to achieve 100 confirmed enemy aircraft kills. Boasting 9 ‘aces’, such as pilots F/L Frank Howell (8 confirmed kills), F/L John Dundas (9 confirmed kills), P/O David Crook (6 confirmed kills) and P/O John Curchin (7 confirmed kills) were among several awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their efforts during the battle.

Lest we forget