Squadron score: 317 1/2 enemy aircraft destroyed. 107 probably damaged. 184 damaged.
Thanks to Barrie Cross, a 92 Squadron member from the 1940's,
and Ian Bowskill of the Battle of Britain Locomotive Society.
This was penned shortly before the end of the war and covers the
period from the reforming of the Squadron in October 1939 through to the
final entry circa March 31st 1945.
92 Squadron was reformed at Tangmere on 10th October 1939 as a
night fighter squadron and equipped with Bristol Blenheim If aircraft with
five guns firing forward and one in the turret. (The under-belly gun packs
on the If were made at the Ashford Works of the Southern Railway. Asst.
Ed.). S/Ldr R.J. BUSHELL was posted from 601 Squadron to command the new
unit and brought with him F/Lt. Patrick Green to be one of his Flight
Commanders. The other Flight Commander was F/Lt. Byrne. After the initial
difficulty of obtaining aeroplanes, suitably trained pilots, maintenance
personnel and equipment had been overcome. the Squadron did intensive day
and night flying training at Tangmere until it moved to Croydon on December
30th. Here training was hampered by adverse weather and the Squadron was
forced to move to Gatwick as an advanced training base. March 5th 1940 saw
the Squadron re-equipped with Spitfires and training still continued from
Gatwick and Croydon. F/Lt. Stanford-Tuck was posted as a Flight Commander in
place of F/Lt. Byrne on May 4th and four days later the Squadron left for
Northolt where operational duties were started. Apart from escorting civil
aircraft to and from Paris, nothing of interest occurred. The lull was not
to continue however and on May 23rd, operating from Hornchurch, the Squadron
made their first patrol over the French coast and ran into six Me109's near
Dunkirk, all were shot down. Later in the day forty Me110's were met and
seventeen of these were destroyed, making a total of twenty-three enemy
aircraft on the first day's ops. Unfortunately S/L Bushell was shot down
after destroying two Me110's and though he was taken prisoner, his fate was
to be shot by the Gestapo along with fifty others following the mass escape
from Stalag Luft III in 1944. (Immortalised in the film 'THE GREAT ESCAPE'.
Asst. Ed.). The next day seven more enemy aircraft were shot down and after
a brief rest at Duxford, during which F/Lt. Tuck was awarded the D.F.C., the
Squadron returned to the fray. Operating from Northolt on June 2nd they
shot down four enemy bombers and four enemy fighters without loss. The
Squadron was then pulled out of 11 Group and sent to Pembrey to patrol over
South Wales and the Bristol Channel. The Squadron operated by both day and
by night and several enemy bombers were destroyed. Then on September 8th the
Squadron moved to Biggin Hill at the height of the Battle of Britain and
operated from there with 72 Squadron and later 74 Squadron in the defence of
the Thames Estuary and South East England. S/Ldr Machaclan took over command
of the Squadron on 27th September, with F/Lt. Kingcome as his 'A' Flight
Commander and F/Lt. Stanford-Tuck D.F.C. as his 'B' Flight Commander. On the
same day seventeen enemy aircraft were destroyed, one probably destroyed and
one damaged when large formations of enemy bombers and fighters attacked the
London area. Towards the end of October F/Lt. Tuck won a bar to his D.F.C.
and was posted to command 257 Squadron. F/Lt. Green returned after several
months in hospital and under the command of S/Ldr Kent A.F.C. D.F.C, with
such pilots as F/Lt. Kingcome D.F.C., F/Lt. Villa, F/O Wright, P/O Fokes
D.F.M. and Sgt. Kingaby, who shot down four Me109's confirmed on November
15th, the Squadron score at the end of the year amounted to 127 enemy
destroyed, with another 130 probably destroyed or damaged. After a brief
spell at Manston, during which time a He111 was shot down into the sea near
Southend - the cannon armed Spitfires now a great success, the Squadron
returned to Biggin Hill and continued to operate from there under the
brilliant leadership of S/Ldr Rankin D.F.C. and Bar, who himself shot down
six enemy fighters in the space of twelve days in the middle of the year.
