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.

Internet Finds of RAF 112 Sqn Personnel

A to B

C to D

E to H

I to L

R to S

T to Z

The Americans, New Zealanders, The Polish Pilots

AIR VICE MARSHAL  Brian Alexander EATON , and his RAF 112 Sqdn Mustang BA-E

note the missing numeral 3 from the RAAF 3 Sqdn Crest on his plane

AIR VICE MARSHAL  Brian Alexander EATON CB, CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC, AMERICAN SILVER STAR

No.3 RAAF,  No.239 Wing RAF, No.112 Sqn. RAF ,  No.5 Sqn. SAAF , No.250 Sqn. RAF, No.260 Sqn. RAF, 

No.450 Sqn., RAAF

Flt Lt Emlyn "Taffy or Yanto" Evans  (Adjutant ), RAFVR, 61615RAF 112 Sqdn 27/6/42 to 9/11/44 

This excellent photo sent in by his son, Huw Davies

He was the longest serving member of RAF 112 Sqdn. He left the Sqdn with rank of Squadron Leader.

Plt Off David  Evans, Orderly Officer, RAF, 16/5/39 to 31/8/40

Photo supplied by Patricia Molloy daughter of J. F. Fraser

*********************************************************************

Capt Denis Featherstone, 103902V, SAAF, with 112 Sqdn from 2/11/44 to 24/7/45

 Fg Off V D "Jumbo Fletcher, 88518, RAF

photo courtesy Colleen Bowker and Family

Plt Off later Fg Off V D "Jumbo Fletcher, 88518, RAF, Intelligence Officer, 112 Sqn 

24/11/40 to 8/5/42

More on Mr Fletcher http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bryan.blow/Main%20Text%201.htm also read some of 

his letters on the memories page.

Center is Flt Off Fletcher surrounded by the men of his command in 51 M.T.

Oh the 15th.  May 1942, F/0 V.D.Fletcher, a Rhodesian, was taken a few miles out from Heliopolis, and was shown

a square of open desert, with four pegs demarcating the corners, he was told to "Get on with it".  

This was to be the start of the beginning of the ROYAL AIR FORCE's most famous Mechanical 

Transport Company.  Although very little has previously been written about "51", this unit did 

magnificent work during the North African Campaign, and made a significant contribution to Rommel's defeat

Wing Commander Joseph Frederick 'Joe' Fraser DFC, RAF no. 70229 , 

112 Sqn, victories 9.25

Flt Lt .J. F. Fraser thirsty after a forced landing by his plane, with ground crew, 

interesting to note his plane still carried the earlier style roundel. Also the Elephant plaque as seen on the 

photo of him and this plane on the Gladiators page, which his nephew still has, has not been put on the plane

yet. The plane is coded RT-T, so it could be K7612 ? (mis-labeled should be L7612), K8019,

(K7892, was delivered to the R. H. A. F. so I doubt it was this one) K6141 or K8025.

In the Acworth papers held by the IWM there is a photo of this plane in Greece which I think would positively identify its serial number even tho by that time

the roundel had changed and the broader bands had been painted in the tail fin.

Photo supplied by Patricia Molloy daughter of J. F. Fraser 

Joseph Frederick FRASER (70229) taken in the Middle East

London Gazette Issue 35124, 1 April 1941, page 4 of 46

Distinguished Flying Cross.

Flight Lieutenant Joseph Frederick FRASER (70229), No. 112 Squadron. This officer has led a detached 

flight with great success. He has destroyed at least 10 enemy aircraft, 9 of which he destroyed within a period 

of 14 days. He has proved a skilful and courageous fighter pilot. (He was promoted flight commander before 

the unit moved to Greece early in 1941. Here he was heavily involved over the Albanian front during late 

February/early March, claiming nine victories in the first two weeks of March. He was awarded a DFC before 

the end of the month.) 

September 1942.

He was promoted to Wing Commander on 1 July 1944, and was Mentioned in Despatches on 14 June 1945.

Fraser ended the war with 10 victories, all of them claimed while flying Gladiators.

How great to find this!!  I am Wing Commander Joseph Frederick Fraser's daughter.  

He was with 112 from May 1939 until after the evacuation of Greece where he won his DFC. 

He then went to 71 OTU at Gordon's Tree Sudan.  I loved the series of photos!  

Dad is in the 2nd photo down of the Christmas photos, not the first one as it mentions underneath.  

I do have a few photos of the Squadron members and have been in touch with Robin Brown who wrote 

Shark Squadron but only after he had published the book.  

Unfortunately the photo that mentions the possibility of it being my Father in his book, 

is in fact not my Father. 

I  do have several photos of the Squadron members and whether they were posted Killed or POW.  Also photos of 

course of my Father, especially one of the day he won his DFC with his Gladiator at Yannina and the photo of him 

outside Buckingham Palace having received his DFC

Flight Lieutenant Charles Horace Fry (3rd man from the left) DFC, RAF no. 40047, RAAF

 no. 267607 on 16 May 1939 he was transferred to 112 Squadron as it was forming on board 

the carrier HMS Argus on the way out to Egypt.

