213 SQUADRON - Fighter, Hawker Hurricane Mk I
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On 8 March 1937, No 213 was reformed as a fighter squadron at Northolt with Gauntlets and moved to Yorkshire in July. In January 1938, Hurricanes began to arrive and the squadron was fully equipped by the beginning of March. On the outbreak of war, flew fighter patrols and in May 1940, sent a detachment to France to assist the hard-pressed squadrons of Air Component of the BEF for a few days, the whole squadron moving south early in June.
For the first part of the Battle of Britain, it was based in south-west England but moved to Tangmere early in September.
One of its pilots was Wilf Sizer (1920-2006). Sizer had joined No 213 Squadron during the days of the biplane fighters and had become an accomplished fighter pilot by the time the squadron was re-equipped with the Hurricane.
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Within days of the German invasion of France on May 10 1940, the Hurricane squadrons of the Air Component in France had suffered heavy losses; the eight aircraft in Sizer's flight were sent to Merville as reinforcements on May 17.
He was immediately in action, and within three days he had shared in the destruction of four enemy aircraft and had damaged a fifth. On his final patrol on May 21 he was attacked and shot down by five enemy fighters, forcing him to crash land near La Panne.
He sustained facial injuries when his head hit the Hurricane's gun sight, but swam across a canal to reach friendly territory, had his wounds dressed and returned to his unit. He was back in the air two days later.
With the Germans advancing, No 213 was withdrawn to Biggin Hill, from where it flew constant patrols over the French coast during the evacuation from Dunkirk. On May 28 German fighters engaged the squadron, Sizer shooting down a Messerschmitt Bf 109.
The following day he attacked a Heinkel III, which was starting its bombing run over the beaches. With its engine ablaze, the bomber turned away.
Three days later the squadron was involved in a fierce dogfight with German fighters escorting a bomber formation preparing to bomb the evacuation convoys. Sizer attacked a Bf 109, which he shot down before he was attacked from behind. He managed to damage another Bf 109, but was heavily outnumbered, and his Hurricane was hit and set on fire. He managed to crash land just south of Dunkirk.
Sizer took the parachute from his wrecked aircraft, but left it in the sidecar of a motorcycle that had come to his aid. Realising that it was missing, he returned to retrieve it (as the squadron's parachute officer, he had often exhorted his colleagues to rescue the precious item in the event of a crash).
Clutching his parachute, he was about to board a destroyer in Dunkirk harbour when a beach-master ordered him to leave and join a Clyde paddle steamer, the Plynlimon. As the steamer was setting off, a swarm of Stuka dive-bombers attacked the destroyer, and a direct hit ripped it apart.
Sizer returned to No 213 to discover that he was one of five squadron pilots posted as missing from the morning's fighting. Following his experiences on the Plynlimon, he never forgot the role played by the "little ships" during the evacuation from Dunkirk.
Source: The Telegraph, 2007
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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940
Not all operations listed; those with fatal losses are.
17/05/1940: transfer to France. 1 Plane lost, 1 WIA
20/05/1940: return to England
28/05/1940: Patrol, Dunkirk, F. 2 Planes lost, 1 KIA
29/05/1940: Patrol, Dunkirk, F
31/05/1940: Patrol, Dunkirk, F. 5 Planes lost, 2 KIA
01/06/1940: Patrol, Dunkirk, F. At least 1 plane lost
19/06/1940: ?, Tunisia? 1 Plane lost, 1 KIA
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Fatalities 01/01/1940 - 09/05/1940 (incomplete)
Sergeant (Pilot) Leslie Broughton, RAF 518879, 213 Sqdn., age 25, 05/03/1940, King's Cliffe Cemetery, UK
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17/05/1940: transfer
'B' Flight of the Squadron flew to Merville in France to cover the withdrawal of the BEF.
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P2677, AK-?
Operation: transfer
Lost: 17/05/1940
Sgt A.F.C. Valentine, injured.
Force landed.
Pilot repatriated with broken arm.
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20/05/1940: transfer
'B' Flight of the Squadron returns to England
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28/05/1940: Patrol, F
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, AK-?
