Traces of World War 2 
RAF - No. 151 Squadron
10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940

151 SQUADRON - Fighter, Hawker Hurricane Mk I

History | Operations and losses | Sources | Links | Books | Questions and/or remarks



After defensive patrols for the opening months of World War Two, the squadron covered the evacuation fleet at Dunkirk and flew missions over northern France during May and June 1940, before taking part in the Battle of Britain. As the Battle came to a close, 151 were re-equipped with Defiants and became a night fighter squadron.

Stations

North Weald 20 May 1940
Stapleford Tawney 29 August 1940
Digby 1 September 1940
Squadron code: DZ

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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 31/05/1940
Not all operations listed; those with fatal losses are.

12/05/1940: Patrol Hook of Holland, Netherlands
16/05/1940: ?, ?. 1 Plane lost, 1 MIA
25/05/1940: Escort, Belgium. 2 Planes lost, 2 MIA
29/05/1940: Patrol Dunkirk, F. 2 Planes lost, 1 WIA
06/06/1940: Wing patrol Abbeville – Amiens. 1 Plane damaged
08/06/1940: Patrol France. 1 Plane lost
17/06/1940: ?. 1 Plane lost, 1 KIA
18/06/1940: : Escort & Patrol. 2 Planes lost, 2 KIA
28/06/1940: Patrol. 1 Plane lost, 1 MIA
30/06/1940: Convoy Patrol. 1 Plane lost

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Pilot Officer (Pilot) Harold A. Lovell, RAF 40724, 151 Sqdn., age 19, 18/02/1940, North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard, UK

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: L1799, DZ-?
Operation: Convoy Patrol
Lost: 16/05/1940
Pilot Officer Henry C.F. Fenton, RAF 42493, 151 Sqdn., age unknown, 02/04/1940, missing
Crashed into sea off the East Coast. P/O Fenton drowned.

Sources: CWGC; Norman L.R. Franks, RAF Fighter Command losses: Volume 1, 1939-1941, Midland Publishing Limited, 2nd edition, 2008

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F/Lt Ives, leading the Blue Section with F/O Ward and Sgt Atkinson made the following report after a patrol over the Hook of Holland:

"We left Martlesham at 0500 hrs and proceeded to 4500 ft to the Whistle Light Buoy just outside the Hook of Holland canal. Here we met three long nosed Blenheims and patrolled with them. Our objective turned out to be one Cruiser, one Patrol Vessel, four Destroyers, two Minesweepers and a snail vessel painted orange. Whilst on patrol we noticed that approximately 50 parachutes were lying on the ground about 3 miles north of the Hook. On a small aerodrome at the same place there were about 15 German aircraft burnt out, Bombed and wrecked. Our patrol, having ended at 0625 hrs, landed at Martlesham not having been in action. We were in the air exactly two hours and used an average of 55 gallons of petrol per aircraft".

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, DZ-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 16/05/1940
Sergeant (Pilot) Alan N. Trice, RAF 565017, 151 Sqdn., age unknown, 16/05/1940, missing

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At 1615 hrs, the Squadron again took off with No 56 Squadron for a rendezvous with twenty four Blenheim bombers over Hawkinge, the Blenheims being detailed to attack enemy troop concentrations in the vicinity of St Omer. No enemy aircraft were encountered, but on the return journey two of the aircraft were unfortunate to suffer a collision. P/O Bushell and F/Lt Ives were the unfortunates, and P/O Bushell's aircraft was seen to spin and crash into the sea. F/Lt Ives was last seen turning towards the French coast about twelve miles from the collision location, and he was not seen again, but he survived the crash and his final actions are reported later.

P/O Muirhead, a former Squadron member wrote to S/Ldr Donaldson as follows:-

Dear Sir,

I am writing to give you news of F/Lt Ives who, unless he was picked up by the motor boat which torpedoed us, is, I am sorry to say, missing. He originally landed on the beach twelve miles south west of Ostend and I met him in Ostend after being shot down and jumping at the same place. We spent the next two days together dodging bombs and bullets and "Ivy" spent a lot of the time helping the wounded. In fact he was everything anyone who knew him would have expected and then some.

We sailed On the ABOUKIR at about 10 pm on Tuesday night. "Ivy", myself and an Army Officer were on top manning the guns, as we expected to be bombed at any time. Eventually however, we were torpedoed at point blank range and blown into the water. Only 2k people out of 500 on board were saved and I was the only Officer. Please express my heartfelt sympathy and admiration for "Ivy" to his people. He was a brick.

Yours sincerely,

(signed) J.Muirhead. P/O."

Sources: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kelsey.family/1940.htm and RAF Commands Forum.

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3303, DZ-?
Operation: Patrol Dunkirk
Lost: 29/05/1940
F/O K.E. Newton bailed out and was rescued by a hospital ship

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3321, DZ-?
Operation: Patrol Dunkirk
Lost: 29/05/1940
P/O R.N.H. Courtney bailed out and was rescued by a destroyer. Wounded.