Photo, 32 Squadron at Biggin Hill, Fry is the third man from the left

Photo supplied by Patricia Molloy daughter of J. F. Fraser

Born on 29 October 1914 in Newcastle, New South Wales, Charles Fry attended Newcastle Technical School 

and Hawkesbury Agricultural College until 1933, following which he worked as a jackeroo in South-Western 

Queensland, and as a truck driver in Newcastle.

In October 1935, he was accepted for entry to the RAAF, starting training in June 1936 and graduating a year 

later. In June 1937 he transferred to the RAF, commencing training on carrier-borne aircraft at Leuchars until 

the end of the year, when following the take-over of the Fleet Air Arm by the Royal Navy, he was posted to 32 

Squadron at Biggin Hill to fly Gauntlets. During this time he was involved in trials and calibration of the RDF (radar), 

practising interceptions on civil aircraft arriving over London.

In September 1938 the unit converted to Hurricanes, but on 16 May 1939 he was transferred to 112 Squadron 

as it was forming on board the carrier HMS Argus on the way out to Egypt.

When Italy declared war on 10 June 1940 he served as a Flight Lieutenant and flight commander of ‘C’ Flight.

On the 25 September Flt Lt C H Fry, 112 Squadron, arrived on attachment to 80 Squadron. He brought with him 

the very first Hurricane to be delivered to the Middle East.

In September he undertook desert suitability trials on  Hurricane (L1669), which they had picked up at Amiriya.

In November 1940 he took a 112 Squadron flight over to Greece to fly with 80 Squadron, but the 

following month returned to Egypt for Wavell's offensive there.

On 4 December he led four 112 Squadron Gladiators from Egypt to Greece, to join 80 Squadron on detachment.

Late in December the whole 112 Squadron moved to Greece to operate over the Albanian frontier, and here 

he saw his first sustained aerial action, claiming four victories during February and March 1941

Hurricane Mark I, L1669, at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Martlesham Heath, Suffolk,

 in 1939, shortly before being shipped to Sudan for tropical trials. L1669 was the first Hurricane to be fitted with 

a tropical air filter and after evaluation by No. 80 Squadron RAF, flew operationally with No. 274 Squadron RAF 

in Egypt, with whom it became known as “Collie’s battleship”. It finally crashed on undershooting a landing at 

Amerya Egypt on 30 September 1940.

On 16 May 112 Squadron was preparing to put its two 80 Squadron Hurricanes into use at Heraklion, but only 

three pilots had previously flown the type, and only Flight Lieutenant Fry had any real experience. Crete was hardly 

the ideal place to undertake operational training, but most pilots managed to get at least one flight between raids. 

When yet another strafing attack by Bf110s approached – this time undertaken by thirty aircraft of I and II/ZG 26 

– both Hurricanes and three Gladiators were ordered off. Fry in Hurricane V7857 managed to bounce eight 

Bf110s at 6000 feet and hit Unteroffizier Erhard Witzke’s 3U+SM of 4 staffel. Unfortunately for him, as he broke 

away Witzke’s gunner, Feldwebel Karl Reinhardt, got an accurate burst of fire into the Hurricane’s engine and 

it streamed glycol. Fry was forced to bale out. Struck a glancing blow by the tailplane as he did so, he landed

three miles from the airfield with a badly bruised chest and some broken ribs, which hospitalized him and led to 

his capture. Meanwhile Witzke’s Bf110 was forced to ditch as he struggled to get back to Argos, when the 

damaged port engine failed. Rescued from the sea by a Crete fishing boat, the crew was brought back to 

Crete where they were hospitalized.
The second Hurricane had come under attack by other Bf110s, and force-landed after sustaining damage, 

but Bofors gunners of 7th Australian Light AA Battery hit U8+MK of 2 Staffel, this aircraft crashing into the sea 

with the loss of Unteroffizier Erwin Bauer and Gefreiter Karl-Heinz Heldmann.

Because of his wounds Fry was not able to escape when the island fell to the Germans a few days later, and 

he spent the rest of the war as a POW , victories 5, Distinguished Flying Cross (Greece) - 

awarded as per London Gazette dated 29 December 1942.

After release from the POW camp he applied for a Permanent Commission, but this was not granted, as he was 

now too old for his rank, still being an Acting Flight Lieutenant, as he had started the war, no promotion having 

been made whilst he was in prison camp.

Discharged in December 1945, he purchased a cattle and grain property in Queensland, struggling against 

the elements until 1957, when he sold it. He then became involved in the purchase of commercial real estate 

on the Queensland Gold Coast until his retirement in 1973.

London Gazette 35254, 22 August 1941 page 10 of 78

Distinguished Flying Cross.

Flight Lieutenant Charles Horace FRY (40047), No. 112 Squadron.

FRY, Charles Horace, F/L, DFC (40047) - Distinguished Flying Cross (Greece) - awarded as per 

London Gazette dated 29 December 1942

AS IT HAPPENED

BY

CHARLES FRY

FROM BIGGIN HILL TO NORTH AFRICA AND THE MED

During my stay at Biggin Hill, I was involved in flying calibration patterns and other flying

activities related to the (then) secret trials for Radio Direction Finding (RDF) as it was

known. The trials were, in fact, the beginnings of what was later named Radio Direction

Finding and Ranging (RADAR). At that time, there were only three RDF stations in the

UK.

