112 SQUADRON - Fighter, Gloster Gladiator
History | Operations and losses | Sources | Links | Books | Questions and/or remarks
The squadron was reformed aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Argus, on 16 May 1939 and it arrived in Egypt ten days later. Gladiators arrived the following month and were immediately in action following the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940. One flight was also detached to the Sudan at this time (based around Port Sudan for the protection of the port, and during the first few days of the War against Italy flew many patrols above the harbour), but was taken over by No 14 Squadron on 30 June.
The squadron joined British forces defending Greece in January 1941, first supplying air cover to and offensive support over Albania and later in the air defence of the Athens area. With the collapse of the Allied forces in Greece, the unit withdrew to Crete and then back to Egypt.
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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940
Not all operations listed; those with fatal losses are.
See K Flight 112 Squadron and Gloster Gladiator in 112 RAF Squadron service for full list of operations
16/06/1940: Air defence duty, Erkowit
18/06/1940: ?, Erkowit, Sudan. 1 Plane lost, 1 KIA
29/06/1940: Intercept, Port Sudan
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16/06/1940: Air defence duty, Erkowit
Three Gladiators of the Detachment were despatched to Erkowit for air defence duties after several Italian bombers carried out a raid the previous night. Later in the evening the bombers were back but this time their target was the base at Summit. Two of the defending Gladiators took off and were able to drive them away.
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18/06/1940: ?, Erkowit, Sudan
Type: Gloster Gladiator
Serial number: K6136, RT-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 18/06/1940
Sergeant (Pilot) Charles J.W. Tait, RAF 565362, 112 Sqdn., age 25, 18/06/1940, Khartoum War Cemetery, Sudan
Hit ground during slow roll at Erkowit and destroyed by fire.
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29/06/1940: Intercept, Port Sudan
Three SM 81's raided Port Sudan in the early hours of the morning, one of them was intercepted by a patrolling Gladiator flown by P/O Jack Hamlyn. After expending virtually all of his ammo into the bomber it veered away and exploded, the wreckage falling into the sea. Hamlyns aircraft was hit by some of the debris but he was able to land without further incident. Two of the crew were pulled from the sea by a passing destroyer.
Later in the day three more bombers, this time SM 79's, again bombed Port Sudan but the airfield was devoid of fighters and they escaped unscathed.
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Sources
Shark Squadron - RAF 112 Sqn Tribute Site
112 Squadron - Plane losses
K Flight 112 Squadron
Air of Authority - 112 Squadron
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database
Australian War Memorial
Bail-outs for 1940
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Comando Supremo: Italy at War
Commonwealth Biplane Fighter Aces - Jack Hamlyn
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Gloster Gladiator in 112 RAF Squadron Service
Middle East - the opening rounds (from the RAF 1939-1945)
New Zealanders in the Royal Air Force (Vol III) - Africa and Middle East
Prisoners of War captured in Europe 1940
Royal Air Force - 112 Squadron
RAF 112 Sqn Tribute Website
RAF Museum: British Military Aviation in 1940
Royal Air Force History Section
The Royal Air Force, 1939-1945
The Second World War - a day by day account
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Books
R A Brown 'Shark squadron - history of 112 Sqn 1917-75' (Crecy 1994)
B Drake & C Shores 'Billy Drake, Fighter Leader' (Desert) (Grub St 2002)
B Hordern 'Shark Squadron Pilot' (Independent Books 2002)
A R Zbiegniewski '112 Squadron RAF 1942-45' (Kagero 2003)
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Links
Abbreviations used in the Royal Air Force
Air Aces
Airwar over Denmark
Allied World War II Casualties in the Netherlands
Armée de l'Air - Order of Battle,
10th May 1940
Australian Wargraves
Axis History Factbook
Battle-of-Britain.com
De Belgen in Engeland 1940-1945 (in Dutch)
Belgian Aviation History Association Archaeological Team
British Aircraft Directory
British Aviation Archaeological Council - Books and research links
Canada's Air Force History
HMS Cavalier
Ciel de Gloire (in French)
RAF Squadrons
CWGC Cemeteries Germany
CWGC Cemeteries Netherlands
Czechoslovak airmen in
the RAF 1940-1945
Danish WW2 Pilots
Dutch Pilots in RAF Squadrons
Eagles Squadrons (American pilots in the RAF)
Foreign Aircraft Landings in Ireland 1939-1946
Håkans aviation page (from Sweden, in English)
'High flight', poem by John Gillespie Magee
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, poem by W.B. Yeats
Jagdgeschwader 27 (in German)
Luchtoorlog ('Arial War', in Dutch, with many photos)
Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth
The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945
Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
The National Ex-Prisoners of War Association
Naval History.net
Nordic Aviation during WW2
Pilotfriend.com: aircraft of WW2
Polish Air Force 1940-1947 Operations Record Books
RAF Battle of Britain
RAF Upwood
De Slag om de Grebbeberg (Dutch)
Warbird Alley
War over Holland
World War II Aircraft wrecksites in Norway
www.bomber-command.de
Aircraft crashes on the North Yorkshire Moors, England
Bills-Bunker.de
The Lancastershire Aircraft Investigation Team
Luftfahrt-Archäologie in Schleswig Holstein (in German)
North East Diary 1939-1945
Wartime Leicester and
Leicestershire
The Aerodrome -
Aces and Aircraft of World War 1
WW1 Cemeteries
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This page is dedicated to the men of 112 Squadron.
© Bart FM Droog / Rottend Staal Online 2008. Permission granted for use of the data gathered here for non commercial purposes, if this source is mentioned with a link to http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/index.html
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