I have attached a picture I have received from a lady who tells me her dad, Michael Hall, is bottom right in the photograph. He was Ground Crew with 10 Squadron and the photograph was taken at RAF Aldergrove. I think the Aircraft is JD272 Halifax ZA-F of 10 Squadron however I don't think 10 Squadron were ever based at Aldergrove. Any information would be much appreciated. Andy
Andy, I expect you already have this info............ 27-28 September 1943 10 Squadron Halifax II JD272 ZA-F Op. Hanover Took off from Melbourne at 1917 hours. (No other details) Crew. Sgt. A. Rostron + Sgt. T H. Greest + Sgt. W A. Brown + Sgt. E J E. Jarman + Sgt. J G. Cavie + Sgt. A R J. Parsons + Sgt. F G. Chilcott + Source - RAF Bomber Command Losses Vol.4 - W R. Chorley. Can't see that 10 Squadron were based at Aldergrove. If that's where the pic was taken then it could have been a visit.
Jettisoning that is why I asked the question. The lady said this picture was taken at Aldergrove however I believe the Aircraft in the photo is a Halifax. Guess she must be mistaken. Thanks very much for the information regarding the Aircraft and Crew. Andy
halifax at aldergrove ? the a/c in the photograph is definitely a HALIFAX there were HALIFAX a/c in 10 Sq called FAROUK eg JD367 called FAROUK III O Orange the HALIFAX in the photograph FAROUK is a MkIII - Bristol Hercules radial engines . it would post-date JD367 which was a Merlin engined variant my guess it would have been taken at RAF MELBOURNE (10 Sq base)
Old thread, but thought you might like to know that Halifax JD367 was in fact "Z" and not "O" as listed above. Another case of wrong details being added to ORB's and people taking them for granted. AM78 and Loss Card clearly show "Z"
No detachments are recorded for No 10 Squadron to Aldergrove,indeed in Bomber Command it remained throughout the war as part of No 4 Group in Yorkshire.It converted to the Halifax Marks 1 and 11 in December 1941 at Leeming when it gave up the Whitley V. It was then posted to Melbourne in August 1942 after a detachment to Lossiemouth from December 1941 to August 1942.As said,It spent the rest of the war at Melbourne,receiving the Halifax Mark111 in March 1944. So it can be accepted that if the photograph is of a Mark111,it was taken after March 1944 when the squadron was based solely at Melbourne. Interestingly,the Lossiemouth detachment occurred when BC was attempting to destroy the Tirpltz at its mooring in Norway.On 27 April 1942,31 Halifaxes and 12 Lancasters from 5 squadrons,10,35,76 44 and 97,set to destroy the Tirpltz from forward bases at Tain,Kinloss and Lossiemouth.The operational plan being that Nos 44 and 97 Squadron Lancasters and the Halifaxes of No76 Suadron would bomb from 6000 feet.The Halifaxes from No 10 and 35 Squadrons would follow the initial bombing to sneek in and drop four or five experimental mines each, adjacent to the Tirpitz from 200 feet.The raid was a failure due to the smoke screen that the Tirpitz put up.The operation was followed up the next night with 23 Halifaxes and 11 Lancasters with hits claimed but no confirmed. The C0 of No 10 Squadron was W/C Bennett who was shotdown but with his crew evaded to Sweden...an epic worth reading.On his retirn to Britain,Bennett went on to introduce the concept of the Pathfinder Force.Another Halifax crash landed on a frozen lake and was recovered in 1982 to be restored for the RAF Hendon Museum.
Hi Andy I have some info on this as my grand father was in Farouk I II @ III Usually as ZA-O 10 Squadron Melbourne I have crash pictures of Farouk I which was written off, and I’m pretty sure Farouk II is in the North Sea as that was my grandfathers crews next plane (they all bailed out safely) I have also got pictures of Farouk III which I’m pretty sure my grandad completed his 2nd tour in. The crew which took over this plane I think were all killed in action when the plane was shot down. I’ll get all the info and pictures I have and reply again Richard
Just thinking of this but without any deep research. An aircraft using another airfield other than its resident was not uncommon and perhaps the occasion may have been recorded by someone taking a photograph. Frequently aircraft did get lost and also were diverted to other airfields and for a variety of reasons. Additionally when the emergency landing provision for stricken aircraft was laid on for Bomber Command, it created three facilities at Manston, Kent Woodbridge, Suffolk and Carnaby in Yorkshire for this purpose. Aircraft were diverted there or routed there in time of emergencies. Photographs of aircraft are seen from time showing aircraft at these diverted airfields. On the other hand as part of squadron training there might have been a cross country flight and for some reason the Halifax touched in Aldergrove or it could have been on ASR duty which B.C were asked to help out. My memory goes back to August 1953 when No 97 Squadron were asked to put up an aircraft for ASR duties with the task of searching for a B36 which came down in the Atlantic off Ireland. The aircraft was airborne for 11 and half hours, the search unsuccessful, light fading, the weather over Lincolnshire closing in and the Lincoln was running low on fuel. The skipper decided to divert to Aldergrove for the night and refuel. It returned to Hemswell the following day. At the time a photograph could have been taken of the Lincoln while at Aldergrove but it was not its resident airfield.