My experiences with RDF/RADAR took me, at a later stage, to an informal dinner in Cairo

with two RAF Air Marshals.

Air Marshal “Ginger Mitch” Mitchell was handing over Middle East Command to Air

Marshal Longmore, just before war was declared in 1939. They were my hosts, and

although I enjoyed being wined and dined, I wondered what diabolical plans they had for

me.

As we relaxed with port and cigars, all became clear. Almost in unison they said “What

are these trials you’ve been involved in at Biggin Hill”?

“RDF trials, Sir”.

“What the Hell is RDF”?

The trials I had been carrying out were so secret that neither of those gentlemen had

heard of RDF because details in those days were available only on a “need to know”

basis.

RADAR, which has become commonplace in war and peace, was kept close to the British

chest in those days, and I feel honoured to have taken a part, small though it may be, in

the embryo stages of such an important development.

On Crete, our squadron was equipped with 15 Gloster Gladiators which we had flown in

Egypt, Libya,and Greece. Ours was the last RAF squadron in World War 2 to use

biplanes as front-line fighters.

We inherited two Hurricane 2 (C) aeroplanes, gifted to us following the fall of Greece.

One of those became mine. The pilot of the other one just disappeared one day, so I had

a very proprietary attitude to our sole Hurricane. (Hurricane V7857 from 33 Sqdn)

At that time, Crete was being subjected to Stuka attacks and the sky was often thick with

Messerschmitts. On a fateful day in May 1941, they appeared again in the very early

morning, followed by JU88s Dornier 17s and Ju52s. Crete was subjected to a great

softening-up before the troop-carrying gliders came on the scene. The sky also turned

white with the canopies of German parachutists. The tide of our war had turned.

My Hurricane lay in ruins after I was shot down, but I survived, only to be taken prisoner.

So I spent the next four years in Germany as the “guest” of the Third Reich.

(16/05/41 Unteroffizier Erhard Witzke’s 3U+SM of 4 staffel. Unfortunately for him, as he broke away 

Witzke’s gunner, Feldwebel Karl Reinhardt, got an accurate burst of fire into the Hurricane’s engine, Fry

badly damaged his ribs when he bailed out by  striking the tail plane he was hospitalized and captured)

Hello 

I am Patricia (Pat Martin) eldest daughter of Flt. Lt. Charles Horace FRY who was one of the pilots on board HMS ARGUS leaving UK for Egypt in 1939. He holds both the Greek and British Distinguished Flying Cross and a member of the Caterpillar Club My Dad is nearly 93 - he has just had his first heart attack and is now in Rockhampton Base Hospital Queensland Australia. We hope he will survive this episode. Up until last Sunday night, he was a healthy active man who has never lost his love of flying. I was on the internet finding some of the info about him and saw your email address and thought you might like to know about him. I have some photos and other info I will send to you at a later date as we are going up to the hospital to see him now. I also have a letter from Joe Fraser to Beryl Smith - my Dad's fiancée who later after the war became my Mum. There is a letter from Tom Magner to my Dad's father. I will type them out later and send them to you. Do you have an address I could post letters to. If possible, would you be able to find Patricia Molloy, daughter of Joe Fraser, it would be quite wonderful to meet up with her. John and I own an aircraft - a Piper Cherokee 140 (45 years old) I am the pilot and belong to the Australian Womens' Pilot Association. John is a former RAAF Helicopter Air Frame Eng. with 9 Sqdn inh Vietnam. So we are a flying family too. We will be in the UK around May next year. We have our motorhome stored at a friends place in Seale, near Guildford. I would be good if we could me up with you or someone and talk aeroplanes again, again, again. Please keep in contact with us.

His logbook did not survive. According to Joe Frasers letter, all their belongings were left in Greece when they had to leave for Crete.  I have is log book from Point Cook - RAAF flying training in Victoria.  It goes from 28.7.36 to 17.9.37.  They left for England July 1937.  The last 8 entries, I think are from Leuches in Scotland, just after that he was on the Argus heading for Egypt, supposedly to join the Fleet Air Arm, but then 112 Sqdn was reformed on the Argus at sea.  That must be the one and only time a squadron was formed on the deck of an aircraft carrier at sea.  A note at the bottom of this log book, in his had writing, must have been recorded after the war - 'new log book issued lost on Crete' 

Regards Pat Martin.

**********************************************

Gardener, Keith Ronald, Flying Officer, 103554  RAFVR, RAF 112 Squadron service from 12 July 1942 to 26 Kittyhawk 

Mk. III FR263/ GA X, Son of Frederick and Christina Louisa Gardener, of Muswell Hill, Middlesex.