Chief work during this period was patrols, bomber escorts and cross-channel
sweeps with W/Cmdr Malan leading. Time was also found for considerable
training and night flying practice. It is interesting to note that P/O
Neville Duke began his first ops tour with the Squadron on 3rd April. Late
in September 1941 the Squadron left for Gravesend where during its stay, the
officers were billeted at Cobham Hall. When the 2nd anniversary of the
Squadron was celebrated at a dinner in London, attended by thirty-four
officers and men from the original two hundred, there was a record to
display - 190 enemy aircraft destroyed, 87 probably destroyed and 86
damaged; 15 D.F.C's & 6 Bars, 2 D.F.M's & 1 Bar! Two days later the C.O.,
S/Ldr Milne shot down three Me109's and damaged a fourth! Shortly after, the
Squadron moved to Digby and became non-operational, indulging in a little
practice flying preparatory to going overseas. S/Ldr Milne was awarded a Bar
to his D.F.C. and F/Sgt. Kingaby, with a total of eighteen enemy aircraft
destroyed to his credit, got a second Bar to his D.F.M. Many changes took
place at Digby and it was a very different 92 Squadron, at least as far as
the pilots were concerned, that left England on Feb. 13th 1942 on HMT
ORMONDE for the Middle East. The pilots on the NIEU AMSTERDAM were dropped
off a Takoradi (West Africa) to ferry aircraft up to Cairo, while the rest
of the Squadron proceeded by way of South Africa and the Suez Canal. It was
not until the end of April that the Squadron was re-united at Heliopolis. On
June 2nd 1942 the C.O., S/Ldr Wedgewood, the two Flight Commanders, F/Lt.
Cocker 'A' Flight and F/Lt. J. Morgan 'B' Flight, and ten pilots left on
temporary detachment to Landing Ground 92 at Amyria to operate with 80
Squadron and fly Hurricanes. Two days later on their first operational
flight over the battle area, they met twenty Ju87 'Stukas' with ten Me109's
as top cover and destroyed two Ju87's and damaged four more. On the 27th
they met another formation of 'Stukas' with Me109 escort and shot down one
Me109F and a Ju87, thus bringing the total of enemy aircraft destroyed up to
200. Such skill and keenness soon had its reward, for on August 1st the Air
Officer Commanding Western Desert, Air Vice-Marshall Conningham, announced
that he was extremely pleased with the way that the pilots had fought in
Hurricanes, they were to be given an immediate allotment of Spitfires and
were to move up to L.G.92 as a squadron. By August 5th the Squadron was
established at L.G.173 , a satellite of L.G.92, and had joined 244 Wing
under W/Cmndr Love as part of 211 Group commanded by Group Captain Carter. A
week later with twenty-two Spitfires, the majority of them Mk.Vc's, and
nineteen pilots, the Squadron was fully operational. On the 19th it proved
its worth by shooting down four Me109F's confirmed, probably destroying four
and damaging four more, all on one patrol. The German push to reach the
Nile Delta and to cut the line of the Suez began on the last day of August
and from then on, intense aerial operations were in progress every day. The
camp was heavily blitzed by night and by day our aircraft, led by S/Ldr
Wedgewood with the able support of F/Lt. Morgan, F/O Bradley Smith and P/O
Chisholm, took a heavy toll of the Me109F's and Macchi Mc202's that the
enemy was using. On Sept. 17th S/Ldr Wedgewood, who had shot down nine enemy
aircraft and had led the Squadron on practically every operational trip, was
awarded the DFC, the first 'gong' to be won by the Squadron in the desert.
Four days later, a force of 40/50 Me109's attacking our forward troops were
driven off by eight of our aircraft and in the middle of October, strafing
attacks were carried out against enemy aircraft bogged down by heavy rain on
their forward landing grounds at Daba and Fuka. The Battle of El Alamein
opened on the 23rd of October and in the early days of the battle constant
and vigorous patrols were maintained, in the course of which at least nine
enemy fighters were destroyed as a result of excellent team work. S/Ldr
Wedgewood, F/Lt. Morgan, F/O Waddy D.F.C., F/O Chisholm and F/Lt. Samouelle
especially distinguished themselves. By November 2nd the 8th Army had broken
through the enemy defences in the Alamein sector and were fighting south of
Daba. By the 4th, the enemy was in full retreat westward, the roads out of
Daba and Fuka being blocked with vehicles. The next day the Squadron was on
the move from Amyria to L.G.21 at Daba and from there they followed closely
behind the retreating enemy, the Advanced and Main Parties leapfrogging one
another via Marten Baguish (L.G.14), Sidi Haneish (L.G.20) and Mesheta
(L.G.76), crossing the Libya - Egypt border on 13th November. At Gambut the
Squadron marked time flying uneventful patrols. F/O Duke DFC, an ex-member
of 92 Squadron in the U.K., was re-posted to the Squadron on November 18th.
