Aviation Art of No.21 Sqn

Blenheim
Manufacturer : Bristol
Built : 4422

Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim, the most plentiful aircraft in the RAFs inventory when WWII began, was designed by Frank Barnwell, and when first flown in 1936 was unique with its all metal monoplane design incorporating a retractable undercarriage, wing flaps, metal props, and supercharged engines. A typical bomb load for a Blenheim was 1,000 pounds. In the early stages of the war Blenheims were used on many daylight bombing missions. On the day that war was declared on Germany, a Blenheim piloted by Flying Officer Andrew McPherson was the first British aircraft to cross the German coast and the following morning 15 Blenheims from three squadrons set off on one of the first bombing missions The Blenheim units operated throughout the battle, often taking heavy casualties, although they were never accorded the publicity of the fighter squadrons. The Blenheim units raided German occupied airfields throughout July to December 1940, both during daylight hours and at night. Although most of these raids were unproductive, there were some successes; on 1 August five out of 12 Blenheims sent to attack Haamstede and Evere (Brussels) were able to bomb, destroying or heavily damaging three Bf 109s of II./JG 27 and apparently killing a Staffelkapitän identified as Hauptmann Albrecht von Ankum-Frank. Two other 109s were claimed by Blenheim gunners. Another successful raid on Haamstede was made by a single Blenheim on 7 August which destroyed one 109 of 4./JG 54, heavily damaged another and caused lighter damage to four more. There were also some missions which produced an almost 100% casualty rate amongst the Blenheims. One such operation was mounted on 13 August 1940 against a Luftwaffe airfield near Aalborg in north-western Denmark by 12 aircraft of 82 Squadron. One Blenheim returned early (the pilot was later charged and due to appear before a court martial, but was killed on another operation); the other 11, which reached Denmark, were shot down, five by flak and six by Bf 109s. Blenheim-equipped units had been formed to carry out long-range strategic reconnaissance missions over Germany and German-occupied territories, as well as bombing operations. In this role, the Blenheims once again proved to be too slow and vulnerable against Luftwaffe fighters and they took constant casualties While great heroism was displayed by the air crews, tremendous losses were sustained during these missions. The Blenhiem was easy pickings at altitude for German Bf-109 fighters who quickly learned to attack from below. To protect the vulnerable bellies of the Blenheims many missions were shifted to low altitude, but this increased the aircrafts exposure to anti-aircraft fire. In the German night-bombing raid on London on 18 June 1940, Blenheims accounted for five German bombers, thus proving that they were better-suited for night fighting. In July, No. 600 Squadron, by then based at RAF Manston, had some of its Mk IFs equipped with AI Mk III radar. With this radar equipment, a Blenheim from the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) at RAF Ford achieved the first success on the night of 2–3 July 1940, accounting for a Dornier Do 17 bomber. More successes came, and before long the Blenheim proved itself invaluable as a night fighter. One Blenheim pilot, Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for an attack on Singora, Thailand, on 9 December 1941. Another bomber of No. 60 Squadron RAF was credited with shooting down Lt Col Tateo Katō's Nakajima Ki-43 fighter and badly damaging two others in a single engagement on 22 May 1942, over the Bay of Bengal. Katō's death was a severe blow to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.

Hampden
Manufacturer : Handley Page
Built : 1500

Hampden
The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a twin-engine medium bomber built for the Royal Air Force and was used by Bomber Command in the early years of world war two. Along with the other medium bombers the Whitley and Wellington, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-plane raid on Cologne. The newest of the three medium bombers, the Hampden was known as the Flying Suitcase because of its cramped crew conditions. A total of 226 Hampdens were in service with eight Royal Air Force squadrons by the start of the Second World War. Despite its speed and agility, in operational use the Hampden was no match for the fighters of the Luftwaffe (ME109 and FW 190) and the Hampdens role as a day bomber was brief, but Hampdens continued to operate at night on bombing raids over Germany and in mine laying (code-named gardening) in the North Sea. Almost half of the Hampdens built – 714, were lost on operations, witht he loss of 1,077 crew killed and another 739 missing. German flak accounted for 108; with one Hampden being lost due to German Barrage balloons; 263 Hampdens crashed due to a variety of causes, and 214 others were classed as missing. Luftwaffe pilots claimed 128 Hampdens, shooting down 92 at night. The Hampden soon became obsolete for its roll as a medium modern bomber, after operating mainly at night, it was retired from Bomber Command service in late 1942. but continued with Coastal Command throughout 1943 as a long-range Torpedo Bomber (the Hampden TB Mk I which carried the Mk XII torpedo in an open bomb-bay and a single 500 lb (230 kg) bomb under each wing) The Hampden was also used by the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Mosquito
Manufacturer : De Havilland
Built : 7781