Keith 1942                                               Keith R Gardner

Following from : http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/italy_zemella.htm

At around 09:00 in the morning on 26 October seven MC.202s of the 9^o and 10^o Gruppi (Tenente Giulio Reiner (leader), Tenente Vittorio Squarcia (73^a Squadriglia), Sottotenente Giorgio Bertolaso (91^a Squadriglia), Sergente Maggiore Alessandro Bladelli, Sergente Ferruccio Terrabujo (91^a Squadriglia), Sottotenente Vittorino Daffara (97^a Squadriglia) and Sergente Maggiore Amleto Monterumici (90^a Squadriglia)) took off to intercept a reportedly eighteen Bostons, escorted by thirty P-40s and ten Spitfires, heading to bomb Fuka. A few minutes earlier, at 08:50, twelve MC.202s of the 23^o Gruppo, 3^o Stormo, (four from the 70^a Squadriglia, three of the 74^a Squadriglia and five of the 75^a Squadriglia) led by Capitano Mario Pinna (CO of the 75^a Squadriglia) had taken off from Abu Aggag for a patrol mission (one of the aircraft was flown by Sottotenente Franco Bordoni-Bisleri of the 83^a Squadriglia, 18^o Gruppo).
Both Italian formations spotted the enemy bombers at the same time and the attack of the 4^o Stormo and the 23^o Gruppo made the bombers aiming inaccurate, so most of the bombs fell out of the target. Daffara claimed the left wingman of the head formation of Bostons, and damaged two more. Reiner strafed the bomber leader, which began to slip out of formation sideways. He then climbed and found a Spitfire in front of him, fired and hitting it. The Spitfire exploded when hitting the ground 20 kilometres south-east Fuka. Another Spitfire was claimed as a probable by Bertolaso, who also damaged two Bostons. Squarcia, after having damaged several Bostons and a P-40, pursued another Curtiss together with pilots of the 23^o Gruppo, and forced it to make a wheels-up landing south of El Daba (the pilot, Sergeant Emy Meredith, was subsequently rescued by the same Squarcia together with Maggiore Simeone Marsan in the Stormo's Fiesler Storch). Bladelli damaged four Bostons and a P-40, but was hit and had to made an emergency landing at Fuka. Another P-40, shared by many, was seen to explode when hitting the ground. Monterumici, after having fired at the bombers, was hit by three rounds from a P-40; one stopped against the head armour, one hit the armoured windshield and one destroyed the instrument panel. Monterumici recalled:

"A sharp overturn when my armoured windshield explode, whose splinters injured my face. Meanwhile, the canopy exploded too and I, while slowing down a bit to take breath, was attacked by five or six P-46 [Note: in the reports of the time, "P-46" probably meant the P-40F], that were firing at me from everywhere. Pieces of the rudder and of the right wing flew off, many bullets hit the fuselage. To escape, I decent to the ground until my propeller touched the ground. Then I shut off the engine, but the aircraft at 700 km per hour seemed to never end to skim over the desert; I'll never forget that endless run [...]"

Monterumici was rescued same day around 18:00 by a companion that was patrolling on a motorcycle, after being missed by an Italian Storch (probably that one of Squarcia).
From the 23^o Gruppo formation Bordoni-Bisleri claimed one of the fighters, which crash-landed about 15 km south-east of Fuka and Pinna claimed one probable Boston and a damaged fighter while Sergente Antonio Franciosi claimed a probable Kittyhawk and two damaged Bostons. Sergente Maurizio Mandolesi damaged two fighters and two bombers and all of the Gruppo's pilots damaged twelve aircraft. Sergente Maggiore Zemella jumped and parachuted in the El Quteifiya area due to an engine failure. According to some sources Bordoni-Bisleri’s victim was Sergeant J. G. Meredith of 344 Squadron (i.e. the same pilot as was claimed by Squarcia).
It is possible that the Allied fighters were those of 2 Squadron SAAF, whose Flight Lieutenant Pearson claimed a "Bf109", Flying Officer Burlus claimed a MC.202, Pilot Officer Blignault claimed a probable "Bf109", Pilot Officer Allen-White and Pilot Officer Lowens damaged respectively a "Bf109" and a MC.202. It is also possible that 260 Squadron RAF encountered the Italian fighters of the 23^o Gruppo and Pilot Officer Aitchison and Meredith claimed a shared MC.202.
Meredith was taken to Fuka but the same evening the 4^o Stormo was obliged to hand him over to the Germans by an order coming directly from the HQ.
The Luftwaffe claimed only two planes in these combats (one Kittyhawk each by Unteroffizier Erich Krainik of III/JG 27 and Leutnant Jürgen Harder of III/JG 53).
The Desert Air Force reported a general attack in the Fuka and Daba areas conducted by twenty-four Kittyhawks of 260 Squadron and 2 SAAF covering twelve Bostons and six Baltimores bound for Fuka while twelve Kittyhawks of 112 Squadron escorted bombers. Ten Hurricanes of 274 Squadron covered by others of 127 Squadron, six Kittyhawks of 450 Squadron and seventeen Spitfires of 92 and 601 Squadron were also up, the Spitfire doing a “delousing” sweep. These large formations reported widespread combat with enemy fighters and while no bombers were reported lost five fighters failed to return, one Hurricane of 274 Squadron (Flying Officer Graves MIA), two Kittyhawks of 112 Squadron (Pilot Officer Wright wounded and 21-year-old Flying Officer Keith Ronald Gardener (RAF No. 103554) KIA), and two Kittyhawks of 260 Squadron (Flying Officer Meredith POW and 22-year-old Pilot Officer Charles Edwin Ody (RAF No. 135396) KIA). The RAF claimed eight Bf109s (in fact only a Messerschmitt and one Macchis were lost).