A few days later the Squadron moved to M'sus where the Main Party arrived
after three days wandering in the desert. Here S/Ldr Wedgewood DFC, who had
taken command of the Squadron at Digby, brought it overseas and had led it
with such distinction for four months in the desert - during which time 42
enemy aircraft had been destroyed, 13 of them by his own hands -
relinquished command and was posted home to the U.K. He was destined never
to arrive, for he was killed when the Halifax in which he was flying crashed
at Malta. S/Ldr Morgan assumed command of the Squadron which then moved to
El Hassiet. F/Lt. Samouelle remained in charge of 'A' Flight and F/Lt.
Chisholm took over 'B' Flight. The Squadron made a series of advances via El
Nopra, eighteen miles from El Agheila, then on to El Merduna in a heavily
mined area beyond Marble Arch where Christmas was spent, arriving at El
Chel, twenty miles south East of Sultan, for the New Year. Here W/Cmndr
Darwin and several of the pilots went gazelle hunting in Jeeps and a bag of
four provided a welcome change of diet for both officers and aircrew. The
next day 'A' Party left for Hamrat, not far from Tamet, only to be bombed
and strafed three times soon after they arrived. On Jan 7th 1943, for the
first time since Alamein, the Squadron met Me109's in large numbers who were
willing to stay and fight. Three times during the day, 'those elusive
customers' the Me109 fighter bombers, attacked the landing ground and 2 were
destroyed, one by F/Lt. Morgan and the other by F/O Nomes. Attacks were
repeated the next day by Me109's and Mc202's, but our aircraft on patrol
managed to intercept them before they reached the L.G., destroying one Me109
and three Mc202's and probably destroying two more. On January 11th F/O Duke
celebrated his birthday by destroying two Mc202's out of a formation that
came in from the direction of Tamet. Unfortunately during this period
frequent sandstorms affected the serviceability of the cannons and numerous
gun stoppages deprived us of many victims. On January 14th the 8th Army
launched an all out attack to reach Tripoli and on the 21st, in a daylight
sweep over that city in the afternoon, the Squadron intercepted eight Stukas
spotted fifteen miles away by F/Lt. Neville Duke DFC who had just taken
over command of 'A' Flight - and destroyed three of them. With the capture
of Tripoli on January 24th, our aircraft used to fly up to Castel Benito to
do readiness, though it was not until February 7th that the Squadron moved
there to carry out interception patrols and training flights. A week later
F/Lt. Duke and the late S/Ldr Wedgewood were awarded Bars to their DFC's,
while S/Ldr Morgan, F/Lt. Chisholm and F/Lt. Samouelle were each awarded DFC
and Bar. Then on the 23rd the Squadron advanced to Hasbub, near Medenine,
very close to the front line. Too close in fact, for on March 1st enemy
shelling from the hills to the south east of the 'drome was so hot that, at
1800 hours, the order to evacuate was given. Aircraft from three squadrons
taking off from two narrow runways, missing each other by inches in a rather
undignified exit. The Squadron flew to Ben Gardane where they were joined
later by the ground personnel. This first week of March saw a small counter
offensive on the part of the enemy and we took a heavy toll of the aircraft
thrown in to support his ground troops. F/Lt. Duke shooting down no less than
five of them in the first four days, adding two more to the score on March
7th - a great day for us when, without loss, five enemy aircraft were
destroyed, three probably destroyed and four damaged - bringing the total
Squadron score to 2541/2 destroyed (half an aircraft destroyed was awarded
when the destruction was shared with another squadron. Asst. Ed.), 101
probables and 134 damaged. It was this day that F/Lt. Chisholm DFC & Bar, 'B'
Flight Commander, got 1 destroyed, 1 probable and 1 damaged, thus ending his
tour with the Squadron in fine style. Ground crews did magnificent work on
this day, keeping up the serviceability and enabling forty-four sorties in
all to be flown. On March 10th the Squadron moved back to Hasbub where, on
the 23rd, four Spitfire MkIX's were allotted to it and were collected from
Algiers. The same day there was an amusing incident over the enemy L.G. at
Gabes when F/O Savage was on the tail end of an Me109 about to land there.
