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- No. 120 Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War -


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World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

No. 120 Squadron Royal Air Force



 

2nd June 1941 New Squadron created for Liberator convoy escort patrols

7 August 1941 First aircraft arrives

20 September 1941 Operational

4th October 1941  120 Squadron's first action

21st October 1941 U Boat attacked.

22nd December 1941 U-Boats driven off

May 1942 Submarine patrols

12th July 1942 Relocated

13th August 1942 Liberator lost at sea

4th September 1942 Detachment to Iceland

14th September 1942 False alarm

16th September 1942 Intelligence reveals German fleet movements

12th October 1942 U-Boat sunk with all hands

15th October 1942 U-Boat sunk by HMS Viscount

1st November 1942 Heavy convoy losses

8th December 1942 U-Boats sunk

13th December 1942 Conversion to the Flying Fortress

5th February 1943 Convoy attacked

14th February 1943 Squadron relocated

15th February 1943 U-Boat sunk

21st February 1943 Convoy attacked

16th March 1943 Heavy convoy losses

5th April 1943 U-Boat sunk

13th April 1943 Squadron base moved to Iceland

23rd April 1943 U-Boat sunk

18th May 1943 Convoy escapes U-Boat attack unscathed

28th May 1943 U-Boat sunk

24th June 1943 Two U-Boats sunk

19th September 1943 U-Boat attacks in the Atlantic resumed

4th October 1943  U-Boat sunk

8th October 1943 Two U-Boats sunk

16th Oct 1943 Two Aircraft Lost but crews safe

17th Oct 1943 U-Boat Attack

6th March 1944 Aircraft and U-Boat both damaged

23rd March 1944 Move to Ireland

9th June 1944 Submarine attacked

29th April 1945 U-Boat sunk

10th June 1945 Transfers to Transport Command


If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.



Logbooks



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Those known to have served with

No. 120 Squadron Royal Air Force

during the Second World War 1939-1945.

  • Alvey Raymond Henry. Sgt. (d.22nd Nov 1942)
  • Alvey Raymond Henry. Sgt. (d.22nd Nov 1942)

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. 120 Squadron Royal Air Force from other sources.



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Want to know more about No. 120 Squadron Royal Air Force?


There are:2038 items tagged No. 120 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.


Sgt. Raymond Henry "Bill" Alvey 144 Squadron (d.22nd Nov 1942)

Raymond and unknown crew

Raymond and unknown crew

Raymond Alvey was my mother's brother. He served in Coastal Command, firstly with 120 Sqn, then with 489 Sqn and finally (and very briefly) with 144 Sqn. His final flight, on 22 November 1942, left RAF Wick for a nuisance bombing raid over the coast of Norway north of Stavanger. Their Hampden was shot down on Karmoy Island. All four crew were killed.

  • The pilot was Sqn Ldr John Hird,
  • the navigator/bomb aimer was Sgt Davidson Hepplewhite,
  • and the wireless operator/air gunners were Sgt Robert Coles and my uncle.

Raymond Alvey wrote detailed diaries of his three years of service. I also have his father's correspondence with the Air Ministry and Red Cross when he was trying to find out what had happened and where Raymond and the other crew members might have been buried. (It seems likely that they were buried at sea by the Germans). There is a commemorative plaque near the site of the crash and the crew are also commemorated at Runnymede.

I am intending to write a biography of my uncle, based on the above sources, operations record books etc, and would be pleased to receive any information that might be relevant. I would particularly like to hear from descendants of the other crew members, and from those who might have served in 144 squadron at RAF Leuchars in November 1942, or in 489 squadron earlier that year.

David Venner



Sgt. Raymond Henry Alvey 144 Sqdn. (d.22nd Nov 1942)

Raymond Alvey was my mother's younger brother. He was in the RAF Volunteer Reserve and was called up in September 1939. He served in Coastal Command with 120, 489 and 144 squadrons as a wireless operator/air gunner. He was on an operation over the Norwegian coast in a Handley Page Hampden, when he was shot down and reported 'missing believed killed in action'. Raymond's father (my grandfather) George Alvey spent a lot of time trying to find out the details but to no avail. Later research suggests that his body was probably recovered by the Germans and buried at sea, although this is not confirmed. Raymond's fellow crew members were Sqn Ldr John Richard Darbyshire Hird, Sgt Davidson William Hepplewhite and Sgt Robert John Coles.

Raymond wrote detailed diaries of his three years of service. I also have his father's correspondence with the Air Ministry and Red Cross when he was trying to find out what had happened and where Raymond and the other crew members might have been buried. (It seems likely that they were buried at sea by the Germans). There is a commemorative plaque near the site of the crash and the crew are also commemorated at Runnymede.

I am intending to write a biography of my uncle, based on the above sources, operations record books etc, and would be pleased to receive any information that might be relevant. I would particularly like to hear from descendants of the other crew members, and from those who might have served in 144 squadron at RAF Leuchars in November 1942, or in 489 squadron earlier that year.

David Venner







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