41 Squadron Rested after the Battle of Britain



On 23 February 1941, following almost six months deployment in the thick of the action at Hornchurch, 41 Squadron was ordered north to Catterick, in 13 Group, for a rest. It was necessary.

Their time at Hornchurch had taken its toll on the unit, and it was now a very different squadron, both physically and psychologically. Most of the pilots who had been sent south from Catterick with the unit the previous September did not return today. Fourteen pilots landed at Catterick at 10:00, but of the original 23 pilots who had arrived at Hornchurch in early September 1940, only four made the return flight:



• Remaining – 4: Darling, Ford, Lovell, Mackenzie

• WIA/Hospitalised – 4: Bennions, Lock, Usmar, Wallens

• Killed – 6: Boyle, Hood, Langley, McAdam, Scott, Webster

• Posted – 9: Allison, Boret, Carr-Lewty, Cory, Howitt, Morrogh-Ryan, Piddocke, Ryder, Sayers



However, if one also includes all the pilots posted to the Squadron between 3 September 1940 and 23 February 1941, the statistics are much more grim: Angus, Boyle, Chalder, Garvey, Gilders, Hogg, Hood, Langley, Lecky, Lloyd, McAdam, O’Neill, Scott, Walker, and Webster were all dead.

Others had been wounded in action, such as Sqn Ldr Robert Lister who had taken over command from Sqn Ldr Hood in September 1940 but had only lasted a week before he was shot down and hospitalised. Bennions, Draper, Lock, Usmar and Wallens were also all still in hospital as the Squadron headed for Catterick and only two returned after they were released.

Additionally, Aldous, Aldridge, Allison, H. C. Baker, Bamberger, Boret, Carr-Lewty, Carter, Cory, Howitt, Le Roux, Mileham, Morrogh-Ryan, Norwell, Piddocke, Ryder, and Sayers had all been posted away.

Taking all these men into account, a total of 15 pilots had been killed, six wounded and hospitalised, and 17 otherwise posted away, making over a 150% turnover in manpower since the unit’s deployment to Hornchurch in early September 1940. The Squadron now also had its third Commanding Officer since then, and in fact its fourth within ten months [See the table in Appendix I for a clearer overview of personnel movements].



Nominal Roll, 23 February 1941

On their arrival at RAF Catterick, 41 Squadron consisted of the following 22 pilots:



Sqn Ldr Donald O. Finlay

Sqn Ldr Patrick E. Meagher (Supernumerary)

Flt Lt Anthony D. J. Lovell DFC, OC B Flight

Flt Lt John N. Mackenzie DFC, OC A Flight

Fg Off Dennis A. Adams

Fg Off M. Peter Brown

Plt Off Edward V. Darling

Plt Off Roy C. Ford

Plt Off Michael F. Briggs

Plt Off Norman M. Brown

Plt Off Edward P. Wells

Plt Off Archibald L. Winskill

Sgt Plt Aubrey C. Baker

Sgt Plt Robert A. Beardsley

Sgt Plt Norman V. Glew

Sgt Plt Terence W. R. Healy

Sgt Plt Thomas Hindle

Sgt Plt Harry Hopkinson

Sgt Plt Jack London

Sgt Plt Wilfred Palmer

Sgt Plt George W. Swanwick

Sgt Plt Thomas W. Willmott



The move to Catterick gave Sqn Ldr Donald Finlay a much-needed opportunity to rest his pilots and provided him a five-month window in which to do so.

Whilst most men were sent on leave of varying lengths, many were posted away soon after the unit’s arrival, and replaced by pilots from other squadrons or, more often than not, by fresh pilots, albeit inexperienced, who arrived directly from operational training units.

As such, by the time the Squadron returned to operations with 11 Group in late July 1941, the unit had undergone yet another major transformation, and nearly all of the old faces were gone.



[Excerpt from Steve Brew’s “Blood, Sweat and Courage” (Fonthill, 2014). Sharing permitted, but no reproduction without permission, please.]

Royal Air Force personnel are participating in Red Flag 20-1 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in the United States.

Typhoon and Lightning multi-role fighters, supported by a Voyager tanker, are being flown daily alongside United States Air Force, U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force counterparts in the most complex and demanding air combat training available anywhere in the world.

Red Flag, the giant air combat exercise held annually in the United States, has tested participants to the limits.

It is one of the pinnacle exercises of the RAF calendar and this year has been no exception; Typhoon, Voyager, Air Operations staff and, for the first time, Lightning have spent three weeks in Nevada honing their skills with American and Australian counterparts.

And it's not the aircraft that play a big part. In the weeks leading up to the three-week exercise over 250 tons of equipment required to sustain and support the exercise arrived at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada via land, sea and air in a complex logistical move.

Read more ➡️ http://bit.ly/RAFRedFlag20