Following details from Buz:

12 Jun 42 - PltOff Gardner along with Flg Off Milne, SGT Ibbotson and Flt Lt Lee all join the Squadron. 

He would have gone to 239Wg TF for further training before joining the Unit for Operations.

20th Jun - First Operation with Sqdn - Undertook a Fighter Sweep flying AK890 - Coded GA-M

24th Jun - Bomber Escort - AK705 - Codes Unknown

25th Jun - Bomber Escort - AK909 - Codes unknown (AK909, according to the report the aircraft was to take off as part of formation heading to LG106 whilst dark.    Aircraft swung on take off and Collided with another taxing  aircraft at LG102. 26 Jun 1942 (Aircraft had been on strength for approx 1 month at the time of the accident) ( J. A. Milne broke his spine in this aircraft, he survived and I spoke to him on the phone, he was living in Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada at the time.)

26th Jun - Bombing and TACR sortie - AK667 - Coded GA-L

26th Jun - Bombing Sortie - AK705 - Codes unknown

26th Jun - Escort Sortie - AK677 - Coded GA-G

1st Jul - Bomber Escort - ET510 - Coded GA-?

6th Jul - Escort to Tank Buster - AL108 - codes Unknown

7th Jul - Bombing Sortie - AK892 - Coded GA-T

9th Jul - Escort to 250Sqdn and Bombing - ET1024 - Coded GA-L

10th Jul - unknown - AK583 - Codes Unknown (Robs' notes GA H later X) )

14th Jul - Attack on MT - AK832 - Codes Unknown (Robs' notes GA-B)

15th Jul - Attack on MT - AK832 - Codes unknown (Robs' notes GA-B)

21st Jul - Armed Recce of Battle area - ET515 - Coded GA-Y

22nd Jul - Bombing Sortie - ET515 - Coded GA-Y

22nd Jul - Bombing Sortie - ET515 - Coded GA-Y

23rd Jul - Armed Recce - AK995 - Coded GA-D

27th Jul - Bombing over El Alemein battle area - ET515 - coded GA-Y

31st Jul - Bombing raid on Panzer HQ - ET902 - Coded GA-G

22 Aug - Armed Recce - ET515 - Coded GA-Y

25th Aug - Armed Recce - ET515 - Coded GA-Y

28th Aug - Armed Recce - AK882 - Coded GA-H

2nd Sep - Bomer Escort - EV162 - Coded GA-V

3rd Sep - Bomber Escort - AK960 - Coded GA-J

4th Sep - Bomber Escort - EV162 - Coded GA-V

Promoted to Flying Officer - between 4th and 11th Sep

11th Sep - Interception Patrol - AK716 - Codes Unknown

29th Sep - Offensive Sweep - ET919 - Coded GA-T (Robs' notes, Wrecked when crash landed at El Imayed following flak damage Oct 7, 1942.)

30th Sep - Bombing Sortie - AK847 - Coded GA-V

1st Oct - Squadron Patrol - AK847 - Coded GA-V

6th Oct - Armed Recce - EV168 - Coded GA-V

9th Oct - Bombing sortie - EV339 - Coded GA-A named Sally V" (Plane went  Missing near Mersa Matruh during delivery flight Apr 4, 1943)

10th Oct - Recce - EV360 - Coded GA-F named "Blonde Bombshell" (Robs' notes, Blonde Bombshell with an angel painted under the cockpit for another pilots' girlfriend Manon of Ottawa, 36614 to RAF as EV360. Shot down by flak off Bomba Nov 13, 1942)

18th Oct - Bomber Escort - Aircraft serial unknown

20th Oct - Bomber Escort - FR293 - Coded GA-? (Robs' notes, Plane usually flown by Sqdn Ldr Drake)

25th Oct - Bomber Escort - FR215 - coded GA-V (Robs' notes; Flown By Howard Phillips 31/10/42 when forced to return to base with raising temperature and falling oil pressure asked by Drake if he damaged the plane he said no Drake replied "Have a Beer", 42-45819 to RAF as Kittyhawk III FR215 Jul 1942. SOC Apr 21, 1944)

26th Oct - Bomber Escort to North battle area - Aircraft FR263 coded GA-X FlgOff Gardner 

and FR279 coded GA-J PltOff Wright reported missing on this sortie. 

CO lead sortie at 0900hrs when formation jumped by 2 x Bf109's.

***************************************************

Capt Geoffrey William Garton, 67034, RAF, Commanded "B" Sqn sometime in 1942, 43, 73, 250 

& 112Sq, 239 Wing, 232 & 87Sqn victories 7.83, flew  Hurricane's with No 43 Squadron during the Battle 

of Britain. He was later to become a Wing Commander and was awarded the D.S.O. and the D.F.C.

Wartime Rank: Group Captain
Awards: DFC, DSO

Lieutenant H. H. Geraty, SAAF no. 47478V

Second Lieutenant Geraty served in 112 RAF Squadron from 27 September 1940 to 19 November 1940 before 

being posted to 3 SAAF Squadron to take part in the campaign in East Africa.

