23 SQUADRON - (Night)Fighter, Bristol Blenheim Mk. IF
History | Operations and losses | Sources | Links | Books | Questions and/or remarks
In December 1938 conversion to Blenheims took place and these were given a night fighter role when war broke out. After defensive duties during the early stages of the German attacks, No 23 began intruder missions over enemy airfields in December 1940.
Squadron code: YP
Stations
Collyweston 31 May 1940
Ford 12 September 1940
Middle Wallop (D) 12 September to 25 September 1940
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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940 (incomplete)
Not all operations listed; those with fatalaties are.
May 1940: no losses
19/06/1940: Night Patrol, UK. 2 Planes lost, 3 KIA
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Fatalities 01/01/1940 - 09/05/1940 (in progress)
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Roy G.A. Barritt, RAFVR 76454, 23 Sqdn., age 20, 04/01/1940, East Finchley Cemetery and Marylebone Crematorium, UK
Corporal (Fitter II/Air Gnr.) Ronald Wilson, RAF 566297, 23 Sqdn., age 23, 04/01/1940, Hetton Cemetery, UK
Leading Aircraftman James T. Jackson, RAF 509406, 23 Sqdn., age 30, 16/01/1940, Stamford Cemetery, UK
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18-19/06/1940: Night Patrol, UK
Type: Bristol Blenheim Mk. IF
Serial number: ?, YP-X
Operation: Night Patrol
Lost:
19/06/1940
Squadron Leader (Pilot) J.S. O'Brien - bailed out.
Pilot Officer Cuthbert King-Clark, RAF 41429, 23 Sqdn., age unknown, 19/06/1940, Brookwood Cemetery, UK
Corporal (Air Gnr.) David Little, RAF 562340, 23 Sqdn., age unknown, 19/06/1940, Barrow-In-Furness Cemetery, UK
Crashed near Newmarket. Corporal Little died in the aircraft; P/O King-Clark struck a propellor when he bailed out.
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Type: Bristol Blenheim Mk. IF
Serial number: ?, YP-S
Operation: Night Patrol
Lost: 19/06/1940
Sergeant (Pilot) Alan C. Close, RAF 566591, 23 Sqdn., age 23, 18/06/1940, Sale Cemetery, UK
LAC L R Karasek - bailed out.
Shot down during combat. It is unknown who the thid crew member was (or indeed if there was a third crew member)
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Sources
23 Squadron
Bail-Outs for 1940
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Fighter Command Air Combat Claims 1939-1945
RAF Battle of Britain - 23 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
Paul Brickhill 'Reach for the sky: the story of Douglas Bader' (Collins 1954)
Lucas 'Flying colours: epic story of Douglas Bader' (Hutchinson 1981)
P Rudd 'Red Eagles: 23 Squadron RAF' (Rudd 1995)
L A Strange 'Recollections of an airman' (RFC) (1989)
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Links
Discussion Groups
Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
RAF Commands Forum
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Other
Abbreviations used in the Royal Air Force
Code Names & RAF Vocabulary
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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
Biplane Fighter Aces from the Second World War
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
'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
Order of Liberation (in French/English/Spanish)
Pilotfriend.com: aircraft of WW2
Polish Air Force 1940-1947 Operations Record Books
RAF Battle of Britain
RAF Upwood
RAF WWII 38 Group Squadrons Reunited
De Slag om de Grebbeberg (Dutch)
Test Flying Memorial
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 23 Squadron.
© Bart FM Droog / Rottend Staal Online 2008. Permission granted for use of the data gathered here for non commercial purposes, if the original sources and this source are mentioned with appropriate links. For this site: link to http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/index.html
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