Apparently thinking that our pilot was about to land 'wheels up', the enemy
ground crew fired a red Very cartridge at him to warn him! F/Lt. Humpfreys
took over 'B' Flight on the 26th and on the 27th F/Lt. Neville Duke DFC & Bar
was awarded the DSO, a well deserved award for his score read 19 destroyed,
4 probables and 3 damaged! In these the closing weeks of the campaign -
operating from Hasbub during the offensive against the Mareth Line and from
Bu Grara, Bou Gabrine and Hergla as the 8th Army closed in on Tunis and the
Cape Bon Peninsula - our chief job was the escort of Kittyhawk and Hurricane
'tank busters' and from time to time, light bombers on bombing and strafing
runs against enemy positions, transport and armoured fighting vehicles. On
April 16th however, three of our Mk.IX's were on a sweep over the Cape Bon
Peninsula and spotted eighteen Sia Macchetti SM82's low over the sea. Five
of them were destroyed without loss in spite of them being escorted by
Me109's and FW190's. Five more enemy aircraft were destroyed on the 20th
while we were flying top cover to Kittyhawks over Cape Bon. This was a
slight recompense for our disappointment of two days before, when we gave
top cover to four squadrons of Kittyhawks that intercepted large numbers of
enemy transport planes flying low over the sea to the north east with an
escort of nine fighters. While we kept the fighters at bay, the 'Kitties'
waded in and got the amazing score of well over seventy Ju52 transports
destroyed, probably destroyed and damaged! At the end of the month on
'de-lousing' operations for Kittyhawks in the Cape Bon area, three more
enemy aircraft were destroyed and when the campaign closed on May 12th, our
score since arriving in the Middle East stood at 78 enemy aircraft
destroyed, 21 probably destroyed and 57 damaged. With S/Ldr Harper O.T.E.
(Operational Tour Expired. Asst. Ed.), S/Ldr Humpfreys assumed command of
the Squadron and his place as 'B' Flight Commander was taken by F/Lt. Sly.
After a rest at Ben Gardane in wonderful weather, the Squadron flew to Malta
on June 14th. Operating from Luqa in conjunction with 145 Squadron and an
S.A.A.F squadron, we carried out offensive sweeps over Catania, Comiso and
the Gerbini landing grounds until the invasion of Sicily on July 10th. We
were the first squadron to patrol over our forces and on the forty-two
sorties flown on the first day over the Pachino peninsula, we destroyed one
Ju88 and damaged another. This was the first occasion when our present C/O
Major Gasson (South African Air Force. Asst. Ed.) DSO DFC, then 2nd Lt.
