Air Force Index

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No. 42 Squadron Royal Air Force    No 42 Squadron was formed at Filton on 1st April 1916. It served as an artillery support and reconnaissance squadron on the Western Front until, in December 1917, it was sent to the Austrian front in Italy for three months. It returned to France in March 1918 and remained for the remainder of the war. It was disbanded on the 26th June 1919. The Squadron was reformed at Donibristle on 14 December 1936 from 'B' Flight of No 22 Squadron equipped with Vildebeest IIIs and became only one of two torpedo strike units in the UK. After a number of moves the Squadron settled at the new airfield at Thorney Island, but relocated to Bircham Newton on 12 August 1939. After the outbreak of war the squadron was used to fly convoy protection missions off the East Coast Airbases used by 42 Squadron during the war: August 1939-April 1940: Bircham Newton (Vildebeests) April-June 1940: Thorney Island (re-equipped with Bristol Beauforts) June 1940-March 1941: Wick March 1941-June 1942: Leuchars (Disbanded) Aircraft and crews flew under the command of 39 and 47 Squadrons in Egypt whilst en route to Ceylon. October 1942: Ratmalana (Reformed - aircraft arrived from Egypt in December) December 1942: Jalahalli December 1942-March 1943: Yelahanka March-May 1943: Rajyeswarpur May-October 1943: Kumbhirgram October 1943: Yelahanka October-November 1943: Palel November-December 1943: St. Thomas Mount December 1943-May 1944: Palel May-July 1944: Kangla July-November 1944: Tuliha November 1944-January 1945: Kangla January-March 1945: Onbauk March-April 1945: Ondaw April-May 1945: Magwe/Maida Vale May 1945: Chakulia May-June 1945: Dalbumgarh (disbanded) July-December 1945: Meiktila (reformed from 146 Squadron equipped with Republic Thunderbolts)   6th Aug 1939 Training 4th Aug 1939 Course 9th Aug 1939 Posting 12th Aug 1939 Exercise 13th Aug 1939 Detachment 18th Aug 1939 Move 19th Aug 1939 Exercise 20th Aug 1939 Orders 22nd Aug 1939 Hospital 23rd Aug 1939 Recall 26th Aug 1939 Move Complete 27th Aug 1939 Training 28th Aug 1939 Training 1st Sep 1939 Orders 2nd Sep 1939 Mobilisation 4th Sep 1939 Five Blenheims lost; first airmen taken PoW April 1940 On the Move 10th May 1940 Aircraft Lost 5th June 1940 On the Move 21st June 1940  26th June 1940 Shipping strike March 1941 Move from Orkney 12th June 1941  17th May 1942 Attack on cruiser Prinz Eugen 18th June 1942 Squadron Departs July 1942  July 1942 Patrols 26th August 1942 Reorganisation October 1942  26th Oct 1942 Battle of El Alamein December 1942 On the Move 16th March 1943 Operations August 1943 New Aircraft February 1943 On the Move 17th April 1944 Advance Checked 30th June 1945 Squadron disbanded and resurrected 3rd July 1945 Japanese breakout attempted If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Logbooks Do you have a WW2 Flying Log Book in your possession? If so it would be a huge help if you could add logbook entries to our new database. Thank you. View Logbook entries Those known to have served with No. 42 Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War 1939-1945. Birchley Ernest. F/Lt. Butler Murray Anderson. P/O. (d.21st June 1940) Terry DFC. Kenneth Thomas Peart. Sqdn.Ldr. (d.26th Apr 1944) Woodward James Edwin. WO. (d.14th Oct 1941) The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List Records of No. 42 Squadron Royal Air Force from other sources. The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 24 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. 22nd April 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 263973 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible. Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQ's The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates. If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. Want to know more about No. 42 Squadron Royal Air Force? There are:2036 items tagged No. 42 Squadron Royal Air Force available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. F/Lt. Ernest "Birch" Birchley No. 42 Squadron My father, Ernest Birchley was flying Beaufort Bombers and stationed at RAf Leuchars during 1941 and 1942. He was shot down while attacking the Prinz Eugen in 1942 and spent the remainder of the war as a POW in Stalag Luft 3 in Germany. He returned to Brisbane after the war and studied law which he practiced in Innisfail, Queensland until he retired. He married Wendy Irving and had 5 children, 4 boys and a girl. He died in January 1995 and is buried in Innisfail. Add to this record. Sqdn.Ldr. Kenneth Thomas Peart Terry DFC. No. 42 Squadron (d.26th Apr 1944) Kenneth Terry was a member of the famous chocolate family of York and there is a memorial to him in York Minster. He won a DFC while serving at RAF Leuchars with No. 42 Squadron, flying Beauforts. It was awarded as the result of a successful attack on a ship off the coast of Norway in November 1941. He was awarded his DFC while serving at RAF Leuchars with No. 42 Squadron flying Beauforts. At the time of his death, he was the Squadron Leader of No. 547 Squadron. His niece is one of my wife’s clients Chris Howells Add to this record. P/O. Murray Anderson Butler 42 Squadron (d.21st June 1940) Pilot Officer (Navigator) Murray Butler was the son of Floyd Allison Butler and Isabelle Mignonette Butler of Newcastle, Ontario, Canada. He was aged 27 when he died and is buried in the Hajaardemaal Churchyard in Denmark. S Flynn Add to this record. WO. James Edwin Woodward 42 Squadron (d.14th Oct 1941) Jim Woodward was my Auntie Joyce's husband. I have some details but would like to know if anyone still alive, or related, that knew this brave man. My mother, Joyce's sister is 91 next year and was very fond of Jim. She would appreciate any information. Thank you. Carol Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices.

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