75 years ago this very day…

Daft sounding question I know, but in that photograph, does ‘Lamb’ have elbow (poss leather) patches on his tunic?……….cannot quite see.

Reason I ask is because of a POSS interesting tunic I recently purchased, also POSS Auxiliary.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]237805[/ATTACH]
F/O Henry Peter Dixon 145 Squadron KIA 1.6.40

From memory, something like 65 fatalities in RAF Fighter Command 11 Group during the period 26 May to 3 June alone. And that doesn’t include those shot down and wounded and a large number shot down and POW.

Sadly, the myth that the RAF were ‘not there’ at Dunkirk endures in some quarters. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course.

Just to add: I read elsewhere that the RAF lost 177 aircraft over Dunkirk, including 106 fighters.
I don’t know how accurate those figures are. Maybe they include losses from a wider area in France ?

Nice to see this cockpit is now on the list for Cockpit-Fest 2015! 🙂

IIRC the chap holding the bullet is Lamb.

Whose was the 109 success, was it 610? Also, is this location known and the i/d of the aircraft and pilot?

Anon.

And here is Sqn Ldr Ellis himself, on right with hand in his pocket, inspecting the wreck of a Me 109 near Biggin Hill at end of August 1940.

Unfortunately, Stuart, the grip succumbed to the Mag Alloy Worm and was all but dissolved when recovered. I do have the brake handle and a small piece of the rubber coating and these parts, along with a few others that have come to light, will eventually be incorporated in to the exhibit. In fact, I may well re-vamp the whole thing to improve it somewhat. This rig, by the way, was built about ten years ago.

With the anniversary in mind, as well as a few other factors, I will be taking this Spitfire Rig, as I call it, to Cockpit Fest in a fortnight’s time.

Finally, with today being the 31st May, it is timely to mention that our intrepid Flt Lt Ellis went on patrol again over Dunkirk on this day 75 years ago and bagged himself a Do215 to add to his tally.

Thank You, those who have responded, for the kind and constructive comments so far.

Anon.

A very nice display Mike; was the spade grip mag alloy and has dissolved, or is it in a safety deposit box? would look good next to my display at Damyns Hall, I was thinking about doing a similar display, albeit on a much smaller scale to mark the 75th.

What a very emotive display item.

Moggy

Few people bothered to read the information with the exhibit and fewer still grasp the significance of the assembly before them and its relevance to the moment.

Anon.[ATTACH=CONFIG]237774[/ATTACH]

Anon,

Congratulations on the work putting the exhibit together. It is a very powerful image seeing those reconstructed remains. Rather than regret the lack of interest in the information displayed with the exhibit why not share some images. Have you ever thought that potentially the presentation of your information may not match the strength of the exhibit. Some constructive comments both positive and negative might help you to improve the exhibit and get more people to appreciate the story behind the remains. It’s all very well saying they ‘didn’t bother’ but do you read ever bit of info at each museum or do you latch onto what takes your fancy and interests you?

This isn’t aimed at your display as I’ve only seen the posted image but I’ve been to enough museums with crap display signage to know the fault usually doesn’t belong to the public. That goes for small collections with crap laminated signage to the new signage in the IWM where the info boards are on one main board per section leaving you going back and forth like a Ping Pong ball.

Best wishes

Flying Officer Henry Peter Dixon 145 Squadron (late 607) shot down over Dunkirk 1st June, died of burns, and buried in Dunkirk.
The combat was witnessed by his brother Major John Dixon RA who was on a ship leaving the ‘Mole’ who didn’t realise it was his brother on the end of a parachute on fire.
Henry Dixon was one of the first who flew a Gladiator on the first patrol of the war on 3rd September 1939 .During the Phoney War he shot down 3 ,with 2 shared, 2 destroyed unconfirmed, 2 damaged. Shot down 11th May landing in Belgium. A very brave pilot and good friend of Peter Parrot (Battle of Britain pilot)

From memory, something like 65 fatalities in RAF Fighter Command 11 Group during the period 26 May to 3 June alone. And that doesn’t include those shot down and wounded and a large number shot down and POW.

Thanks for that, I didn’t realise so many were lost.

A thought provoking display, Mike. Some of those Operational Training Unit aircraft had long and interesting histories, unlike the unfortunate young pilots who finished them off. 53 OTU down here lost 53 pilots between July 41 and April 43. Bent bits of Spitfire bring it home more than shiny ones in the air.

From memory, something like 65 fatalities in RAF Fighter Command 11 Group during the period 26 May to 3 June alone. And that doesn’t include those shot down and wounded and a large number shot down and POW.

Sadly, the myth that the RAF were ‘not there’ at Dunkirk endures in some quarters. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course.

Marvellous tribute. Must say I have had a small interest in 610 Squadron ever since I read a history of Biggin Hill as a child.
As far as I can tell Fighter Command lost 113 aircraft during the Dunkirk operation, 67 of which were Spitfires; a very substantial slice of the available front line strength.
The army were often to ask, ‘where was the RAF?’ and I think it’s now generally accepted that they were there all right. The nature of aerial combat just meant that those on the ground didn’t get to see what was going on, perhaps miles away and thousands of feet above. Without Fighter Command’s contribution things may well have been very different.
Incidentally, in the light of the subsequent ‘Big Wing’ debate, it is worthy of note that during Dynamo the AOC 11 Group, Keith Park, did use his aircraft in multi squadron formations since they had the time to form up before heading across Channel. Later, when they had no such opportunity, he used them individually.

A first class and graceful tribute.

Agreed. Very impressive Mike. Very well Done!

I remember listening to Dunkirk veterans talking many years ago, on how they said they never saw the RAF over the beaches.
Does anyone have figures to say how many aircrew were lost over Dunkirk at that time ?

Shame they didn’t read the information ,what a lovely tribute.

Well done Mike, a very impressive re construction.