At 12:20, 41 Squadron’s Fg Off John Mackenzie (R6887), Fg Off Harry Baker (P9394), and Sgt Plt ‘Bam’ Bamberger (R6697), flew to Hawkinge to provide an escort to an Avro Anson of Coastal Command on reconnaissance duty over Calais. The Anson belonged to No. 1 Coastal Artillery Co-operation Flight, whose duty it was to observe the fall of shells in cooperation with the Royal Marine Siege Regiment. 41 Squadron’s three pilots were to ensure its safety in doing so.
The four aircraft were airborne from Hawkinge at 13:00 and proceeded as planned, and the Anson’s crew subsequently observed three shells falling in the target area. At around 14:00, the Anson attracted some light Flak, but it was ineffective and fell short. However, shortly afterwards, it was attacked by four Me109s, which dived from the east, out of cloud cover, apparently vectored onto them by German observation posts.
The Anson’s pilot, Flt Lt Roderick McConnell, dived to sea level, chased by a pair of Me109s and headed as fast as he could for the English coast. Seeing this, Fg Off John Mackenzie attacked one of them and opened fire, but the second Messerschmitt then attacked him, forcing him to take evasive action, and he was unable to see the results of his attack.
Mackenzie then climbed to attack them again but encountered two more Messerschmitts mid-Channel at 5,000 feet. He fired two bursts at one of these aircraft from 200 yards, which resulted in white smoke issuing from it. The No. 2 then came around on his tail, and he was forced to break off again.
Meanwhile, below him, the Anson was being attacked by the original pair of Me109s, which made 12 quarter attacks upon it whilst McConnell tried his best to evade their fire. Mackenzie dived to sea level and fired the rest of his ammunition into one of the pair: “Bits flew off, smoke issued, and he appeared to stall at the top of a turn.”
He was fired at by another Me109 and broke to port, but was nonetheless able to see a large splash as the Messerschmitt he attacked hit the water. This was also seen from the English coast. However, whilst Mackenzie was thus occupied, the remaining Me109 of the first pair made a final attack on the Anson, unhindered, from astern.
This was the worst attack by far and the burst entered the fuselage and cockpit, killing the gunner, and injuring the co-pilot and wireless operator. The dinghy housing ignited and the starboard engine also burst into flame. McConnell switched off his remaining engine and managed to force-land his aircraft in a field at East Langdon, Kent. 
He jumped out and was able to extinguish the fires with the Anson’s fire extinguisher, but it was damaged beyond repair. The co-pilot and wireless operator were taken to hospital and only the pilot remained unscathed, though doubtless shaken by the experience.
Mackenzie then returned to Hornchurch to claim the first Me109 damaged and the second destroyed.
[Excerpts from “Blood, Sweat and Courage” (Fonthill, 2014). Sharing permitted, but no reproduction without permission, please.]

20 September 1940 – A southwesterly wind at 5 mph, initially overcast but clearing to variable amounts of cloud, with occasional rain and moderate to good visibility. On account of the weather, Luftwaffe activity was confined to reconnaissance flights by individual aircraft, except between 10:50 and 12:00 when a raid of 100 enemy aircraft took place. 

Eleven units were scrambled to intercept them but only 41, 72, 92, 222, 253, and 603 Squadrons succeeded in doing so. For their part, ten of 41 Squadron’s pilots took off at 11:20, led by Flt Lt Norman Ryder, with an order to patrol Manston. Plt Off Eric Lock (X4338) was designated as the spotter. They joined up in the air with fellow Hornchurch based 603 Squadron, and climbed further, but the two units were dived upon by a large number of Me109s and both were hit hard.
It appears they were taken by surprise as one of 603 Squadron’s pilots was killed, a second baled out and a third crashed on landing, though uninjured, for the claims of only two Me109s damaged. 41 Squadron came out of the fight little better, having two pilots shot down, although unhurt, for two enemy aircraft destroyed. It is believed that the two 41 Squadron pilots in question were Fg Off John Mackenzie (R6887) and Plt Off ‘Ben’ Bennions (X4101), but the ORB provides little detail.
Meanwhile, Lock had been over Maidstone by himself as spotter, and was involved in combats of his own. He had climbed to 33,000 feet, and just ten minutes later sighted several enemy bombers crossing in near Dover at 15,000 feet, and reported them to the Controller. A short while later, he spotted three He113s [Me109Es] with orange noses “going round in a circle between Maidstone and Canterbury” just 3,000 feet below him.
He dived towards them but was seen, and the three aircraft split up in all directions. He picked out one that was diving towards Dover, and fired several one-second bursts from ranges of 250 yards down to 100. He had no trouble overhauling the aircraft, owing to his height and speed.
White vapour emanated from under the aircraft’s starboard wing after three bursts, and then flame issued from its engine. They then passed over the Dover Balloon Barrage “with only a few feet to spare”, and the enemy aircraft continued in a shallow dive until it crashed into the Channel approximately 15 to 20 miles northwest of Boulogne.
Lock then climbed back to the cloud base at 2,000 feet and orbited the area. Within a short time, a Henschel Hs126 reconnaissance aircraft “appeared from nowhere” and circled the downed aircraft at an altitude of no more than 50 feet. Grasping the opportunity, Lock dived on it and fired a two-second burst from 75 yards down to point blank range. The Henschel went directly into the Channel, tail first.
Seeing several more Hs126’s flying up and down the Channel below the cloud base, Lock climbed above it and headed home to claim the Me109 and the Hs126 destroyed. They were also Lock’s 15th and 16th claims, and he was now a triple Ace.
[Excerpts from “Blood, Sweat and Courage” (Fonthill, 2014). Sharing permitted, but no reproduction without permission, please.]

The ninth article in this series has been made possible by a submission from our Honorary Historian, Mr Steve Brew.

​A Rare Breed
 
Terry Spencer was a remarkable man.
            The things he achieved in his lifetime are so incredible that one could be forgiven for believing he was an invented character in some brilliant thriller. Terry’s life was certainly exciting – the very stuff of ‘Boys Own’ annuals – but it was no work of fiction.
            So many clichéd phrases come to mind – decorated fighter pilot, respected leader, daring escapee, world record holder, bold adventurer, and celebrated photo-journalist, to name just a few – but these words barely scratch the surface and do him no justice.

The eighth article in this series has been made possible by Gideon Remez, Aharon's son:

My father, Aharon Remez, was born in the then-new city of Tel Aviv in 1919. While still in high school he became active in a Zionist youth movement, and in 1939 was sent to the United States as an emissary to the counterpart movement there. His mission was also to learn to fly, in anticipation that the Jewish community in Palestine -- then under British mandate -- would someday need and air force. Close to the airfield in New Jersey where he took flying lessons, the movement had an agricultural-training farm -- where he met my mother, one of the trainees.  Stranded in America by the outbreak of war, he volunteered for the RAF and was sent for flight training in Canada. He married my mother before shipping out to Britain.