Gasson, came into contact with the enemy. We followed up the next day with
the destruction of four more Ju88's, one probable and one damaged. On July
3rd the Squadron flew to Pachino, being the first squadron to land on
Italian soil. Enemy air operations dwindled completely after the first few
days of the invasion and operating from Pachino, then Casabile and finally
Lentine - chiefly remembered for the blitz of the night of August 11th - the
main job was escorts to Kittyhawks and Baltimores and 'stooge' patrols (air
patrols looking for targets of opportunity. Asst. Ed.). August 17th saw the
entry of 8th Army into Messina and the close of the Sicilian campaign. After
a brief spell of rest, during which pilots and airmen visited Mount Etna,
the Squadron was re-equipped with Spitfire Mk.VIII's and we were ready for
the next phase. F/Lt. Carpenter contracted malaria and his place as 'B'
Flight Commander was taken by F/Lt. Nicholls DFC, F/Lt. Hards DFC DFM being
'A' Flight Commander. The invasion of Italy began on September 3rd and
taking off before dawn, the Squadron maintained a standing patrol over the
Messina Straits throughout the day to cover the landings. FW190 fighter
bombers were intercepted on two occasions and forced to jettison their
bombs. Following the unconditional surrender of Italy on September 8th, six
pilots, three ground officers and sixty men flew to Grottaglie near Taranto
and sixteen pilots brought the Mk.VIII's over in the afternoon. '92', being
the only fighter squadron to operate from mainland Italian soil at the time,
was accommodated with 239 Wing at Grottaglie. Unfortunately few or no enemy
aircraft were encountered in the offensive sweeps and escort patrols to
Kittyhawks over Bari and Foggia, and later over Termoli, as we followed in
the wake of 8th Army advancing up the Adriatic coast. '92' moved to Goia on
23rd September and to Tortorella on October 5th. We did however celebrate
the 4th anniversary of the Squadron by shooting down a Dornier Do17 flying
north east near Termoli, no less than five pilots sharing in the success!
The middle of the month saw the Squadron at Triolo and from here moving
later in November to Canne, where S/Ldr Mackie DFC & Bar took over from
S/Ldr Humpfreys. Uneventful interception patrols were flown in vile weather
over 8th Army during the battles of the Trigno and the Sangro rivers. Then
our luck suddenly changed and at the end of November and beginning of
December eleven enemy aircraft were destroyed in as many days with no loss.
The successful pilots being S/Ldr Mackie - two, Lt. Sachs - three and one
each for F/Lt. Nicholls DFC, F/O Henderson DFC & Bar, W/O Warren, F/Sgt.
Bristow, F/Sgt. Buchanan and F/Sgt. Hanson. This brought the Squadron total of
aircraft destroyed since leaving England to 101, while the total score was
2941/2 confirmed. With the 300th almost within grasp, the pilots were
intensely keen to achieve it before the end of the year but few
opportunities presented themselves and with appalling weather at the start of
1944, flying was cut down to a minimum. A Messershmitt Me410 brought down
over the Sampro by F/O Henderson and a Messerschmitt Me109 destroyed by F/Lt.
Garner were the only additions to the score. On January 17th the Squadron
was switched to the other side of Italy. Taking off from Marcianise L.G.
near Naples in darkness on January 22nd, twelve of our aircraft patrolled
over the British and American forces which had landed thirty miles south of
Rome at Anzio that morning. In all 38 sorties were flown in the course of
the day over the newly established bridgehead. During the month 775
operational flying hours were put in, our highest total since July 1943. Two
more enemy aircraft were destroyed early in February by S/L Mackie DFC & Bar
and F/O Henderson, but generally speaking the Luftwaffe never seemed to be
airborne when we were on patrol. Eventually on February 16th five of our
aircraft patrolling over the Anzio bridgehead saw vapour trails over Rome
and shortly afterwards they ran into a gaggle of twenty FW190's with six
Me109's as top cover, flying down the coast towards Anzio. F/Lt. Edwards DFC
DFM, who took over 'A' Flight when F/Lt. Hards DFC DFM left, destroyed one
FW190 and Lt. Gasson an Me109, thus bringing the Squadron total of aircraft
destroyed to 300! In the middle of February S/Ldr Mackie DFC & Bar left the
Squadron which had done such excellent work under his leadership, no less
than twenty enemy aircraft having been destroyed since his arrival in
November 1943. S/Ldr Cox DFC assumed command. Routine patrols over the
bridgehead, where we met with occasional success, interspersed with bomber
escorts kept the Squadron busy until we moved up to Venatro towards the end
of April. Here the Squadron prepared for the assault on the Gustav and
Hitler lines. Here on luck changed, for on the very first patrol on April