Mosquito
Used as a night fighter, fighter bomber, bomber and Photo-reconnaissance, with a crew of two, Maximum speed was 425 mph, at 30,300 feet, 380mph at 17,000ft. and a ceiling of 36,000feet, maximum range 3,500 miles. the Mosquito was armed with four 20mm Hospano cannon in belly and four .303 inch browning machine guns in nose. Coastal strike aircraft had eight 3-inch Rockets under the wings, and one 57mm shell gun in belly. The Mossie at it was known made its first flight on 25th November 1940, and the mosquito made its first operational flight for the Royal Air Force as a reconnaissance unit based at Benson. In early 1942, a modified version (mark II) operated as a night fighter with 157 and 23 squadron's. In April 1943 the first De Haviland Mosquito saw service in the Far east and in 1944 The Mosquito was used at Coastal Command in its strike wings. Bomber Commands offensive against Germany saw many Mosquitos, used as photo Reconnaissance aircraft, Fighter Escorts, and Path Finders. The Mosquito stayed in service with the Royal Air Force until 1955. and a total of 7781 mosquito's were built.

Ventura

Ventura
No profile available

No.21 Sqn RAF
Pilot and aircrew signature details

Flt Lt Cecil S Elliott
Our estimated value of this signature : £25

Flt Lt Cecil S Elliott

Cecil S. Elliott, Navigator. volunteered for aircrew duties in 1940 and received his call up papers in early 1942. He was first posted to Newquay for ITW and billeted in two hotels, the Coniston and the Kilbourne, just north of Newquay town. He drilled in the large car park area adjacent to the Coniston. The ITW course lasted three months, but with a fortnight to go, two senior officers arrived to advise the trainees that there would be a new category of aircrew – Navigator / W/T and six of the intake were interested. They were posted to Trafford Park where they stayed in a Nissen hut with no heating. In June 1943 they were sent to Cranwell on a 12-week course, where they learnt the fundamentals of radio, and MORSE transmitting and receiving. Unfortunately, Cecil failed the morse receiving test so had to stay on for another week, before being sent back to Trafford Park. They then went by rail to Glasgow where they boarded the Queen Mary and crossed the Atlantic in three to four days. On arriving in New York they were each given a small hand of bananas. What joy! They traveled by train on a roundabout route to Quebec airport and started on No 8 AOS Ancienne Lorette course. During the three-month course, from December 1943 to February 1944, a Navigator/W/T was never mentioned again. Elliott was very pleased with the exam marks and won the Navigator Pennant for the course work. The passing out parade was on 5 May 1944 and he was only a sergeant for a few hours as he and five others were offered commissions. The official RAF tailor was in Montreal so they all went together to be fitted and were then posted to Debert, Nova Scotia where they met the pilots with whom they would crew-up at the RCAF No1 OTU. They were confined to the Officers' Mess for 48 hours during which time they had to agree the crews. He was fortunate as he crewed up with Dusty Rhoades, who was a professional pilot in civvy street with Bowater Paper. They flew daytime cross-countries and regular circuits and bumps. All those on this OTU returned to the UK in a liner and landed in Glasgow, immediately traveling to Thorney Island to join 21 Squadron. His service with 21 covered three stations – Thorney Island; Rosieres near Amiens and Brussels Maelsbrook where they celebrated VE Day. His duties in 21 were classified as 'Intruders Night operations'. They were given an area to patrol in which they shot up and bombed road and rail transport. If they had not released the bombs, they were given a target to bomb on the way out of the area. By June 1945 they had completed over 25 operations. 'Dusty' was repatriated within 10 days of the end of hostilities (one of the terms available to RCAF personnel who volunteered for operations). Most of the crews were Canadian pilots and British Navigators, so the number of guys in the Mess almost halved by the end of June 1945. A serious thought to mention here was the 'esprit de corps' and loyalty of the ground crews. The air crews would not have been able to produce the good record without their superb backing. Cecil does not remember a Mosquito ever being classed as u/s during his service with '21'. They normally operated from 10p.m. to midnight and returned 3a.m. to 4a.m. The ground crew were always there enquiring whether everything was OK.