Plt Off A. J. Goar, 75723, RAFVR, Intelligence Officer 7/4/40 to 3/8/40

Photo supplied by Patricia Molloy daughter of J. F. Fraser

Plt Off E. D. Gosschalk, 75940, RAF Engineer Officer worked out of Stores, 2/3/40 to 3/11/41

Photo supplied by Patricia Molloy daughter of J. F. Fraser

Note no Pilot Wings on his tunic.

EQUIPMENT BRANCH.

Fig. Off. E. D. GOSSCHALK (75940) is transfd. to

the Admin, and Spec. Duties Br. 17th Dec. 1942. London Gazette, 35837

Flying Officer Anthony Gray-Worcester, 33338, RAF, 16/5/39 to 18/7/1940, KIA

Photo supplied by Patricia Molloy daughter of J. F. Fraser

On 7 July, Flight Lieutenant Green led an attack ( while with 73 Sqdn) on Gambut airfield, but as he was leading his section of four back to base, he was attacked by Italian fighters and shot down in flames in Hurricane Z4173. He managed to gain sufficient height to bale out over enemy territory.
He managed to remain free for seven days, during which time he befriended a Bedouin, who was herding camels. However, Leutnant Paul von Metternick, who was out shooting desert hares with his rifleman, then caught him.

He was held in Derna, Athens and Salonika, reaching Dulag Luft in Germany in August 1941.
He escaped from the hospital here, but was recaptured after a week of freedom.

After being held for nearly one year in Oflag VIB, Warburg, and then in Oflag 21 B at Schubin, Poland, until March 1943, when he was transferred to Stalag Luft III, Sagan.

In January 1945 the camp was evacuated ahead of the advancing Soviet army, and after a long trek Luckenwalde, 30 kilometres south of Berlin, was reached.
In April the camp was overrun by a Soviet tank division, and in early May he escaped from Soviet troops guarding the camp, who were proving hostile, and reached US forces at Magdeburg.
From here he was flown to Brussels, arriving back in England on 9 May 1945.

Here he was confirmed as a Squadron Leader with effect from August 1944

In 1999 he had an autobiography published, entitled Mezze; Little bites of flying, living and golfing (Ryan Publishing).

Wing Commander Robert H. M. Gibbes, 112, 3 RAAF, 450, Victories: 10.25, Awards: DFC 

& Bar, DSO

Ottawa, April 9, 1943 —(CP)— F/O John Garn Wright, of Ottawa, who deserted his studies to enter the R.C.A.F. in December, 1940, has put in 115 hours of operational flying in the desert since being posted to the Middle East last year, said a story from Cairo released last night by Air Force headquarters.
Wright has chalked up a record of two enemy aircraft destroyed and one probable, said the story, by F/L Kenneth MacGillivray, R.C.A.F., public relations officer in the Western Desert. Both the planes he destroyed were ME109's. The young Ottawan had a narrow escape in one of the scraps. Immediately after shooting down the ME109 behind its own lines, he was hit by enemy ack-ack, and his engine quit while he was at only 400 feet. The British lines, however, were not far away, and Wright managed a successful crash-landing among the troops. He struck his head on a projection in his cockpit and suffered a gash requiring four stitches.
Is Hit in Return
He bagged his other "destroyed" when about to bomb an enemy drome. Spotting two Hun fighters, the pilots jettisoned their bombs and went into the attack, Wright shooting down one of the Messerschmitts. His "probable" was a German aircraft rarely encountered in the Middle East — an ME210 [confimed after the war -ed] — which he set on fire after a battle in and out of cloud. The Hun's tail-gunner obtained hits in Wright's tail-plane, but no controls were damaged.
Another R.C.A.F. graduate who left school for the air is F/S Herbert Snelgrove, of Toronto, who is also flying in the desert, after a short time in England. His operational hours now total 75, and he has come unscathed through aerial encounters with ME109's, JU88's and Macchi 202's.
The operational career of P/O Rae D. Guess — known on the squadron as "The Goose"— of Westmount, Que., was delayed by a term of ferrying aeroplanes across Africa and a resultant bout of malaria.
He has just finished his first three "ops," on the first of which he was attacked by an ME109, but shook it off.

CANADIANS HAVE EDGE ON ENEMY
Flyers From Dominion Mark Up Many Successes Over Africa

Ottawa, April 9, 1943 —(CP)— Canadian flyers are scoring successes against enemy planes and shipping as they fly on daily operations with the famous R.A.F. Shark Squadron in the Middle East, the R.C.A.F.'s public relations officer in the Western Desert —Flight-Lieut. Kenneth MacGillivray— reported today.
"Flight-Sgt. Albert Shaw, of Riverside, Ont., shared a Messerschmitt 109 with another pilot a few weeks ago," he said. "In recent bombing attacks Flight-Sgt. John MacAuley, of Scotstown, Que.; Flight-Sgt. Lyall Shaver, of Avonmore, Ont., and Flight-Sgt. Herbert Snelgrove, of Toronto, scored possible hits on shipping."
MacAuley's combat score stands at one destroyed and Shaver's at one and one-half.
Other Canadians in the squadron include FO. John Garn Wright, of Ottawa; PO. Ray Guest, of Montreal, and Flight-Sgt. Wilfred Brown, of Virden, Man.

