Air Force Index

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No. 82 Squadron, Royal Air Force    No. 82 Squadron was first formed at Doncaster in 1917 and served as an army co-operation unit on the Western Front flying Armstrong Whitworth FK8 aircraft. It was disbanded in 1919. The squadron reformed at Andover from 'B' Flight of no 142 Squadron in the light bomber role on 14 June 1937, equipped with Hawker Hinds. By the outbreak of war, the squadron had relocated to RAF Watton and had been re-equipped with Blenheim IVs. The Squadron was deployed on anti-shipping missions over the North Sea and against German naval installations.      No. 80 Squadron was formed in 1917 as a fighter Squadron which also specialised in direct attack upon artillery emplacements. It served in France during 1918 and then went to Egypt in 1919, where it was renumbered No. 56 in 1920. In 1937, No. 80 reformed at Kenley as a fighter Squadron equipped with Gauntlets, then Gloster Gladiators. In April 1938 the Squadron moved again to Egypt.   4th Oct 1939 Training 27th February 1940 Bomber lost 27th Feb 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 11th March 1940 U Boat sunk 1st Apr 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 14th May 1940 German shipping attacked 15th May 1940 German troops attacked 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 17th May 1940 Squadron destroyed 22nd May 1940 Shot down 8th Jun 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 8th Jun 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 8th June 1940 Bombers lost 10 June 1940 Defence role 13th Jun 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 13th June 1940 Twelve bombers destroyed 25th June 1940 Training accident 27th Jun 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 27th June 1940 Aircraft lost 27th June 1940  10th Jul 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 29th Jul 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 1st August 1940 Relocated 8th August 1940 Desert dogfight 13th Aug 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 13th Aug 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 13th Aug 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 13th Aug 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 13th Aug 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 13th Aug 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 13th August 1940 Squadron wiped out 1st October 1940 Relocated 29th Oct 1940 Patrols 10th Nov 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 18th November 1940 Move to Greece 19th November 1940 Offensive patrol 27th November 1940  On patrol 28th November 1940 Mid-air collision 2nd December 1940 Reconnaissance aircraft shot down 4th Dec 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 4th December 1940 Dog fight 20th December 1940 Offensive patrol 21st December 1940 Gladiators lost 20th January 1941 Gladiator destroyed 28 January 1941 New bomber encountered 9th February 1941 Gladiators lost 10th February 1941  Airfield bombed 18th February 1941 Hurricanes delivered 20th February 1941 Escort duties 27th February 1941 Deployment to Greece 27th February 1941 Airfield attacked 28th February 1941 Battle over Albania 3rd March 1941 Bombers encountered 4th March 1941 Italian warships attack 12th Mar 1941 Night Ops 24th Mar 1941 Blenheim Lost 31st March 1941 Gladiators replaced 2nd Apr 1941 Blenheim Lost 4th April 1941 Operational Order 2GOO.24 13th Apr 1941 Aircraft Lost 14th April 1941 German aircraft shot down 15th April 1941 Evacuation from Greece 16th April 1941 Battle of Athens 18th April 1941 Relocated 19th April 1941 Evacuation 19th April 1941 Battle of Athens 20th April 1941 Battle of Athens 22nd Apr 1941 Aircraft Lost 23rd April 1941 Bomber shot down 24th April 1941 Evacuation 28th April 1941 Detachment 29th Apr 1941 Aircraft Lost 1st May 1941 Evacuation 3rd May 1941 Prepared for overseas 5th May 1941 Reinforcement in Crete 8th May 1941 Squadron Reassembled 10th May 1941 Aircraft Lost 14th May 1941 Assault 17th May 1941  Depleted 19th May 1941 Defence of Crete 20th May 1941 Escape on foot 21st May 1941 Move to Malta 25th May 1941 Detachment to Haifa 27th May 