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, DZ-?
Operation: Wing patrol Abbeville – Amiens
Damaged: 06/06/1940
Forced-landed near Rouen damaged in attack by Bf109 and possibly that claimed by Fw Bauer of 7./JG3 west of Aumale 3.10 p.m. F/O C. F. Atkinson unhurt. Aircraft repairable returned later.

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3315, DZ-?
Operation: Patrol France
Lost: 08/06/1940
P/O D.H. Blomely took off at 11.00 hrs. He bailed out, after being hit by AA fire south of Amiens and again near Porges where French gunners opened up at him. His Hurricane, now being on fire meant that he had to ball out and during his descent the French again fired at him and his parachute caught fire. Luckily, he was near the ground before his parachute became ineffective and his only injury was a slight sprain to his ankle.

He was taken to Nantes, a French Air Force base, but the French evacuated and left him there to his own devices. The base was bombed on June 9 at 06.30 hrs by the Luftwaffe. That day he spent trying to reach Rouen and having successfully evaded a German mechanised column by cutting across fields, he was given a lift in a French car and reached Paris that evening. From Paris he took a train to Cherbourg, but was bombed at Dreux, but he was fortunate to get on board the L.M.S. Steamer the "DUKE OF ARGYLL" at 03.00 hrs and arrived at Southampton at 10.30 hrs on 10/06/1940.

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17/06/1940: ?,

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, DZ-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 17/06/1940
Flying Officer (Pilot) Leonid Ereminsky, RAF 39609, 151 Sqdn., age 22, 17/06/1940, Whyteleafe (St. Luke) Churchyard, UK

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18/06/1940: Escort & Patrol

German bombers were intercepted as 151 Squadron attacked shipping. There were three Heinkel 111s operating and in the fight which followed, one of the Heinkels was seen to have its engines on fire, and another disappeared with its undercarriage down and presumably severely damaged. P/O Wright bailed out and a Destroyer steamed to the spot where he was seen to go down. Sgt Aslin was reported missing from the patrol.

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, DZ-?
Operation: Escort & Patrol
Lost: 18/06/1940
Sergeant (Pilot) Maurice R. Aslin, RAF 516375, 151 Sqdn., age 27, 18/06/1940, Westende Communal Cemetery, B

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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3313, DZ-?
Operation: Escort & Patrol
Lost: 18/06/1940
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Leslie Wright, RAF 70903 (South Africa), 151 Sqdn., age 27, 18/06/1940, Hook of Holland General Cemetery, NL
Took off at 16.00 hrs. P/O Wright bailed out after his plane was damaged in a combat with He-111s. He drowned.

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28/06/1940: Patrol, France

A patrol in the Calais-Boulogne area resulted in an engagement with three Me 109's, but no combat results were reported. F/O Weston [= Newton] was seen to bail out and fall into the sea.

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3322, DZ-?
Operation: Patrol
Lost: 28/06/1940
Flying Officer Kenneth E. Newton, RAF 40785 (NZ), 151 Sqdn., age 24, 28/06/1940, missing
Took off at 17.30 hrs. He bailed out, after his aircraft was damaged in a combat with a Me 109 and presumably drowned.

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30/06/1940: Convoy Patrol

Escort duties for six Blenheim bombers of 107 Squadron attacking Vignacourt were undertaken. On the return journey six Me 109’s attacked the Blenheims and they were immediately engaged by 151 Squadron. The severe fighting resulted in the shooting down of at least three of the Me 109's. S/Ldr Donaldson was forced to bail out near the French coast from where be was picked up by a surface vessel and taken to Ramsgate, later proceeding back to North Weald.

Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3787 , DZ-?
Operation: Convoy Patrol
Lost: 30/06/1940
S/Ldr E.M. Donaldson
Took off at 13.35 hrs and bailed out above sea. He was rescued.

Sources (a.o): Norman L.R. Franks, RAF Fighter Command losses: Volume 1, 1939-1941, Midland Publishing Limited, 2nd edition, 2008

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Sources

151 Squadron in World War II
Bail-Outs for 1940
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Fighter Command Air Combat Claims 1939-1945
RAF Battle of Britain - 151 Squadron
RAF - Campaign Diary - The Battle of France (May-June 1940)
RAF Museum: British Military Aviation in 1940
RAF Order of Battle, France, 10th May 1940
Royal Air Force History Section
The Royal Air Force, 1939-1945
The Second World War - a day by day account
War over Holland

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Books

Darlow 'Five of the Few: survivors of the Battle of Britain & the Blitz tell their story' (2006)
Norman L.R. Franks, RAF Fighter Command losses: Volume 1, 1939-1941, Midland Publishing Limited, 2nd edition, 2008

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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)
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)
United Sikhs
Warbird Alley
War over Holland
World War II Aircraft wrecksites in Norway
www.bomber-command.de

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 151 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