|
I encourage anyone
that has more information (Flight Log Book entries) or photos on 112
Squadron please send an e-mail to
raf_112_sqdn@yahoo.com before the
history is lost.
RAF 112 Sqn Operations Record Book (copies
of the Squadron's Operations Record Book Daily Summaries (RAF Form 540) taken
from National Archives copies.) graciously donated by The Howe's......Dad
David J.
and Son Gerry Howe, Captain, 426 Sqn
Trenton, Ontario, Canada both RCAF members past and
present
Record books in this series provide a daily record of events in each squadron
entered on Form 540, with appendices including some photographs (many of which
may have different covering dates from those of the books themselves) .Also
included are some Operations Record Books (ORBs) for Dominion and allied air
force squadrons under British command. Though the system of Operations Record
Books started after the First World War few books in this series date from
before the mid 1930s. The object of the Operations Record Book (ORB) was to
furnish a complete historical record of a unit from the time of its formation,
including an accurate record of operations carried out. Information was
thereby collected for future reference with a view to improving the
organization, equipment and administration of the Royal Air Force.
- Balloon, AIR
13
- Bomber, AIR
14
- Coastal, AIR
15
- Fighter, AIR
16
- Maintenance, AIR
17
- Overseas, AIR
23
- Flying Training and Technical Training, AIR
32
- Ferry, AIR
38
- Army Co-operation, AIR
39
- Reserve and Home, AIR
53
- Signals, AIR
68
These are a daily record of events in each Command or Force entered on
form 540, often with appendices which contain documents illustrating and
expanding the record.
For those that are able to a good source in England might be Public
Records Office, Operational
Record Books for RAF Squadrons & "Crete Naval and RAF Sitreps
20/5/41" WO106/3241, also WO 106/3243
| 26,27-10-42 |
28-29-10-42 |
30-10-42 |
30,31-10-42 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| 1-11-42 |
2-11-42 |
3-11-42 |
3-11-42, continued |
4,5-11-42 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 9,10,11-11-42 |
11,12-11-42 |
14,15,part16 |
20 to part 25-11-42 |
26,to part 28-11-42 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 13-12-42 |
14,part 15-12-42 |
17-12-42 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Time unknown persons unknown thanks goes to A Ross for this contribution, any
ideas?
This is an early Gladiator serial is
L7614,
06/11/40,
Flt Lt Kenneth Howard Savage, 112 Sqdn, K Flight, Shot down,
KIA, during the Sudan offensive to capture
the Italian fort at Gallabat. Shot
down by Fiat CR42`s from 412 Squadriglia led by unit the unit Commander
Capitano Raffi near Gallabat (called, Metemma, by Abyssinians)......got that by looking
under the wing where the pre war serials where painted, know this is a desert
picture and 112 Sqdn had L7611 thru L7617 and also L7619 on its unit strength.
L7614
would have been on 33 Sqdn strength when this picture was taken, this is verified
by John Cleary via his son at in an e-mail to me,
"
Incidentally, my Dad has a photo of the picture with the bowser and the
Gladiator with the Man and His Pith Helmet and he thinks it might be 33 Sqdn at
Ismalia rather than 112 Sqdn! A heresy I know given the research that has
already been done but once again this shows the importance of recording as much
as possible as quickly as possible before it becomes too late to check out
accurately"
33
Squadron
Ismailia, February 1938 to
September 1938. Heliopolis, September 1938 to October 1938. Ramleh, Mersah
Matruh and Helwan, September 1938 to October 1940. Over the period February to
June 1940, some Gauntlets reinforced the Gladiators.
The next Photo stirred a small flurry of e-mails thanks go out to Greg
Peters and Jim Gray Collins
Taken in Rome 17 July, 1944, someone had slapped an 8th army crest on
the front and written "Water Closet" on the flank.
Dear Rob,
attached is another photo from Bernie's album.
I'm sending this via my new broadband email
address - should be easier.
The
caption on this photo says:
"Tex,
Jellet & Rowe, plus Nazi tank." (A mark 4, "Tiger"?)
The
three pilots named are in the left foreground, I think.
The
one on the extreme left is definitely Tex Gray.
Bernie
Peters and these three all left 112 on the same day (31/7/44)-and what a party
they had.
I think
this photo was taken around that time - possibly by Bernie.
Bernie and
Tex Gray were good pals.
Bernie wrote
to Tex at a US address after the war, but no reply was received.
So,
if Tex is still out there somewhere, Dad would sure like to hear from him.
(Ex-112
Squadron pilot B H (Bernie) Peters passed away, on Nov 27th 2005. From all
of us our deep condolences Greg.)
This photo and your message were
wonderful holiday gifts. I can't thank you enough.
"Tex" of course is in the left frame of the photo with that Gray
smirk that I have come to believe is hereditary.
Give Mr. Peters and his family my
warmest greetings. You guys have been most helpful giving shape to the
memory of my uncle. As you may know, we haven't heard from Tex
since 1956. I began in 1978 investigating his disappearance.
After the war, it seems, Tex had a flying circus and crop dusting operation
in Loundon Country, Virginia. Some time later, Arthur Godfrey bought
the airstrip and Jim's crop dusting venture moved to the site of the old
Hondo AFB in Hondo, TX (just outside of San Antonio). We used to have
a copy of an 8mm film of his "flying circus" and crop dusting
activities, but it disappeared when my brother sold the family house in
1972. When I was a kid I watched that film over and over again,
and I read his letters home repeatedly and memorized the onion
skin copies that he'd kept of letters to others describing his adventures in
WWII.
Our family's hunt for information about
him has borne fruit. The "crop dusting" and "flying
circus" outfits that Tex had in Loudon County were probably covers.
The CIA in Langley, not far away, was experimenting with low-level defoliant
spraying. It recruited combat flyers who were adept at dogfight and
escape and evasion to begin a campaign of anti-guerrilla warfare in the
Caribbean and Central America. An important element in this campaign
would have been defoliant spraying to remove the concealing cover of the
jungle canopy. It is probable that Tex's stint at Loudon County was a
training period for this anti-guerrilla campaign, a campaign for which he
would have readily volunteered because of his ironclad anti-Communist
views and his combat experience. After his training, the Agency may
have planted him at the Hondo site. That site would have been more
secluded (for continuing training) and made him more quickly available to
the Agency's areas of concern than the DC region. The family has come
to believe that Tex was shot down or crashed in the jungle in Guatemala in
1956 during one mission of this anti-guerrilla campaign, a mission designed
to overthrow an unfriendly pro-Communist regime there.
If Mr. Peters has any copies of diaries
or papers that his family feels willing to share regarding my uncle, I would
be most grateful for his input. In any event, I wish them well.
Thanks again,
Jim Gray Collins
Stanford University
Squadron-Leader P F Illingworth
(back to camera), the Commanding Officer of No. 112 Squadron RAF,
discusses a target with Army officers, prior to setting out on a sortie from
Foggia, Italy. Behind them is his Curtiss Kittyhawk Mark III., the plane might
be FR864 GA-M the four just visible in the picture, that plane was shot down, 20
Dec 1943.
Army
officers watch from their jeep as Curtiss Kittyhawk Mark IIIs of No. 112
Squadron RAF take off on a sortie at Foggia, Italy
|