23rd twelve aircraft, which had taken off to do a sweep over Viterbo, almost
immediately ran into twelve FW190's with three Me109's top cover just south
of Avezzano and destroyed three of them, the successful pilots being Capt
Gasson, F/Lt. Garner and F/O Montgomerie. The latter had the interesting
experience of setting an Me109 on fire, flying alongside and watching the
enemy pilot bale out with what was suspiciously like a wave of the hand! On
May 13th a further twenty-two FW190 fighter bombers were intercepted over
the Lower Garigliano and by destroying three of the enemy and severely
damaging two more, we gained the honour of shooting down the 400th aircraft
for 244 Wing. Two days later, just before landing from a dusk sweep of the
road network south of Rome, two Me109's were sighted and as they half-rolled
towards the 'deck', they were hotly pursued by F/O Montgomerie and Capt
Gasson, now 'B' Flight Commander. One was destroyed and the other damaged
before being lost in cloud over the mountain tops. The most spectacular
individual effort during this period was that of Capt Gasson DFC who, with
his reflector sight unserviceable, took part in a 'dice' with sixteen
FW190's which were attacking some Bostons near Curta Castellana and after
damaging three in quick succession, pursued a fourth at nought feet over
Viterbo airfield. As he streaked across, he passed underneath an FW190 that
was levelling off at around 20 feet! This promptly spun in and was
destroyed. Capt Gasson went on to damage the other before breaking off
combat and returning home. These were but isolated occasions and enemy air
activity shrank steadily to negligible proportions and by the middle of July
the Squadron, based at Perugia under the guidance of S/Ldr Cox DFC ably
supported by F/Lt. Montgomerie DFC and F/Lt. Garner as Flight Commanders,
began converting regretfully to fighter bomber work. Fortunately however, at
the latter part of the month one flight was detached to Rossignano on the
west coast to prevent high flying enemy 'recce' aircraft from seeing the
preparations that were going forward for the invasion of southern France.
Pilots moved to and fro between Rossignano and Perugia, alternating between
fighting and bombing. This arrangement suited everyone admirably, for not
only were four 'recce kites' destroyed - one of them an Me410 shot down in
flames off Leghorn by P/O's Stevenson and Young was the last 'recce' flight
that the enemy was able to send down prior to the invasion of the Riviera
Coast - but a high standard in bombing was also attained. Our role in the
invasion of southern France - the first invasion in which '92' had not
played a leading part - was a minor one, though on D day and D+1 we flew 36
sorties over enemy fighter bases in the Turin - Genoa area. No opposition
was met. When the 8th Army was ready however to open its assault on the
Gothic Line, the 'bomber' flight moved secretly in the dead of night on
August 23rd to Loreto. After a brief spell there the Squadron was re-united
at Fano on September 6th under the command of Major Venter and from now on
devoted its energies solely to close support work. After a successful
month's flying, the outstanding features of which were : 1) The concentrated
bombing of machine gun nests and fortified positions on the Fortinato ridge,
these softened the enemy defences and enabled the army to carry the ridge
and capture Rimini. 2) Attacks on a wood at La Torre where a concentration
of enemy tanks was dispersed. 3) The bombing of San Ciovanni di Galilea
which killed a German colonel and many of his men and allowed our troops to
enter unopposed. 4) The destruction of three locomotives in four days, two
of them on successive mornings by F/Lt. O.H.E. Jones. Bad weather then
intervened and during October there was little flying, though we had two
good days. One on the 21st when enemy gun positions that had been holding up
the advance of the army beyond Cesena were attacked. Direct hits were scored
on two 105mm guns a couple of miles south of Fortinipopoli, while four bombs
fell in a cluster among some medium guns on the side of a hill close to
Bertinovo and caused a huge explosion. The other was on the 24th when a
strongly fortified building near Fortinipopoli received five direct hits,
while three direct hits and a near miss were scored on two 210mm guns in the
same area. The end of the month also saw the Squadron in billets for the
first time since leaving the U.K. October was also notable for the fact that
Major Gasson DFC, who had left us back at Fabrica in June, was appointed to
command his old squadron. With him, Capt Lee, F/O Taylor and F/O Fain, we
had a magnificent team at our disposal. It was directly due to their
leadership that the Squadron earned, during the next two months, such a high
reputation for accurate bombing and for attacks pressed home to the limit,