1941 Blenheim lost over Tunisia 30th May 1941 Operational Order 2GOO.27 June1941 Detachment to Cyprus 3rd June 1941 Blenheim lost 8th June 1941 Invasion plan 11th June 1941 Blenheim shot down 18th June 1941  Squadron moved to Malta 18th June 1941 Blenheim lost at sea 22nd June 1941 Observer takes control 29th June 1941 Blenheim bombed 4th July 1941 Aircraft re-assigned 5th July 1941 Crash 6th July 1941 Port attacked 10th July 1941 Bombing raids 12th Jul 1941 Aircraft Lost 20th July 1941 Relocated 30th Jul 1941 Aircraft Lost 1st August 1941 Blenheim shot down 2nd Aug 1941 Aircraft Lost 12th Aug 1941 82 Squadron Blenheim lost 12th Aug 1941 Aircraft Lost 16th August 1941 Invasion of Iran 20th Aug 1941 Aircraft Lost 26th Aug 1941 Aircraft Lost 27th Aug 1941 Aircraft Lost 16th September 1941 Into Syria 17th Sep 1941 Aircraft Lost 10th October 1941 Back to Palestine 12th Oct 1941 Aircraft Lost 18th Oct 1941 Ops Cancelled 21st October 1941 Western Desert 1st Nov 1941 Operations 5th Dec 1941 Aircraft Lost 7th Dec 1941 Aircraft Lost 23rd December 1941 Move 27th Dec 1941 Aircraft Lost 10th Jan 1942 Aircraft Lost 14th Jan 1942 Aircraft Lost 15th Jan 1942 Aircraft Lost 14th March 1942 Disbanded and reformed 21st March 1942 Dive-bombers June 1943 Back to operations 25th February 1944  July 1944 Re-equipped May 1945  May 1945 Prepared for Malaya September 1945  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. 82 Squadron, Royal Air Force during the Second World War 1939-1945. Bareham DFM. Harold John William. Sgt. Bowles . F/Lt. Cash Eric Laurence. (d.20th Aug 1941) Chandler DFM Eric. Chester Hurll Fontayne. Sqd.Ldr. (d.2nd July 1940) Dance Vivien John. Sgt. Histon Herbert. Sgt. (d.2nd July 1940) Holland Norman Alexandra. Littlewood Eric John. Flt.Sgt. Martin Ernest G.. Sgt. (d.30th July 1941) McAllister Robert James. Sgt. (d.2nd July 1940) McConnell Robert James. F/Lt. Park Alec. Flt.Sgt. (d.21st October 1941) Pascoe Stan. Pascoe Stan. F/Sgt Philpott John Bernard. Sargeant (d.8th Sep 1940) Sargent DFM. James Samuel. Sgt. Watkins DSO . 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. 82 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. 82 Squadron, Royal Air Force? There are:2139 items tagged No. 82 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. Eric Laurence Cash 82 Sqd. (d.20th Aug 1941) Our Observer, Laurie Cash died of wounds when we crash landed near Acklington, Northumberland. I live in Australia just South of Brisbane in Queensland, and have just passed my 91st birthday. If anyone seeing this maybe remembers us, I would love to hear from them. Stan Pascoe Add to this record. F/Sgt Stan Pascoe 82 Squadron This is a photo of Pilot Officer Dennis Gibbs and myself, F/Sgt Stan Pascoe after we returned to Bodney airfield after the raid on power stations near Cologne in 1941. Losses were 12 aircraft out of 56. Our Observer, Laurie Cash died of wounds when we crash landed near Acklington, Northumberland. Dennis eventually became Administrator of the Island of Montserrat and passed away suffering a brain haemorrhage. I live in Australia just South of Brisbane in Queensland, and have just passed my 91st birthday. If anyone seeing this maybe remembers us, I would love to hear from them. A picture at the time may help my fading memory. Stan Pascoe Add to this record. Stan Pascoe 82 Squadron I am a survivor of a Blenheim V6445 which crash landed in Northumberland 20th August 1941. My Pilot was F/Lt Dennis Gibbs and our Observer was Laurie Cash. The aircraft was damaged during an attack on shipping and the Observer was seriously wounded bearing the brunt of the nose damage that occurred. Dennis Gibbs and I went on to continue our operational flying until I was admitted into Ely Hospital with suspect lung damage. I was grounded for a number of months, the Squadron moved on to the Far East and Dennis survived to become an Administrator of Montserrat. He died from a brain haemorrhage in 1985. I am now 91 and reasonably fit. I would like to hear from anyone who may remember us from those days at RAF Bodney. Stan Pascoe Add to this record. Sgt. Harold John William "Bish" Bareham DFM. 82 Squadron Harold Bareham was commonly called Jack to his