Plt Off Kenneth Craddock Gundry, 81371, RAFVR, 112 Sqn, he may have had previous service 

in No.257 Squadron flying Hurricanes, 30 May 1941, P/O. K. C. GUNDRY posted from 145 

Squadron for duty as flying instructor in 52 OTU

Rob

It is with deep regret I have to inform you of the death of my father in law
on Tuesday the 22nd May 2007 at 1.15am aged 87.
Ted as he was called served in the RAF in the 2nd world war as an 

Armourer and part of the 8th army desert R.A.F. with the 112th Squadron (Shark

Squadron). His serial number was 945862.

We spent many hours talking about the shark squadron and he does have

Photographs of the squadron  whilst in the desert and there is even a

Photograph of him sitting on one of the wings of a plane belonging to 

the shark squadron.

I actually picked up this site on the inter-net and once we have had 

The funeral if I may I will contact you again with more information.

I think Bernie Peters is bottom right. My father is 2/Lt Hanreck - 6th from the right on the 

front row.

Dad was from South Africa but moved to Israel after the war where he was involved in setting up El Al. I think 

he lived in England for a time and then moved to Sydney in the late 60s as a Qantas captain. He was almost 50 

when my sister and I were born and shortly after he took a job with Iran Air so we all moved to the UK. His last 

flight was out of Tehran just after the revolution kicked off in 79 - apparently under threat of being shot down!

He was diagniosed with heart disease soon afterwards and retired to live on a sailboat in southern Spain until he died 

in 1985 aged 61. Sadly I was only 12 at the time and we never really spoke about the war - apparently he didn't like

to. I found a photo album of his time in 112 Squadron, service medals and log books when I was clearing out the loft 

after Mum moved back to Sydney a few years ago. On the first page of the photo album Dad has written 

"Those days..." - I can only guess he was both fond and proud of the time he spent with the squadron.

HARBOTTLE, Ronald Winfred, (Sgt later WO Class II, RCAF, R91806, Canadian, 17/8/42 to 24/8/42, 

became sick and was posted off to No 134 M. U.

( No 134 Maintenance Unit (24 Mar - 1 May 1942, 2 Apr 1943 - 10 Feb 1949) location Iraq) , 

he was from Dummer, Saskatchewan, trained in Portage La Prairie, Yorkton, and Ismalia 

he had no previous operational experience prior to his posting to RAF 112 Squadron.

'They shall not grow old' gives the following entry for WO Class II Ronald
Winfred Harbottle RCAF R/91086
Killed 13 March 1943 134 M.U. Anti Locust Flight
Aircraft K6349 Vickers Vincent crashed between Isfahan and Imeshk,
Persia, during an anti locust flight, Aircraft K6349 was a Vickers Vincent 1. 

It carried 3 Crew, the plane went missing on 13.3.43 but the aircraft was not found 

until June 1943 in the Kardeh Kuh range, Kurdistan

Originally buried in Military Cemetery at Marggil, but later exhumed and
reburied in Basra War Cemetery
Two other aircrew (Not Canadian, and therefore not named) were also killed
Killed on this date and buried in adjacent plots in Basra War Cemetery are:
EDMONDSON, Flight Sergeant (Observer), ALAN DOUGLAS, 1108616. Royal Air
Force Volunteer Reserve. 13th March 1943. Age 26. Son of Rennie and Annie
Edmondson of Nelson, Lancashire. 7. R. 11.
HARBOTTLE, Warrant Officer Class II (Pilot), RONALD WINFRED, R/91806. Royal
Canadian Air Force. 13th March 1943. Age 27. Son of W. A. Harbottle and
Jessie Harbottle of Dummer, Saskatchewan, Canada; husband of Irene Gertrude
Harbottle (nee Hubbard) of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 7. R. 12.
SMILLIE, Leading Aircraftman, ANDREW LANG, 970158. Royal Air Force Volunteer
Reserve. 13th March 1943. Son of James Smillie, and of Jane Smillie of
Glasgow. 7. R. 10.

. 

Photo supplied by Patricia Molloy daughter of J. F. Fraser

The under mentioned Pilot Officers are promoted to the war substantive rank of Flying Officer:

 —  6th Nov. 1940. Arthur Joseph HILL (42004).

Benny De Hond, rigger ?, Wiv a capital ‘H’’ he said. Described himself as ‘An East End Jew boy bookie.’

 He knew everybody, organized everything, made money out of everything, which supplied free booze to everybody 

who wanted to drink it.  His folk were in fact Dutch Jews who did indeed run a Betting organization of some sort. 

Close to Petticoat lane near Liverpool Street station in the East End of London. He set up and ran The Shark Bar 

late 1944 early 1945.

