Squadron Heritage

On October 14th 1940 in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Britain, No. 422 Flight was formed at RAF Shoreham in Sussex equipped with Hurricanes and under the command of Flight Lieutenant J G Sanders DFC formerly of 615 Squadron. The aircraft establishment was eight Hurricane 1E's and two Mk. 1R's. In addition to Flt. Lt. Sanders there were five Flying or Pilot Officers and six Airman Pilots supported by 76 ground crew. Staff started to arrive in dribs and drabs. Pilot Officer Verity arrived on 15th October together with Sergeants Hampshire and Scott and five Hurricanes – V6863, V6884, V6892, V6886 and V7591. Three more Hurricanes arrived the following day – P8813, P3827 and V6867. No. 422 Flight saw combat action over the south coast of England commencing standing patrols over the aerodrome on 17th October. Ten days later Sgt. Scott flying Hurricane V6887 at 8,000 feet sighted a Heinkel He-111. He gave chase firing a three-second burst of gunfire before the raider escaped into clouds. During November more fighter interceptor patrols were undertaken together with 46 hours 25 minutes of night operations. More successes were achieved during this period with a Messerschmitt Me-109 destroyed by FO Rabone flying Hurricane V7621 on 28th October. He had joined 422 Flight having been previously a pilot with 88 and 145 Squadron's. PO Ralls (also flying V7621) destroyed a Ju-88, and Verity north of Brighton jointly with 602 Squadron Spitfires who had run out of ammunition during the engagement and were circling the raider until help arrived. Later that day Verity, flying Hurricane V6862 and Ralls damaged a further Ju-88 south of Biggin Hill.

