Traces of World War 2 
RAF - 26 Squadron
01/01/1940 - 30/06/1940

26 SQUADRON - Army Co-Operation, Westland Lysander
51 (Army Air Co-Operation) Wing (No. 2 and No. 26 Squadron)

History | Losses | Sources | Links | Books | Questions and/or remarks


In 1935 the Air Ministry issued Specification A.39/34 calling for a two-seat army cooperation aircraft to replace the Hawker Hector. The Royal Air Force manned and led these squadrons but they supported, or cooperated, directly with the British Army. The pilots of army cooperation airplanes performed numerous missions including reconnaissance, artillery spotting, communication, and tactical liaison between Royal Air Force ground attack aircraft squadrons and British Army troops at the front.

In September 1936 the Air Ministry chose the Westland design and ordered 169 aircraft. It was then the British Army's custom to name cooperation aircraft after classical warriors. Lysander was chosen for the P.8, after a Spartan admiral who defeated the Athenian fleet in 405 BC

Westland started production and began delivering finished airplanes in 1938. By the time war broke out in September 1939, fiveBritish Army Lysander squadrons [2, 4, 13, 16, 26] were ready to fly. When the Germans invade France in May 1940, Britain threw as many airplanes as it could spare at the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) including the slow and poorly armed Lysanders. They were decimated.

The Lysander excelled in the role for which it was designed but it stood no chance against overwhelming numbers of German fighter aircraft. Lysanders were also not at all suited for ground attack. They were too slow and carried a pitiful load of bombs.

By the out-break of World War 2 No. 26 Squadron had been equipped with Lysanders and in October 1939 it was moved to France. When the Germans invaded Belgium in May 1940 No. 26 was forced to move to Lympne where it flew reconnaissance, bombing and supply missions over northern France. Coastal patrols began in June and training with the army occupied most of the Squadrons time for the next few years. In February 1941 Tomahawks began to arrive to replace the Lysanders for tactical reconnaissance missions.

George Barker, on BBC's WW2 People's War: 'In 1939 I was a regular corporal fitter-rigger in 26 (AC) Squadron at RAF Catterick in Yorkshire, equipped with 18 Lysanders. By July we were on call, ready to be sent wherever the army went, and were restricted to keep within 7 miles of the aerodrome. In October we were posted to Abbeville. The Squadron carried out surveillance and photographic duties during the so-called phoney war. We moved to Dieppe for a while and then, presumably in conjunction with the Army's unsuccessful advance in Spring we found ourselves in a field near the Belgian border.

One day I had seen off an early morning sortie and was about to go back to my tent for a little more 'kip', when several Lysanders from another squadron landed. Their airfield had been taken by the advancing Germans and casualties had been heavy. Our squadron took off to try to harrass the enemy with anti-personel bombs and .303 bullets and we bayonetted our petrol tins and started our retreat towards our rendezvous at Folkestone aerodrome.

Luckily the French authorities kept the 'N' roads clear for us and sent the poor refugees on slow roads, and the route of the enemy, although parallel to ours, did not converge with it. We were ground strafed rather inaccurately without any losses. We drove on to a ferry boat not long before the port was bombed and got to Folkestone just a few days after most of our Lysanders got there. We found them to be perforated all over with bullet holes. We were relieved of our small arms, being out of a combat area. My friend, who was a fitter-air gunner was shot down. He got back a week later after a rather hazardous journey, with some shrapnel in his back.'

CO: S/L W.B. Murray

Stations
10/05/1940: Dieppe, F
15/05/1940: Authie, F
19/05/1940: Lympne, UK

back up

Missions and losses 01/01/1940 - 30/06/1940
Not all operations listed; those with fatal losses are.

21/02/1940: France. 1 DOAS
29/03/1940: France. 1 DOAS
14/05/1940: Reconnaissance, F. 1 Plane lost, 1 WIA
15/05/1940: Reconnaissance, F. 1 Plane lost
19/05/1940: Reconnaissance, F, 2 Planes lost, 3 KIA, 1 DOW, 1 WIA
20/05/1940: Reconnaissance, F. 1 Plane lost, 2 POW?
22/05/1940: Supply drop, Calais, F
27/05/1940: Recce/Supply drops, F, 3 Planes lost, 6 KIA
29/05/1940: Tactical Reconnaissance, F. 1 Plane lost
01/06/1940: Tactical Reconnaissance, B. 2 Planes lost, 4 KIA
05/06/1940: Tactical Reconnaissance, F. 1 Plane lost, 2 KIA
20/06/1940: ?, UK. 1 Plane lost, 2 KIA

back up

21/02/1940

Corporal Stanley O. Slater, RAF 527163, 26 Sqdn., age 22, 21/02/1940, Gezaincourt Communal Cemetery Extension, France. Death not due to enemy action. He is listed "Died on Active Service", Flight Global 21 March 1940.