no matter how intense the 'flak'. November 3rd saw seven direct hits on an
important enemy strong point in a factory in Zucchero-officio. November 5th,
two direct hits and three very near misses on gun positions in the Forli
area. November 6th, five direct hits, followed by a large explosion and
dense clouds of white smoke, on enemy troop concentrations on the western
side of a little village near Forli. November 7th, three direct hits and
four near misses on enemy strongpoints in the Ravenna area, followed by six
direct hits on San Martino near Forli. November 10th, four direct hits on
an enemy strongpoint two mile west of Forli. November 17th, fourteen direct
hits out of twenty-three bombs dropped in attacks on gun positions and enemy
occupied buildings in the Faenza area. Great as these achievements were,
they were far surpassed by those of December. In one fortnight of intensive
flying from Bellaria between the 14th and the 27th, the Squadron received no
less than four telegrams of congratulation from the army for the magnificent
support given them. The first followed a strafing attack on December 14th
on enemy troops dug in on the banks of the Naviglio Canal only 300 yards
ahead of our own troops. General Hoffmeister, Officer Commanding 5th
Canadian Division, later told Major Gasson, who led the attack, that enemy
casualties from this attack were over thirty killed and when his troops went
forward to occupy the position, they took seventy prisoners for the loss of
only two men! The next day two Tiger tanks were destroyed and an enemy
counter- attack broken up in the Bagnacavallo and Fusignano areas. Gp/Cpt
Dundas, the Officer Commanding 244 Wing, added his congratulations and those
of all the other squadrons on the Wing to those already expressed by the
army. A most successful strafing attack on Boxing Day enemy troops dug in
along the Senio river, a mile and a half below Alfonsini, was followed on
the 27th by the bombing of a Tiger tank concealed in a farmhouse near Castel
Bolognese. The army later told us that it had been found 'brewed up'. But
what gave us particular satisfaction was an attack on an enemy observation
post in a church tower in Bagnacavallo on December 17th. Before '92' was
called in, the other squadrons in the Wing had flown no less than thirty-six
sorties in attempts to flatten it. All had failed, but Captain Lee, Flight
Sergeant Peacock, Flight Lieutenant Wright, Sergeant Doyle, Sergeant Wilson
and Pilot Officer (name illegible. Asst. Ed.) demolished it with four direct
hits and two near misses! Thanks to the excellent and inspiring leadership
of Major Gasson, ably helped by Captain Lee, Flying Officer Taylor and
Flying Officer Fain, we had by the end of 1944 established our supremacy as
the foremost fighting unit of 244 Wing and therefore of the Desert Air
Force. (In spite of having left North Africa in May 1943, the Desert
Airforce kept its name until the end of the Italian campaign in May
1945.).With the army more or less static on the line of the Senio river for
the first three months of the new year, the Squadron has had little support
work to do and most of the time has been spent in doing the very necessary
and important, though less spectacular, work of cutting enemy lines of
communication, destroying his rolling stock and road transport and impeding
his water borne traffic in north and north east Italy. During these three
months a total of 117 heavy guns has been destroyed with 143 damaged, 20
mechanised transport destroyed and 16 damaged, 9 barges destroyed and 42
damaged, 6 locomotives damaged and 14 armoured vehicles destroyed with 54
damaged. (There is a little confusion at this point as a separate list dated
31st March 1945 gives the following totals : Total tonnage of bombs dropped
- 546 tons. 53 motor transport destroyed - including staff cars. 61 motor
transport damaged. 45 heavy guns destroyed. 191 heavy guns damaged. 6
locomotives destroyed. 11 locomotives damaged. 9 barges destroyed. 11 barges
damaged. 4 tanks destroyed - including 3 Tigers. (At this point there
appears to be a page missing and the list incomplete. Whatever the exact
figures, and in the heat of battle there is bound to be some discrepancy, it
is obvious that '92' had been very busy in the ground attack role.) No more
fitting tribute could have been paid the Squadron than the award of the
DSO to Major Gasson DFC in the February of this year and under his guidance,
the Squadron looks forward to the coming months to playing a part not
unworthy of its high tradition. Squadron score : 3171/2 enemy aircraft
destroyed. 107 probably damaged. 184 damaged. It would be nice to know what
was written about the Squadron during April and May. I suspect that with the
end of the war fast approaching and the Luftwaffe a spent force, little or no
air combat took place over the battlefield and '92' continued to operate in
the ground attack role.ends