family and friends but "Bish" to his R.A.F. friends at Watton, he was my Father. He joined the R.A.F. as an apprentice in 1930 and was a Navigator for the Earl of Bandon, with 82 Squadron serving out of R.A.F. Watton at outbreak of WWII in 1939. Having survived the heaviest losses where twice the whole squadron was lost. Once he had to turn back because of fuel guage problems and the second time he made it back having the whole perspex front blown off and all maps and charts lost. He left 82 Squadron in July 1940 being one of only 3 crew remaining who were there on 3rd September 1939. He was awarded the DFM for two citations earned at R.A.F. Watton as a Sergent Navigator. Subsequently in 1941 Jack converted to Pilot and got his Wings having done a quick conversion on of all aircraft, The Blenheim! He then went on to fly Mosquitoes on the Ball-Bearing businessman run up to Scandinavia. Then in 1941 he volunteered to go back onto Ops and was transferred to Squadron 162 flying Hampdens. He was shot down over Rotterdam in January 1942 after losing his tail and rear-gunner to flack! Ordering a bailout, the Naviator ended up in the sea and was drowned, the second pilot landed on the beach and Jack hit a house the town and slid down the snow on the rooftop and ended up in a snow drift. His war was over. He spent 3.5 years in Stalag III and was a digger of the tunels in the Great Escape. Whilst he suffered 2 cave-ins during this process, he was numbered in the 200 due to escape, I believe number 143 or 147? After the cave-ins he was put in charge of "Soil distribution in the gardens" and a keen horticulturalist, the internees grew much produce under his stewardship! He was instrumental in getting the first operational radio set operational in the camp and was responsible for semaphoring the "News from London" to the American Camp next door. Later they used an unscrewable cricket ball which he threw to a Mr Cody from California, as he had arrived at Stalag III at roughly the same time and they had made friends. Jack spent time in the camp building a clock out of gramophone needles and cocoa tins! It took 18 months to build and kept better time than officer's Rolexes which they ordered and had delivered from Swizerland! The movement took 8 hours to wind down, and was wound up at lights out at 10pm and rewound before stopping at Revallie! The weights were coffee tins and the pendulum a potato! It kept time within a minute every 3 weeks. it struck every hour on a bell from a pushbike! designed and built from tins and needles. The balanstaf was made from half a razorblade. On its first performance on Christmas Day 1943, the apparatus was suspended between two tables and it made its first continuous "tick-tock" to raputuous applause and thumping on the tabletop! Whereupon the whole thing colapsed into a heap of pieces and another 2 weeks work to reassemble for it to chime in the New Year on January 1st 1944. When leaving the camp on the forced march in Febuary 1945, Jack was asked if he was taking his clock? He said to friends and collegues that a tin of Bully Beef was worth more to carry than an old clock! So it was wound up for the last time. Everyone in Jack's hut checked their Rolexes (If they had them) Saluted the clock and closed the door behind them. It was left for the Russians who liberated the camp to make of it as they would!? Jack decided on the forced march, that whilst others might take tins of food with them from Red Cross Parcels, Jack would take little food but many tins of coffee and cigarettes with which he could trade for food and which were light on the sledge. It was February 1945 and the snow was thick on the ground. Carrying too much weight was a problem. Warm clothes were a must and Jack made a sledge from the back of a chair (as depicted in his painting) which was towed behind them. This Jack stacked high with coffee and cigarettes as useful currency at the time. When arriving at a chateau from where they were liberated, a truck overtook them on the approach road to the castle, loaded with swedes. One fell off the back of the truck and was snapped up by a POW. That fellow POW was billetted with Jack and shared bunk beds, Jack on