Traces of World War 2 
RAF - No. 83 Squadron
10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940

83 SQUADRON - Bomber, Handley Page Hampden

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



When war came No. 83 Squadron was based at Scampton, Lincolnshire and flying Hampdens. In common with other bomber squadrons No. 83 found early target restrictions irksome; it was not until April 1940, that it was able to operate regularly and in that month it flew 45 sorties - more than half of them Gardening, or mine- laying. During August of that year some of the squadron's aircraft, with others from No. 49 Squadron, took part in an attack on an aqueduct forming part of the Dortmund-Ems Canal. Flight Lieutenant R.A.B. Learoyd of No. 49 Squadron, who won a VC for his part in this operation, later commanded No.83 Squadron.

During the same month No. 83 Squadron made its first raids on Berlin and also attacked the battleships Scharnhorst, Tirpitz, and von Scheer.

In September 1940, No. 83 gained its own VC. It was awarded to Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Flight Sergeant John Hannah for bravery when his aircraft was set on fire during a moonlight attack on invasion barges at Antwerp on the night of 15/l6th September - one of many such attacks made by the squadron during the late summer and autumn of that year.

Guy Gibson was one of the No. 83 Sqdn.'s pilots in this period. He completed his first tour with the Squadron collecting the Distinguished Flying Cross in the process.

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Operations and losses 10/05/1940 - 30/06/1940
Not all operations listed; those with losses are.

14-15/05/1940: the Ruhr, D. F. 1 Plane lost, 4 KIA
22-23/05/1940: communications. F. 1 Plane lost, 4 KIA
03-04/06/1940: Emmerich, D. 1 Plane lost, 4 KIA
05-06/06/1940: Hamburg, D. 1 Plane lost, 4 KIA

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Fatalities 01/01/1940 - 09/05/1940 (incomplete)

Pilot Officer (Pilot) Keith Brooke-Taylor, RAF 41251 (NZ), 83 Sqdn., age 21, 07/04/1940, Chevington Cemetery, UK
Sergeant (Obs.) Andrew McNicol, RAF 563207, 83 Sqdn., age 26, 07/04/1940, Barrow-In-Furness Cemetery, UK
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Wilfred Roberts, RAF 40319 (NZ), 83 Sqdn., age 25, 07/04/1940, Chevington Cemetery, UK
Aircraftman 1st Class Denis W. Sharpe, RAF 541437, 83 Sqdn., age 21, 07/04/1940, missing

Sergeant Ernest R. Clarke, RAF 564585, 83 Sqdn., age 25, 15/04/1940, missing
Leading Aircraftman John H. Edwards, RAF 540912, 83 Sqdn., age unknown, 15/04/1940, missing
Sergeant George C. Perry, RAF 581005 (Canada), 83 Sqdn., age unknown, 15/04/1940, missing
Flying Officer Kenneth R.H. Sylvester, RAF 39907, 83 Sqdn., age unknown, 15/04/1940, missing

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Type: HP52 Hampden Mk.B.1
Serial number: L4055, OL-?
Operation: Communications
Lost: 23/05/1940
Sergeant (Pilot) Stanley W. Jenkins, RAF 580289, 83 Sqdn., age 23, 23/05/1940, Nettleham (All Saints) New Churchyard, UK
Sergeant (Nav.) Peter W. Josse, RAF 359518, 83 Sqdn., age unknown, 23/05/1940, Nettleham (All Saints) New Churchyard, UK
Sergeant (Obs.) Alan Marsh, RAF 580966, 83 Sqdn., age unknown, 23/05/1940, Bolsover (St. Mary) New Churchyard, UK
Aircraftman 1st Class (W. Op./Air Gnr.) Willie Thornton, RAF 625669, 83 Sqdn., age 19, 23/05/1940, St. Helens Cemetery, UK
Airborne from Scampton to attack rail communications in tactical support for the BEF in France. Crashed 04.00 hrs 23/05/1940 while returning to base in poor visibility. Flew into high ground 4 miles S of Holmfirth, 6 miles S of Huddersfield, Yorks. See this page for crash site.

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Type: HP52 Hampden Mk.B.1
Serial number: P1178, OL-H
Operation: Emmerich
Lost: 04/06/1940
Flying Officer (Pilot) Francis J. Haydon, RAF 39663, 83 Sqdn., age unknown, 04/06/1940, Rheinberg War Cemetery, D
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Charles E. Greenwell, RAF 41284, 83 Sqdn., age 26, 04/06/1940, Rheinberg War Cemetery, D
Sergeant (Obs.) Jack L. Perry, RAF 581034, 83 Sqdn., age 20, 04/06/1940, Rheinberg War Cemetery, D
Sergeant (Air) David R.I. Thomas, RAF 619032, 83 Sqdn., age unknown, 04/06/1940, Rheinberg War Cemetery, D
Airborne from Scampton. Cause of loss not established. Crashed near Aachen, Germany.


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Type: HP52 Hampden Mk.B.1
Serial number: P1348, OL-?
Operation: Hamburg
Lost: 06/06/1940
Squadron Leader (Pilot) Denys B.D. Field, RAF 26158, 83 Sqdn., age 29, 06/06/1940, Becklingen War Cemetery, D
Sergeant (Pilot) Eric H. Paul, RAF 565282, 83 Sqdn., age 26, 06/06/1940, Becklingen War Cemetery, D
Sergeant (Obs.) Lachlan L. Kerr, RAF 581286, 83 Sqdn., age 22, 06/06/1940, Becklingen War Cemetery, D
Sergeant (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Robert Eadie, RAF 550790, 83 Sqdn., age 21, 06/06/1940, Becklingen War Cemetery, D
Airborne from Scampton. Shot down by Flak and crashed at Barnkrug on the W bank of the Elbe, 9 km N of Stade, Germany.

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Sources

Belgian Aviation History Association Archaeological Team
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Lost Bombers
Peak District Air Accident Research
Royal Air Force - 83 Squadron
RAF History - Bomber Command
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

J Bushby 'Gunner's Moon' (January 1942-) (Ian Allen 1972)
Charpentier, Lacey-Johnson & Jeudwine 'Global Warrior' (Lacey Johnson 1999)
W.R. Chorley, Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1, 1939/40, Midland Counties Publications, ISBN 0 904597 85 7
G Gibson 'Enemy coast ahead' (1955)
Low/ Harper '83 Squadron 1917-1969' (Self published 1992 & 2nd ed 1997)
Clayton Moore 'Lancaster crew'
W Thompson 'Lancaster to Berlin'
Chris Ward '83 Squadron' (Bomber Command Profile no. 25)

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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 83 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