7 S( UAI)RO~ I~ './ORLU WAR II - AJOL

7 S(_UAI)RO~ I~ './ORLU WAR II

(~a•.t 2: 1943.1945)

Middle East

On 2 January 1943 Group Captain Cross of219 Group visited the Squadron. He outlinedthe future of the Squadron. The Squadronwas to intercept Ju 88's which the enemyused to attack the Suez Canal, and wouldalso supply cover to convoys. Arrangementswere made for Maj Blaauw and six pilots togive an anti-tank demonstration at Maqubei-lia in Palestine at 74 OTU.

The following day 7 Squadron received in~structions to move to Benina. At 1315 hoursthe Squadron had packed up and left San-duro The journey to Benina was completedon 29 January.

On 4 February one section of the Squadron'saircraft escorted convoy 'Dimale' to Ben-ghazi. Another convoy. 'Table', was escortedwhen it left Benghazi. On 7 February six air-craft led by Capt Kirby left for Martuba to

Members of 7 Squadron in World War II

Before 7 Squadron assumed duty, practiseinterceptions were carried out daily. A friend-ly Bogey, normally a Beaufort, was used.7 Squadron also went out on night flyingexercises. On 22 January Lt Lovemore waskilled on one of these night flying exercises.He had been on a cross-country flight toDamietta and Tel-el Kibir.

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assist the Squadrons of 16 Sector with ship-ping patrols. Top and bottom cover were pro-vided for the convoy 'Outwit'.

On the 9th orders to move to Bersis werereceived. The Squadron arrived on the 12that Bersis. The same afternoon a section ofthe Squadron provided cover for convoy

Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 5, Nr 3, 1975. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za

'Pilot', which was attacked by a Ju 88. Inthe ensuing combat the enemy aircraft wasshot down. Unfortunate'y. the Squadron lostLt Rosholt who was shot down by AA firefrom the ships in the convoy. Another air-craft piloted by Lt King was also damaged.Another two escort missions were carried outfor convoys 'Roman' and 'Cannon' on the19th. On the 22nd the Squadron again pro-vided cover to convoys 'Season' and 'Casing'.

Despite the fact that the Squadron suppliedcover for convoys, training continued. Nightflying exercises were carried out includingoxygen climbs.

On 26 February the SASO AHQ Egypt, AirCommodore Saunders, paid a brief and in-formal visit to the Squadron. The same after-noon cover was provided for a special con-voy 'Curly'. This convoy consisted of a pas-senger ship, hence the importance. A lessimportant convoy 'Dimple' was also coveredby the Squadron. On February 28 three con-voys, 'Major', 'Angel' and 'Pilot' werecovered. During February the Squadron flew697 hours of which 340 were operational.

On 9 April Capt Frewen announced that theSquadron was to return to the original taskof tank busting. 3 Squadron was to returnto take over 7 Squadron's operational com-mitments. Maj Van Vliet, DFC was posted tothe Squadron as the new Officer Command-ing.

Tank busting training was resumed imme-diately and arrangements were made to builda concrete harmonising base for the HurricaneMk II's with which the Squadron was to beequipped.

On April 12 the AOC-in-C, Air Chief MarshalSholto-Douglas, visited the Squadron and in-formed the OC that 7 Squadron was to beattached to the First Army in Tunisia. Thefollowing morning Maj Blaauw left Bersis totake up his new post. Ten new Hurricane MkII D's were delivered on the same day.

On May 1 news was received that theSquadron was to return to shipping protec-tion. The men found this move a little morti-fying but nothing deterred the morale of 7Squadron and soon the Mk II D's were

Maj Blaauw with 7 Squadron's ground personnel

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handed back and 3 Squadron returned theMk II C's to 7 Squadron. The task of escort-ing convoys commenced once again. Duringthis period a shortage of serviceable aircraftwas once again experienced.

On 24 May instructions were received thatthe Squadron was to move to Derna. Thefollowing morning the Squadron moved offto Derna via Barce, Marava and Lamluda.By the 29th the new camp was completelyorganised.

The Squadron immediately resumed duties.On 1 May four aircraft intercepted two Me109 Recce aircraft. Speed proved a vital fac-tor and 7 Squadron's Mk II C's lost theirprey. In June the Squadron had to takeextra precautionary measures against sabo-tage attempts. Sabotage was expected as alarge number of Italian parachutists weredropped in the southern region of Derna.

Despite this threat 7 Squadron continued itsduties. On 20 June the Squadron escortedconvoy 'Naval'. On 25 June four aircraftwere sent to Gazala to assist 15 Sector inescorting convoy 'Across' and on 1 July aconvoy from Bi Amlid was escorted.

On 2 July the Squadron took delivery of fourSpitfires to be used as interception fighters.Test flights carried out by Maj Van Vliet

and Capt Kirby proved highly satisfactory.By 14 July the four Spitfires were fully opera-tional and had been fitted with all the neces-sary requirements.

A combined operation of 7, 80, 237 and 94Squadrons took place on 23 July. The opera-tion involved a ground straffing attack onGerman troops in Crete. 7 Squadron pro-vided nine aircraft under leadership of MajVan Vliet. Although the targets were neithernumerous nor as good as had been antici-pated, all the pilots participating were de-lighted with the operation. The Squadron dida substantial amount of convoy patrol workand although a number of Spitfire intercep-tion sorties were carried out, no enemy air-craft was sighted.