Flt Off Bert Horden,  

Sitting in GA-Z  

This Pilot has written a book Published by Independent Books. ISBN 1 872836 45 3. HB 200 pages with b&w 

photographsabout his time in 112 Sqn

Sergeant  WILLIAM EARL HOUSTON, 402473 , RNZAF, 4/11/41 to 12/12/1941

All information and photos where contributed by Mark Houston a nephew of Bills'

NA Yale at No.6 SFTS ,Dunnville, Ontario,Canada March 31,1941 to June 06 1941

So on the 25th Nov he had his plane (Tomahawk Mk IIB AN439) shot up near Sidi Omar

457 Sqn, England, 1941 (Spitfires)
605 Sqn, Malta, 1941/42 (Hurricanes)
112 Sqn, N.Africa 1942/43 (Kittyhawks)
107 MU, Egypt, 1943/44 (test pilot)
83 Sup Gp, Dunsfold, England, 1945 (Spitfires)

Sergeant David J. HOWE, Hurricane pilot, took off from an aircraft carrier, a flight of Hurricanes 

RAF Hal Far, Malta (1) 12 Nov 1941 - 27 Feb 1942 from: http://www.605squadron.co.uk/Base.htm

Update from his son: 16 July 2005

Rob, I'm most amazed at your dedication to this website and the changes you initiate so quickly. Thanks.

I just spoke with DJ (dad) and he is willing to send me hours and # missions flown while with 112 sqn.  He will 

also send some photos, which I'll scan and email to you.  Consolidating this info with his memoirs and notes in 

various books, I'll be able to provide you with a reasonably accurate synopsis to flesh out this outline:

- origin in Pembroke Ontario and flight training - London & Dunville Ont

- time with Spitfire OTU, Howarden Wales

- posting to 457 Spitfire Sqn

- conversion to Hurricanes and precarious flight off HMS Argus (Nov 1941)

- adventures and hardships in Malta

- combat in Malta & recovery after being shot down,

- quick conversion to Kittyhawks

- 112 Sqn ops (El Amein to ),

Just visited DJ & have some of the official 112 Sqn documents he obtained fm England.  I'll try to scan them 

at work and email them to you.  His first mission was on 24 Oct '42 & the last was 17 Dec '42 when malaria hit.  

Records indicate that he flew missions with both Browns, but usually with DE Brown.

- contracting malaria and subsequent transfer to 107 MOU at Great Bitter Lake in Egypt.

- back to England to fly Spitfires in Dunsfold. (1 May '45)

- back to civilian life as a professional Ontario Land Surveyor

Myself and enthusiasts of 112 Sqn look forward to more on this pilot that author Robin Brown had no 

details on

based there. Seven Hurricanes from 185 Squadron led by Squadron Leader Pike were scrambled to intercept. 

They attacked five Macchis initially (probably the MC.200s), five more then jumping the British fighters 

(probably some of the MC.202s). No firm claims were made by the Hurricane pilots, but it was believed that three 

of the Italian fighters had been damaged. Sergeant Bill Nurse’s Hurricane was badly hit in return.The Italians reported 

fighting twelve Hurricanes and ‘Spitfires’, and claimed two ‘Spitfires’ shot down, one by Sottotenente Jacopo 

Frigerio, Sergente Raffaello Novelli and Sergente Angelo Golino, and one by Sottotenente Giovanni Barcaro and 

Sergente Massimo Salvatore (all of them from 97^a Squadriglia), while two more were claimed as probables. 

Four were claimed destroyed on the ground plus a Blenheim, damage to the latter being credited to Maresciallo 

Damiani. Two Macchis returned damaged.

242 & 605 Squadrons were amalgamated into 185 Squadron in March 1942, It was a difficult time for the island's 

defenders as by the end of February 1942 there were only twenty-one serviceable Hurricanes engaged in limited 

success against Bf 109's and Ju 88's. The situation was greatly relieved when forty-seven Spitfires flew in from the 

carrier USS 'Wasp' on 20 April. After another batch arrived in May, 185 Squadron began to re-equip and by June 

was wholly Spitfires.

84961. P/O. BRITISH. Humphreys, of Lymington, he joined 152 Sqn at Warmwell on 29th 

September 1940. He remained with the Squadron until the spring of 1941. He was posted to 92 Squadron at 

Biggin hill. In November 1941 he flew to middle east in a Sunderland and joined 112 Squadron at Sidi Heneish, as 

a Flight Commander. On April the 24th 1942 he was posted to Fighter school at El Ballah, as an instructor. He 

returned to operations in early 43. when he rejoined 92 Squadron at Castel Benito, as a Flight Commander. He 

destroyed a Bf 109 on the 7th of March. He took command of the Squadron on the 6th of May and led it to 

Malta in June and then on to Sicily and Italy. He was credited with two enemy aircraft destroyed and awarded 

the D.F.C (1.10.43). He was posted away in November 43 and given command of 111 Squadron at Lago, 

Italy in April 44. He returned to the UK in November 44 and was station Commander at RAF Castle Bromwich

in 46 and afterwards served on the staff of HQ 12 Group, Nottingham. On the 11th November 1947 he went as 

a passenger in a Lincoln during fighter affiliation exercises, to observe mock attacks. A Hornet , making a 

head-on attack, misjudged the breakaway and collided with the Lincoln. All in the bomber and the fighter 

were killed. He was cremated at Bournemouth Crematorium. He was 27 years old.

P/O.7.9.40. F/O.7.9.41. F/L.7.9.42 S/L.20.6.45 

Plt Off Duncan E. de la Hoyde, 40517 16/5/39 to 3/11/40

Photo supplied by Patricia Molloy daughter of J. F. Fraser