Operation: Patrol
Lost: 28/05/1940
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Edward G. Winning, RAF 39204, 213 Sqdn., age unknown, 28/05/1940, Cement House Cemetery, Langemark, B
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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P2721, AK-?
Operation: Patrol
Lost: 28/05/1940
Sgt S.L. Butterfield
Bailed out over sea; rescued by the paddle steamer Royal Eagle
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According to the 213 Squadron Association P/O Laurence G.E. Stone was a member of 213 Squadron who died on this day. The CWGC however lists P/O Stone as a member of 66 Squadron.
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29/05/1940: Patrol, F
P/O Wilf Sizer attacked a Heinkel III, which was starting its bombing run over the beaches. With its engine ablaze, the bomber turned away.
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31/05/1940: Dunkirk Patrol, F
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3419, AK-A
Operation: Dunkirk Patrol
Lost: 31/05/1940
Sergeant (Pilot) Thomas Boyd, RAF 516716, 213 Sqdn., age 25, 31/05/1940, St. Joris Communal Cemetery, B
Shot down in combat with Bf109s of III./JG26 over Nieuport at 14.40 hrs.
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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3361, AK-D
Operation: Dunkirk Patrol
Lost: 31/05/1940
Flying Officer (Pilot) William N. Gray, RAF 40108, age 22, 31/05/1940, The Hague (Westduin) General Cemetery, NL
Shot down in combat with Bf109s of III./JG26 over Dunkirk at 14.40 hrs..
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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P2763, AK-G
Operation: Dunkirk Patrol
Lost: 31/05/1940
F/O Robinson - safe
Shot down in combat with Bf109s of III./JG26 and abandoned over Dunkirk at 14.40 hrs.. F/O Robinson baled out unhurt; returned by ship.
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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, AK-L
Operation: Dunkirk Patrol
Lost: 31/05/1940
Squadron Leader/ H.D. McGregor - safe
Shot down in combat with Bf109s of III./JG26 and abandoned off Dunkirk at 14.40 hrs. S/L H. D. McGregor baled out unhurt, landing in a mine-field, rescued unhurt and landed at Dover.
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Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: P3424, AK-P
Operation: Dunkirk Patrol
Lost: 31/05/1940
P/O W.M. Sizer - safe
Set alight in combat with Bf109s of III./JG26 and crash-landed south of Dunkirk at 14.40 hrs.
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01/06/1940: Dunkirk Patrol, F
The squadron was involved in a fierce dogfight with German fighters escorting a bomber formation preparing to bomb the evacuation convoys. Wilf Sizer attacked a Bf 109, which he shot down before he was attacked from behind. He managed to damage another Bf 109, but was heavily outnumbered, and his Hurricane was hit and set on fire. He managed to crash land just south of Dunkirk.
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, AK-?
Operation: Patrol
Lost: 01/06/1940
Crash landed at Dunkirk; returned by ship.
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19/06/1940: ?, Tunisia?
In May 1941 213 Squadron started operations from Malta. How and why P/O Beardon ended up in Tunisia a year before the Squadron was in this area is (yet) unknown by the editor of this page.
Type: Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Serial number: ?, AK-?
Operation: Patrol
Lost: 19/06/1940
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Graham D.H. Beardon, RAFVR 74663, 213 Sqdn., age 20, 19/06/1940, Massicault War Cemetery, Tunisia
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Sources
Air of Authority - 213 Squadron
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database
Bail-outs for 1940
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Histories of 213 Squadron
Obituary Wing Commander Wilf Sizer (2007)
RAF 213 Squadron Association
RAF Battle of Britain - 213 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
The War in France and Flanders, 1939-1940, by Major L.F. Ellis, 1954
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Books
Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
D David 'Dennis Hurricane David - my autobiography'
Frank M Leeson 'The Hornet strikes - 213 Sqn' (Air Britain)
J Walton 'Desert war diary: 213 Squadron RAF' (Woodfield 2000)
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Links
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)
Warbird Alley
War over Holland
World War II Aircraft wrecksites in Norway
www.bomber-command.de
Bills-Bunker.de
The Lancastershire Aircraft Investigation Team
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 213 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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