Swift to Battle: 72 Fighter Squadron RAF in Action: Volume 1: Re-formation in 1937, The Phoney War, Dunkirk, The Battle of Britain and Offensive Operations over Occupied Europe 1942 by Tom Docherty &

Author:Tom Docherty & , [Docherty, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783409266
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2009-07-19T07:00:00+00:00

Snow hampered operations on several days, and on the 20th the heaviest snowfall recorded since 1886 left eighteen inches of snow on Acklington’s runways. The squadron had its fair share of movements again during the month, with the posting-in of a medical officer, Flg Off H.B. Jones, on the 1st, and two new pilots from 57 OTU – Plt Off R.B. Newton and Sgt D.J. Prytherch. Plt Off R.S. Smith was posted away on the 25th.

Since the end of the Battle of Britain in October 1940, there had been little to cheer about, as the Allies suffered reverse after reverse. Throughout November the Luftwaffe had continued to bomb British cities, striking Coventry, Birmingham and Southampton in heavy night raids, against which the day-fighter Spitfires could do nothing. Only the Fleet Air Arm attack on the Italian fleet in Taranto gave a fillip to home morale. December found the Italians invading Greece and very quickly looking for German assistance when things began to go wrong for them, and they suffered similar humiliation in North Africa, with British forces gaining much ground. At home the Luftwaffe bombed Bristol and London. British successes continued in North Africa throughout January, and by February they were in Benghazi, although the situation was about to change with the imminent arrival of Rommel’s Afrika Korps.

March 1941 saw 72 Sqn still at Acklington and still making uneventful patrols. However, one patrol on the 3rd almost ended in disaster. Flt Lt Sheen (X4104), Sgt Staples (X4167) and Sgt Pocock (X4643) were sent off on night patrols, but soon after they had taken off the weather closed in, reducing visibility to 1,000 yards. The Spitfire was a difficult aircraft to fly at night, with the glare of the exhaust blinding the pilot, and the weather only made it worse. The controller diverted the three pilots to Catterick, but then changed his mind and told them to return to Acklington. The squadron operational record noted that it was more by luck than judgement that they managed to return safely, as the controller seemed to have little idea of their position, and it was only the pilots’ intimate knowledge of their sector that got them down at base. Desmond Sheen commented in his logbook:

Night Operational Patrol!!! Bad.

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