Sources: CWGC and Ken MacLean on RAF Commands Forum: Cpl S.O. Slater

back up

29/03/1940

Leading Aircraftman John H.F. Lock, RAF 526907, 26 Sqdn., age 22, 29/03/1940, Fouquieres Churchyard Extension, France.
Death not due to enemy action. "Died on Active Service", Flight Global 11 April 1940. LAC Lock died at Nr. 9 Casualty Clearing Station (La Tricquerie).

Sources: CWGC; Ken MacLean and Henk Welting on RAF Commands Forum: LAC J.H.F. Lock,

back up

Source: Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008

back up

Source: Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008

back up

19/05/1940: Tactical Reconnaisance, France

Type: Westland Lysander II
Serial number: N1290, RM-?
Operation: Tactical Reconnaissance
Lost: 19/05/1940
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Christopher I.D. Halliday, RAF 33424, 26 Sqdn., age unknown, 19/05/1940, Authie Churchyard, F
Leading Aircraftman (Air Gnr.) Arthur F Church, RAFVR 936538, 26 Sqdn., age 25, 19/05/1940, Authie Churchyard, F
Took off from Authie. Crashed west of Authie 05.30 hrs. wreckage excavated in December 2003 by Pierre Ben.

back up

Type: Westland Lysander II
Serial number: N1292, RM-?
Operation: Reconnaissance
Damaged: 19/05/1940
F/O Goodale - unhurt
P/O Taylor - wounded in leg
Took off from Authie. Returned damaged by ground-fire, 07.55 hrs. Aircraft repairable.

back up

Type: Westland Lysander II
Serial number: N1202, RM-?
Operation: Tactical Reconnaissance
Lost: 19/05/1940
Pilot Officer Ralph H. Clifford, RAF 33537, 26 Sqdn., age unknown, 19/05/1940, Neuvilly Communal Cemetery Extension, F
Leading Aircraftman (Air Gnr.) Frederick L. Bettany, RAFVR 935893, 26 Sqdn., age 19, 19/05/1940, Landrecies Communal Cemetery, F
Took off from Authie. Shot down by Lt Strakeljahn of I.(J)/LG2. Crashed and burned out at Neuvilly, 13.30 hrs. LAC Bettany badly burned, admitted to hospital at Landrecies, where he died.

Sources: CWGC and Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008

back up

7 Westland Lysanders of No.16 Squadron Army Co-operation Command drop supplies to a besieged Allied garrison at Calais.

back up

05/06/1940: Tactical Reconnaissance, F

Type: Westland Lysander
Serial number: N1211, RM-?
Operation: Tactical Reconnaissance
Lost: 05/06/1940
Pilot Officer (Pilot) David G. Fevez, RAF 42746, 26 Sqdn., age 21, 05/06/1940, Ercourt Churchyard, F
Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Robert D.K. Cochrane, RAFVR 903064, 26 Sqdn., age 27, 05/06/1940, Ercourt Churchyard, F
Took off from Lympne. Shot down by Hptman Müller (staffelkapitän) of 4./JG3 south-west of Abbeville and crashed near Ercourt, 12.10 hrs.

Sources: CWGC and Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008

back up

Type: Westland Lysander
Serial number: N1292, RM-?
Operation: ?
Lost: 20/06/1940
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Denis D. Rawlins, RAF 37420, 26 Sqdn., age 30, 20/06/1940, Stratford-sub-Castle (St Lawrence) Churchyard, UK
Pilot Officer John P. Lees, RAFVR 77689, 26 Sqdn., age unknown, 20/06/1940, Aldingham Churchyard, Cumbria. The CWGC lists him as 'missing', which is not the case.
Plane crashed near Odiham, Hampshire.

Sources: CWGC and Henk Welring. See also TOCH-forum.

back up

Sources

Air of Authority - a History of RAF Organisation
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Royal Air Force - 26 Squadron
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - Westland Lysander
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

back up

Books

Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
Brian Cull, Twelve Days in May, Grub Street, 2001 (new edition)
Cynrik De Decker en Jean-Louis Roba, Mei 1940 boven België: de luchtstrijd tijdens de achttiendaagse veldtocht, De Krijger, Erpe-Mere, 1993 (in Dutch)

back up

Links

Discussion Groups
Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
RAF Commands Forum

Other
Abbreviations used in the Royal Air Force
Code Names & RAF Vocabulary

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
The Bristol & District Blitz War Memorial - A register of those who lost their lives due to enemy action in Bristol and surrounding districts, 1940-1944
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
Holocaust Memorial Day and Channel Islands Occupation Memorial
I Remember (in Russian and English)
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

back up

This page is dedicated to the men of 26 Squadron.

With special thanks to Amrit

© Bart FM Droog / Rottend Staal Online 2007-2008. Permission granted for use of the data gathered here for non commercial purposes, if this source and the original sources are mentioned with links to http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/index.html and the other appropriate sites.