The Squadron is Formed

After the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe had turned its attention to the bombing of British cities progressing ever northward until Manchester and Liverpool were frequent targets. On December 9th 422 Flight moved to the north of England for the first time evolving into No. 96 Squadron on December 18th 1940 under the command of Squadron Leader R G Kellett DSO, DFC, VM (Polish). Personnel moving from Shoreham were Verity, Ralls, Sanders, Scott and Hampshire while new recruits included two from 43 Squadron, Flt. Lt. Raphael, DFC and FO North, FO Morragh-Ryan from 54 Squadron, FO Passy from 605 and FO Sprague from 3 Squadron. Sergeant Robin McNair also joined 96 from 249 Squadron. Becoming part of 9 Group and coded ZJ-, the squadron adopted the motto 'Nocturni Obambulamus' – 'We Stalk by Night' and was charged with the air defence of Liverpool despite being closer to Manchester than the city port. There was logic in this. The Germans were using a route to northern England, which took them over southern England and Wales flying over the Welsh Mountains before unleashing their deadly load over Liverpool and Birkenhead. Sdn. Ldr. Kellett was born in Tadcaster, Yorkshire and had joined 600 Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force in 1934. On January 30th 1939 he joined 616 Squadron as Flight Commander and was called to full time service on August 25th of that year. He moved to the forming 249 Squadron, also as Flight Commander, at Church Fenton in May1940 and was then posted to Northolt to form and command 303 Squadron. He saw action during the Battle of Britain claiming four Bf-109 fighters destroyed on August 21st, September 5th, 15th and 26th. He was awarded the DFC on October 1st, the DSO on October 25th and the VM (5th Class) on December 24th 1940. He stayed with 96 Squadron until March 1941 when he left for North Weald where he became wing leader. He concluded operations later in 1941 and was released from the RAF in 1945 as Wing Commander but commanded 615 Squadron RAuxAF from July 1946 until 1949. Victor Bosanquet Strachan Verity could be described as one of the more senior officers in the new squadron and had already seen considerable action. Born on November 5th 1919 in Timara, New Zealand, he worked on his father's farm until accepted by the RAF for a short service commission in January 1938. It was over twelve months before he set sail for England, joining 229 Squadron in November 1939. Attached to 615 Squadron in France on May 14th 1940 he claimed two Ju-88's damaged on May 20th before being shot down by escorting Bf-110's, crash-landing without serious injury. Returning to England, Verity rejoined 229 and was operating over Dunkirk when he exacted his revenge downing a Bf-110. His joy was short lived however, because another Bf-110 shot him down forcing him to bale out. He was rescued from the English Channel by a paddle steamer. He rejoined 229 on June 5th claiming three kills (one He-111 and two Ju-88's) and three damaged enemy aircraft during September, October and November 1940 before volunteering for night fighter duties. After service with 422 Flight and 96 Squadron, Vic Verity was posted to the Middle East flying Beaufort's. Further transfers saw him join 108 Squadron in Malta. He subsequently became a controller of night intruders at HQ Fighter Command. After a brief spell with 1622 Flight he became commander of 650 Squadron until its disbanding moving to 62 OTU as Squadron Leader. He returned home in November 1945 where he again farmed until 1959 when he went back to England to form a roofing business. After ten years in England he returned again to New Zealand where he died in February 1979. The squadron's first home was RAF Cranage nestling almost in the heart of rural Cheshire and to the south-west of Manchester. Cranage was a small airfield with grass runways and had been originally built as an aircraft storage facility but it began its operational life in August 1940 as a Relief Landing Ground for No. 5 Flying Training School based at Sealand near Chester. Things quickly changed for in October that year the School of Air Navigation began its exodus from RAF St. Athan for Canada leaving a small unit behind, to become No. 2 School of Air Navigation, based at Cranage using Avro Anson's and officially forming on 11th November 1940. The base was, at the time, one of the most westerly in southern north-west England. The squadron was not the first fighter squadron to find a home at Cranage with a number of squadron's having flights based in Cheshire for night fighter duties. These include 29, 307 and 312 Squadron's. Life at Cranage during those first winter months was Spartan. Sgt. (later Wing Commander) Gerry Roberts had qualified for his wings at RAF Cranwell but attended a navigator's course. He recalls that first November as cold, snowy and frosty, the accommodation uncompleted and no work being undertaken because of the frosty conditions. The Sergeant's quarters were cramped and there was no hot water. A number of tureens about four feet high and of similar diameter were meant to provide hot water if a fire could be lit under them but no one seemed willing to bother. Sgt. Roberts believes the fires were never lit. The lighting mains were put in jeopardy as airmen connected heaters to the light sockets! Other airmen at the base at that time recall having to sleep in nearby Byley church. Within three days of its formation the squadron's 'A' Flight was despatched to Squires Gate airfield south of Blackpool while 'B' Flight remained at Cranage. However, the stay appears to have been short lived because 307 Squadron were posted to Squires Gate on December 27th releasing 96's Hurricanes to return to Cranage. It was at Blackpool that the squadron suffered its first fatality, that of PO L M Sharp who died as a result of a 'flying accident' on December 28th when his Hurricane (P3899) crashed into the sea shortly after take-off from Squires Gate. Despite official records stating that 96 Squadron had been released from its Squires Gate posting, operations appear to have continued into 1941. This is borne out by the fact that the Blackpool contingent appears to have been the first to encounter enemy aircraft. FO Rabone was on patrol at 14,000 feet over Formby, north of Blackpool flying Hurricane V6887 when he encountered… '…an unidentified enemy aircraft some 50 yards ahead, 25 ft above and opened fire into the belly of the aircraft, which nosed down in front of him, and as the enemy aircraft passed he followed it in his sights and managed two more bursts. As he flew above the enemy aircraft through its track, he passed through a stream of oily smoke. The enemy aircraft was first sighted because of his exhausts.' FO Rabone claimed this aircraft as a probable kill but this was unconfirmed. Despite this early encounter contact with the enemy was infrequent. Indeed, flying appears to have been infrequent except in a training role. But there were still incidents. On January 11th 1941 PO Lauder crashed on landing Hurricane V7130 at Cranage. The following day Hurricane P3663 also crashed in the hands of Sgt. Kneath. Both pilots were uninjured. These events and the early fatality doubtless was responsible for the visit of a Flight Lieutenant Payne attending the airfield on January 17th to instruct on landing techniques. Despite this visit, 96 continued to be dogged by accidents. On February 1st Sgt. Peacock was uninjured when he crashed Hurricane P8813 on landing at Cranage. Two days later Hurricane W9159 force landed near Tarporley, Cheshire with Sgt. Taylor at the controls. He, too, was uninjured. Not all the Hurricane crashes were the responsibility of 96 Squadron pilots. Flt. Lt. Gron 'Dopey' Edwards was a Flight Commander with No. 2 School of Air Navigation at Cranage and together with one of his pilots, FO Peter Wakeford, was determined to return to operational flying, ideally on fighters. Edwards had made application to be posted to 96 Squadron by the Station Commander who would not approve the move. In April 1941, Edwards's commanding officer, Sdn. Ldr. Joe Riley, approved a second application for transfer, this time to 605 Squadron at Croydon. Despite visiting the squadron, Edwards and Wakeford were unsuccessful. A sortie flying Army personnel to Hawarden allowed both the opportunity to fly a couple of Spitfires from neighbouring RAF Sealand while the Army types went about their business. Emboldened by their good fortune, Edwards and Wakeford went single-seater flying again four days later on May 2nd. There was a standing order in the Cranage Pilot's Order Book that stated quite clearly that Navigation School pilots were not to fly any aircraft operated by 96 Squadron – including Defiant, Hurricane and the squadron trainer, a Fairey Battle. Chancing their arms, both managed to scrounge a Hurricane flight in V7261. Edwards pulled rank and went off first, returning safely enough. Wakeford was not so fortunate. The Hurricane caught fire and while Peter Wakeford survived the ensuing crash, the Hurricane did not. When FO Wakeford returned from hospital, both he and Edwards had to face a Court of Enquiry who were outraged to find that two, never mind one, officers Navigation School types had flown the Hurricane. Edwards lost nine months seniority on his promotion to Squadron Leader and endorsed his log book 'the most expensive flight of my career.' Other airmen for 96 Squadron continued to arrive including two Czech pilots, FO's Vlasimic Vesely and Josef Kloboucnik, from 312 (Czech) Squadron on 8th February. FO Kloboucnik also had misfortune when his Hurricane (V6947) force landed at Sutton Hall Farm causing the pilot some minor injuries just two days after his posting to the squadron. Another two days had passed when Verity's had to make a forced landing at RAF Shawbury, near Shrewsbury. The night of February 15th/16th saw two further crashes. PO Lauder dropped Hurricane P3833 while Sgt. Scott damaged Hurricane V7591 on landing. The likely cause for some of the crashes at Cranage was the poor weather. Indeed, Fighter Command operations were being considerably hampered during early 1941 with snow, slush and flooding at airfields affecting serviceability. Cranage was affected as was Squires Gate, Charmy Down, St. Eval and Middle Wallop.

Copyright © 2000-2001   Tony Harratt
No unauthorized reproduction permitted.

surfmydot.com/96booklet/pages1-3.htm

Site Design by:  RHB WebDesigns
StaticWebSite  © 2000-2001 RHBeeson
Last Update 12/25/00
WebMaster