top. This POW shared the raw swede with Jack and both agreed it was the best food ever. That fellow POW who pocketed the swede that fell off the back of the lorry, was no other than Anthony Barber, the now Late Sir Anthony Barber, who became the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 1970s. After the war, Jack trained on Spitfires and then Vampires and Meteors, serving in UK and Germany. He rose to rank of Squadron Leader before retiring from the R.A.F. in 1953. He then joined B.O.A.C. in 1954, now British Airways as a Pilot Instructor. Firstly on Link Traniners, then Boeing 707 436s, then V.C.10s then back to Boeing 707 336s until his retirement in 1979 after 24 years service. He died on 15th May 1992 aged 78 years, leaving a wife, a son, two daughters and three grandchildren. I enclose a picture of the three surviving crew from one of the missions that suffered the worst mission casualty record of any R.A.F. Squadron during WWII having lost the whole squadron nearly twice over, and Jack's crew being the only crew to survive from beginning of WWII to July 1940. I am in the process of putting together all documentation and his first hand recollections as well as stories he told both to my late mother and myself, regarding his life's work. I will make available a copy for anyone who wants it for historical research purposes only and not for commercial gain whatsoever! There is much more than written here. However, in the late 1980s and 90s there was a museum set up at R.A.F. Watton to which my father contributed a substantial amount of memorabelia and photographs. The Museum closed in 1997/8 and since then I've not been able to trace the whereabouts of all the contents of the Museum. I believe a Mr Julian someone or other was running it, but what happened to him or the contents of the Museum including R.A.F. Watton's Role of Honour Wall-board, where my father's name and his D.F.M. are recorded, remains a mystery!! Julien Bareham Add to this record. Sgt. Robert James McAllister 82 Squadron (d.2nd July 1940) Sergeant (Wireless Operator) Robert McAllister was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth McAllister. He was aged 27 and is buried in the Heerhugowaard (Veenhuizen) Churchyard, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. S Flynn Add to this record. Sgt. Herbert Histon 82 Squadron (d.2nd July 1940) Sergeant (Observer) Herbert Histon was the husband of Betty G. Histon of Barrowden, Rutland. He is buried in the Heerhugowaard (Veenhuizen) Churchyard, Noor-Holland, Netherlands. S Flynn Add to this record. Sqd.Ldr. Hurll Fontayne Chester 82 Squadron (d.2nd July 1940) Squadron Leader (Pilot) Hurll Chester was the son of Mr and Mrs Richard Chester of Falmouth, Cornwall. He is buried in the Heerhugowaard (Veenhuizen) Churchyard, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. S Flynn Add to this record. F/Lt. Bowles 82 Squadron Flight Lieutenant Bowles served with 82 Squadron. I am looking for his full name and number, also details of the following airmen from 82 Squadron in the March 1941 period: Sgt. A. Tucker (RAF/RAFVR) probably an Air Gunner, Pilot Officer Duffin (RAF/RAFVR) 2nd Pilot or Navigator, Sgt. Evans (RAF/RAFVR) most probably an Air Gunner. Any information or pictures would be most welcomed. Am also looking for pictures of the following airmen: P/O Peter John Higgins (RAFVR 85288) Sgt. Leslie Howard Wrightson (RAF 580332) Any picture from 82 Squadron (airmen and machines) in March 1941 would be most welcomed for a book-project. Adriano Silva Baumgartner Add to this record. Flt.Sgt. Alec Park 82 Sqdn. (d.21st October 1941) Alec Park flew with F/S G P Haines and P/O J H Robinson in Blenheim UXO-A (V5634). The plane was shot down by F W Ederer of 3/JG53 Katwijk aan Zee Holland, around 15.30 during an attack on shipping off the Dutch coast. He was reported as missing. Also shot down on the same mission UXO/O (V6146) P/O B B Barber, P/O H H Pibus, F/S E W Paine. Ian Maddox Add to this record. Sgt. Vivien John "Bunt" Dance 82 Squadron Vivien Dance served with 82 Squadron. Peter Dance Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices.

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