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No. 462 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force
No 462 Squadron RCAF was formed at Fayid, Egypt on the 6th of September 1942. Its nucleus was formed from several RAF squadrons based in Egypt and was the first Middle East Halifax squadron. Its operational area included much of North Africa, Italy, Greece, Crete, the Dodecanese Islands and Sicily. In 1944 it leafletted Greece, Crete, Rhodes, Leros and Samos and on 3rd of March, having moved to Italy, it was re-numbered No 614 Squadron RAF and given a pathfinder role.
It reformed at Driffield, Yorkshire on the 12th of August 1943 as a heavy-bomber squadron in No 4 Group with Halifax B.III. It operated in the Main Force with No 466 RCAF Squadron on day and night operations until late December 1944. It moved to Foulsham in No 100 (Bomber Support) beginning operations on the 1st of January 1945 as Window carriers, and later, dropping target indicators for blind bombing.
No 462 became a radio counter-measures unit when it transferred to No 100 Group, a specialist formation that disrupted German air defence system throug diversionary raids and radio countermeasures, drawing German attention away from real raids. Its Halifaxes were equipped with the Airborn Cigar and a W/T jammer known as Carpet. The unit's first operation with this equipment was on the 13th of March 1945. ABC-equipped Halifaxes increased until there were eleven aircraft in the squadron. After the end of the war in Europe, No 462 continued training and occupied a transport role, repatriating Allied prisoners from Europe. It was disbanded for the second and last time on the 24th of September 1945.
Airfields
No. 462 Squadron
flew from:
- Fayid, Suez Canal Zone, Egypt 7th September 1942 (formed. Halifax)
- Italy (re-numbered No 614 Squadron RAF)
- RAF Driffield, Yorkshire from the 12th of August 1944 (reformed, Group 4 Bomber Command. Halifax III)
- RAF Foulsham, Norfolk from the 27th December 1944 (100 Group)
- disbanded 24th September 1945
7th September 1942 New Squadron formed
6th January 1945 Two Halifax Lost on bomber support mission
4th February 1945 Airborne Mandrel jamming
13th March 1945 Operations
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Want to know more about No. 462 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force? There are:2006 items tagged No. 462 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force available in our Library
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Sgt. John Edmund Gray 462 Squadron (d.17th April 1945)  In memory of Sgt J.E. Gray. On the 16th of April 1945 he took his place in MZ467 (Z5-C), a Halifax with 462 Sqn RAAF as a replacement Flight Engineer, the regular crew member being unwell. At around midnight, the pilot, F.O. Allan Lodder, eased the very heavily loaded aircraft into the air, joining 5 other 462 Sqn aircraft for the long trip to the Augsburg area of south western Germany. The raid was a 'spoof' or ABC jamming exercise and by 0330 they were approaching the target region. At 0340, MZ467 was intercepted by one of the few remaining fighter aces of the Luftwaffe, Oberfeldwebel Ludwig Schmidt flying a Ju88G-6. Firing over 200 rounds of machine gun and cannon shells, Schmidt attacked twice from behind. MZ467 caught fire and crashed very quickly. Five of the crew were killed:
Sgt Gray, FO. Foster, Sgt McGarvie,F/Sgt Windus and F/Sgt Tisdell. The pilot FO Lodder,Sgt Naylor and Sgt Casterton survived.
Those killed including Sgt Gray are interred at the Durnbach War Cemetery.
Sgt J.E.A Gray was 20 years old.
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Flt.Sgt. Kenneth Hughes Whitmore 462 Squadron (d.23rd Oct 1942) Kenneth Hughes Whitmore died aged 22, he was the son of Joseph Hughes Whitmore and Emily Whitmore. He is remembered on the Alemein Memorial and is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the entrance of Jarrow Town Hall.
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Dennis Raymond Goodwin 462 Squadron My father Dennis Goodwin, served as an Air Gunner in 462 Squadron from December 1942 until August 1943. His total flying time was 60.5 hours in daytime and 189.45 hours at night. He flew in Halifax aeroplanes mostly (from what I can tell from his log book) and the pilot was usually Flight Sergent Spencer. From October 43 to November 44 he was with the 1675 Heavy Conversion Unit and from December 1944 until May 1945 he was with 86 Squadron. He died about five years ago and never spoke of the war much at all. Apparently twice, if not three times, his crew went out without him and never returned which left Dad with a strong feeling of guilt.
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L.A.C William Hugh Steed Flight Mech. 462 Squadron I was called up in 1941 and did my basic training at Boscombe, Bournemouth. Followed by Technical training at RAF Hednesford and was posted overseas in 1942 in troopship HMT F1 Arundal Castle. I joined 462 squadron, then at Fayid on nightly bombing of the German supply ports of Benghasi and Tobruk. We moved up the desert after Alemien and when the war in Africa ended I was posted to 148 ( SOE ) squadron engaged in dropping supplies and agents to Tito and other resistance groups. We moved to Brindisi in Italy and were amongst the squadrons that attempted to supply the Polish Home Army fighting in Warsaw in 1944 and suffered horrendous losses as a result.
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