Battle of Britain Images

Yes, that’s him. Some might recall him being reunited with ‘US-C’ at Duxford when LF363 was painted to represent that particular aircraft after its rebuild in the 90s.

Might the chap with the ‘tache be Maurice Mounsdon?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-32621310

He should certainly be there…

Adrian

Thanks Jayce
The Peter Brown book I mentioned earlier, “RAF Southend” which is written in diary form, gives a pretty good account
of the various squadron movements. October 1940 – August 1944. Along with quite a few very good photographs.

Alan, 603 Squadron relieved 74 Sqn at Hornchurch on the 25th August. They were then “coached” by 54 Sqn, who they shared a dispersal with, until 54 Sqn were themselves relieved by 41 Sqn on the 3rd of September. I don’t have 41’s ORB to hand to find out exactly when they began using Rochford as a FOB, which would perhaps give us a more precise date, but I’m fairly confident of the mid-late September I estimated earlier.

Wow, wonderful stuff! That first Hurricane was lost on the 21st, so no later than that. Anyone name the pilots shown – other than “Jumbo”?

Adrian

Hi Adrian;

Glad you enjoyed the link. I think it would be quite easy to pin-point the date. It must also be just after Geoffrey Page was shot down as this doesn’t appear to be “his” US-X. That was August 12th…so maybe sometime between then and the 21st?

Best regards;
Steve

Alan…

I don’t have my copy of the book at hand, but Rochord was officially re-named RAF Southend in either late 1940/early 1941. As an (ex) local though, I have always called the airport “Rochford”.

Re video at #402. Jayce’s original post at #396 puts the video at mid/late September 1940.

Best regards;
Steve

Is there a date for that video at #402 ?

Peter C Brown’s book of events at Rochford 1940-44 is entitled RAF Southend.
Why is it more commonly known as RAF Rochford ?

Wow, wonderful stuff! That first Hurricane was lost on the 21st, so no later than that. Anyone name the pilots shown – other than “Jumbo”?

Adrian

Thanks Jayce!

There’s more footage from Rochford during the Battle of Britain than I realised. Nice to see my old local airfield during it’s finest hour! Here’s another one…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exbQfEHmTUU

Quite often credited with being North Weald, but it’s Rochford alright, sometime in August 1940.

Best regards;
Steve

Steve, yes there’s quite a bit of footage from Rochford intermixed now that I look at the background rather than the fore. At 2:19 you can see the church really clearly with the tell tale chimney behind it.

Some good footage of 41, 603 and 222 ground crews in action at Hornchurch around mid-late September.

Great video Jayce! Thanks for sharing! Looking at the footage around 7:39 there is a railway in the background which isn’t present at Hornchurch. The houses beyond the railway look similar to those on Southend Road on the eastern boundary of Rochford aerodrome, so it’s possible that some of this footage was filmed at Rochford too.

Also, wondering if 5:39 is at Rochford also, as that looks a lot like St Georges church in the background with the chimney of Rochford hospital beyond? I’m not sure that there is a church between Hornchurch aerodrome and St Georges Hospital?

Best regards;
Steve

Snapper could you possibly confirm if this is or is not my grandfather Sgt Alan Norman Feary. I found this photo in the Official 609 Squadron Photo Archive; “Drem”. The striking similarity to my grandfather struck me immediately. [ATTACH=CONFIG]243366[/ATTACH]

Snapper, who is that standing on the fuselage of the plane in the 3rd photo? I am trying to put names to all the photos from the official 609 Squadron Photo Archive; Men of 609.pdf [ATTACH=CONFIG]243368[/ATTACH]

609 Photos

Snapper, Gerard Drake-Feary here, Sgt. Alan N Feary’s grandson. I am putting together a data base of 609 Squadron photos. Saving them for prosperity and historical accuracy. I am matching names to the people in the photos. Would it be possible to get copies of these photos without the water marks. I will not publish or try to profit from the images, I only wish to save them and add an accurate record of who is in each photo and the story behind them. There are less and less people every day that know the stories behind these images and I wish to save at least some of them for prosperity. Email me if you wish [email]gdrake.feary@gmail.com[/email] [ATTACH=CONFIG]243367[/ATTACH]

Peter Townsends 85 Squadron Hurricane VY-Q P3166 in July 1940. Looks like a White spinner with a Black spinner backplate. [ATTACH=CONFIG]234379[/ATTACH]

Great footage Jayce,

That looks like sergeant Roy Ford getting out of his Spitfire at 009:30.
Thanks for posting it.
Gerry

Some good footage of 41, 603 and 222 ground crews in action at Hornchurch around mid-late September.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]234312[/ATTACH] . Rudolf Heitsch`s Dornier Do17Z at Castle Farm Shoreham. Shot down by 609 Squadron on 15th September 1940. The experimental flamethrower can just be seen as a pipe on the tail plane. Feldwebel Pfeiffer is being carried away on the stretcher.

Hi Guys,

I agree that they are very interesting photos, they appear to be very low indeed! The pictures came from a reproduction German document found in a “Battle of Britain” box set from Hendon I believe, so not original document scanned by me, only the copy. Have scanned again at 300 dpi for those who want larger images.

Regards,

Melvin

www.aircrewremembrancesociety.co.uk