Fleet Air Arm 826 SQUADRON - Bomber, Fairey Albacore I
History | Operations and losses | Sources | Links | Books | Questions and/or remarks
The squadron was formed as a torpedo spotter reconnaissance Albacore squadron at Ford, Sussex in March 1940.
In May 1940, the squadron provided cover for the Dunkirk evacuation from Detling, and on 31 May bombed targets at Westende, and E-boats off Zeebrugge. The squadron then operated from Bircham Newton under RAF Coastal Command carrying out operations in Holland, Belgium and France when 5 enemy aircraft were destroyed or damaged.
21/06/1940: RN Air Station, Ford, Sussex
In November 1940 the squadron embarked on HMS Formidable for convoy duties via Capetown to Egypt, and in February 1941 the squadron attacked Mogadishu, Somalia, and Massawa, Eritrea before joining the Mediterranean Fleet.
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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940
Not all operations listed; those with fatal losses are.
31/05/1940: Nieuport Harbour, B
21/06/1940: De Kooy air base, Den Helder, NL, 2 Planes lost, 4 KIA, 2 POW
22/06/1940: Channel, UK/F. 1 Plane lost, 1 POW
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31/05/1940: Nieuport Harbour, B
'The Fleet Air Arm had been represented by nine (Fairey) Albacores of 826 Squadron detached at Detling. They flew their units first operational sorties when they bombed Nieuport Harbour. Each machine carried six 250 pound bombs.' (source: Air Battle Dunkirk, Norman Franks)
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21/06/1940: De Kooy air base, Den Helder, NL
801, 823 and 826 FAA Squadron suffer losses.
Type: Fairey Albacore
Serial number: ?, -?
Operation: De Kooy air base, Den Helder, NL
Lost: 21/06/1940
Sub Lieutenant (A) William S. 'Peter' Butterworth, PoW.
Sub-Lieutenant Victor J. Dyke, RN, H.M.S. Peregrine, [826 Sqdn.], age 22, 21/06/1940, Texel (Den Burg) Cemetery, NL. DOW as POW 22/06/1940, according to FAA-A POW
Telegraphist Air Gunner
Robert J. Jackson, PoW
Ship/Air Station: Bircham Newton, RAF Coastal Command.
The Albacore was shot down by Bf109s over Texel Wadden sea island, and crashed near Dechavij, Insel [?].
S. Lt. (A) Butterworth spent the war at Stalag Luft III in Sagan (now Zagan, Poland). Became in and after the war famous as actor.
TAG R.J. Jackson died as prisoner of war on 18/01/1945. He is buried at Becklingen War Cemetery, Germany.
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Type: Fairey Albacore
Serial number: ?, -?
Operation: De Kooy air base, Den Helder, NL
Lost: 21/06/1940
Lieutenant (A) James L.M. Bell, RN, H.M.S. Peregrine, [826 Sqdn.], age unknown, 21/06/1940, Texel (Den Burg) Cemetery, NL
Sub-Lieutenant (A) Frank B. Hookins, RN, H.M.S. Peregrine, [826 Sqdn.], age 20, 21/06/1940, Texel (Den Burg) Cemetery, NL
Naval Airman 1st Class Robert G. Poole, RN FX79428, H.M.S. Peregrine, [826 Sqdn.], age 21, 21/06/1940, Texel (Den Burg) Cemetery, NL
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22/06/1940: Channel, UK/F
Type: Fairey Albacore
Serial number: ?, -?
Operation: Channel, UK/F
Lost: 22/06/1940
Name and fate pilot (yet) unknown
Telegraphist Air Gunner R. Macclesfield, PoW
Failed to return whilst on operation over the English channel and crashed near Dunkirk.
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Sources
826 Squadron - Fleet Air Arm Archive
Air of Authority
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database
Australian War Memorial
Bail-outs for 1940
T.K. Derry (1952), The Campaign in Norway
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Casualty Lists Royal Navy
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Fleet Air Arm Archive 1939-1945
Fleet Air Arm Museum
Fleet Air Arm Archive 1939-1945: Prisoners of War
Lee-on-Solent Memorial (missing FAA members)
Prisoners of War captured in Europe 1940
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
Norman Franks, Air Battle Dunkirk
Ross McNeill 'Royal Air Force Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War' (Midland Counties)
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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
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 FAA 826 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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