Lysander at Hendon

Hi Ant,
Thank you for adding / correcting information. Back in ’81 Peter Vaughan Fowler asked me to make two models of his Lysander and the info re ‘training role’ came from Hendon, during my research.

I have just been in the loft and dug out the Air Extra published to coincide with the opening of Hendon. It states that R9125 was delivered to 5MU on Aug 2nd 1940, then allocated to 225Sqdn. Subsequently served with a number of different units and on October 15 1944 was alocated to 161 Sqdn.
The item then says ‘ although it is not certain whether or not this aircraft actually carried out any such operations.

Hi Ian,

It would be interesting to know where your info has come from regarding this aircraft being shot down in 1943. I’ve been leafing through a couple of books and Googled around, and as far as I can tell the Hendon example is thought to be the genuine R9125.

She entered service with 225sqn in September 1940, and was later sent as a Target Tug to the Central Gunnery School. She was then converted to Special Duties configuration and posted to 161sqn in 1944. That would mean that she couldn’t possibly have been shot down in ’43.

BB, her service with 161 is not recorded, so it’s not known what missions she may have undertaken. I don’t think it can be said with certainty that she only flew with SOE in a ‘training role’, though.

I’m pretty sure that JDK will be able to shed further light on this, it’s rumoured that he knows one or two things about Lysanders. 😉

Although I cannot answer your question, it is known that the a/c served with 161 Sqdn, but only in a training role. The rear cockpit of this a/c was converted for carrying agents.