Ft Lt Arthur Eyton-Jones DFC
Our estimated value of this signature : £50
Died : 2013

Ft Lt Arthur Eyton-Jones DFC

Arthur Eyton-Jones joined the RAF in 1940 and flew over 1,000 hours operationally as a navigator on Bostons, Mitchells and Mosquitoes. He flew on the notoriously dangerous day time bombing offensive conducted by the RAF during the Second World War, during which he survived a ditching in the North Sea. On July 30 1943, Eyton-Jones was the navigator of a Mitchell bomber of No 226 Squadron searching for the crew of an American bomber off the northern Dutch coast. After locating the Americans' dinghy, with three men aboard, they were attacked by German fighters. The Mitchell was set on fire, a gunner was killed and Eyton-Jones was wounded in the leg. The pilot, Flying Officer Dick Christie, ditched the aircraft. The Mitchell immediately started to sink, and Eyton-Jones had difficulty getting out. When he surfaced there was no sign of the aircraft or his pilot - but he spotted an inflated dinghy with his other two crew members nearby. Just as it was getting dark a Beaufighter located them, but it was not until the following afternoon that they saw another aircraft. An RAF Hudson aircraft appeared with a fighter escort and dropped a lifeboat by parachute - one of the first successful such drops in the war. The lifeboat landed close to the dinghy, and the three survivors boarded the small craft, started the engine and headed west. As the seas increased, the engine was swamped and they spent all night bailing out the water. The craft was fitted with a drogue, which prevented it speeding down the big waves generated by the storm and smashing into the next swell. But the drogue failed, leaving the small boat almost certain to founder in the heavy seas, and the crew was forced to fashion a replacement from the mast and sail. The following morning, with the wind abating, they were able to don survival suits and use the survival aids, including tins of water and Horlicks tablets. Finally, on the afternoon of August 2nd, aircraft spotted their emergency flares, and for the next 24 hours a patrol was established over their position 200 miles east of Newcastle. The following night a Royal Navy Fairmile rescue launch headed for them, and 15 hours later a circling Hudson aircraft directed it to the dinghy. Late in the afternoon, a German Junkers 88 spotted the rescue launch, but - seeing the yellow decks (the international colour of the rescue services) - the pilot did not attack; instead he flew low and waved before departing. The three exhausted men finally arrived at Grimsby late on the evening of the sixth day of their ordeal. The son of a surgeon, Arthur Paget Eyton-Jones was born in Liverpool on July 6th 1920 and educated at Birkenhead Institute School. He enlisted in the RAF in January 1940 and, having trained as a navigator, was posted to No 226, then equipped with the American-built Boston medium bomber. He flew on daylight raids over northern France and Holland before the squadron converted to the Mitchell. After recovering from his ditching, Eyton-Jones transferred to the Mosquitos of No 21 Squadron, part of the Second Tactical Air Force. During a low-level attack in February 1944 against V-1 construction sites, his Mosquito was badly damaged by flak. A few weeks later he was rested after 18 months of continuous operations, almost all at low level during daylight, when losses were heavy. In May 1944 he was awarded a DFC. During his rest tour, Eyton-Jones trained Mosquito navigators and was responsible for survival training, including ditching and sea survival drills on the Norfolk Broads. After a series of asthma attacks, he was grounded in March 1945 and invalided out of the RAF as a flight lieutenant. In 1946 he moved to the Wirral and worked for Littlewoods Pools, rising to a senior position in the Welsh division. He established the Heswall squadron of the Air Training Corps, which he commanded for 15 years. He wrote a book about his wartime experiences, Day Bomber (1998).

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