On 6 August a signal from HQ 212 Groupinformed the Squadron that they were to pro-ceed to St Jean where they were to handover their Hurricane aircraft to 127 Squadron.The Squadron would in return be suppliedwith Spitfires. By the third week in Augustthe Squadron had sixteen Spitfire Mk V's ofwhich thirteen were operationally serviceable.

On 27 August orders were received for theSquadron to move to EI Gamil airfield atPort Said.

Groundcrew with a Spitfire. Note the 20mm gun

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On 3 September news was received of theAllied invasion of Italy. On the 8th news wasreceived of Italy's surrender. Instructionsstating that Italian aircraft or shipping mightunder no circumstances be attacked, werealso received.

The Kos operation

On 10 September six pilots under leadershipof Capt Kirby were instructed to leave on asecret mission. Their destination was onl'ydescribed as 'The Island'. A very secretive

Lt C. Logan doing a wheels-up landing after bursting a tyre on take-off. Note thepropeller's splinters

Lt Logan climbing out - unhurt!

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atmosphere pervaded the entire Squadron asto the new commitments. On 21 Septemberit became known that 7 Squadron had landedon the island of Kos from where they wouldbe operating in the Dodecanese Islands.

After the Allies had invaded Italy, they startedmaking preparations to secure a foothold inthe Aegean. They wanted to seize the islandof Rhodes because its capture would preparethe way for ultimate invasion of Greece. TheGermans realised this fact and doubled theirgarrisons on Rhodes so that the Allies wouldonce again have to rely on their air forcesfor support. This was not forthcoming, forthough the strength of the Allies in the airwas considerable, 't lay rather in bombersand short-range fighters than in long-rangefighters.

The Allies then decided to invade Kos, Lerosand Samos. Kos with its airfield at Antima-chia would be the key to the Aegean andfrom there Rhodes and the other islands ofthe archipelago could be invaded.

On 12 September the British invaded Kos andon the 13th the Spitfires of 7 Squadron fol-lowed.

The Germans on nearby Rhodes and Cretewere soon mounting a counter attack. Kos

was subjected to heavy bombing by Stukasand Ju 88's for a few days. The airfield ofAntimachia was also attacked.

On the 26th the enemy resumed his air offen-sive and soon made conditions in Kos verydifficult. The Spitfires of 7 Squadron took aheavy toll of the attacking planes over theperiod of pre-attack bombing. On the 27thfive Me 109's attacked and shot down LtsPrescott and Hynd (of 7 Squadron) who hadbeen on patrol. Immediately afterwards theisland was bombed and ground-strafed bythree successive waves of Ju 88's. They con-centrated on the dispersal and take-off areas.During these raids Me 109's remained in theair, giving top-cover to the bombers. OneSpitfire was damaged and the landing groundwas made unserviceable. During that after-noon, after the airfield had been renderedunserviceable, Maj Van Vliet and Lt Bassonwere attacked by Me 109's while on patrol.They managed to destroy two enemy air-craft.

On the 28th at 1500 hours another attackwas made by Me 109's and Ju 88's. CaptRorvik and Lts Taylor and De Jager re-taliated.

Two days later news was received over theradio that Kos was being attacked by German

ME 109 salvaged at Mersa Matru

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Paratroops and seaborne forces. On 2 Octo-ber news came that another German attackwas taking place. The Adjutant was instruct-ed by the Air Force Commodore to hold theSquadron in readiness for immediate evacua-tion. The enemy was advancing rapidly. On5 October the advancing German troops drop-ped mortars on the perimeter of 7 Squadron'sairfield. The Squadron then made a hastydep.Jrture to the nearby beaches and tookto boats on which they managed to escapeto another island. Kos was once again in thehands of the Germans after a brief period(only three weeks) of Allied occupation.

During the German offensive 7 Squadron and77 Squadron (RAF) took the brunt of theattack. By the end of the day (26 September)7 Squadron had only four Spitfires whichwere still able to fly. They fought gallantlyand stubbornly before they were overwhelm-ed and put out of operation for a period.

7 Squadron had to be brought up to strengthagain. Immediate arrangements were made fornew postings. Training was to commence assoon as possible.

On 23 October orders were received for theSquadron to proceed to Luigi Da Savoia. TheSquadron handed over its commitments to238 Squadron (RAF) and left.

After Kos

At Savoia the Squadron fell under 212 GroupRAF and operated under direction of 16 Sec-tor. By 1600 hours the entire Squadron hadsettled down, taking over billets from 94Squadron. Capt Stanford (the new OC) waspromoted to Major. Lt Ray Burl was awardedthe DFC as result of his stout efforts on theIsland of Kos.

On 7 November orders were received statingthat the Squadron was to move to Kabrit onthe Suez Canal as soon as possible. Themen started their journey on the morning ofthe 9th. The destination of the Squadron waschanged to EI Gamil, thus it was back to 12Sector and 219 Group again. Being the onlySquadron operating on the station, 7 Squad-ron had quite a difficult task as both fighterand shipping standbys and shipping patrolshad to be dealt with.

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By November 12 the Squadron had settleddown at EI Gami!. An order from Group Cap-tain Aitken instructed the Squadron to fitfour aircraft with 90 gallon long range tanks.Upon completion they were to fly to Nicosiaand Cyprus to relieve a detachment of 74Squadron. The pilots designated for this tourwere Capt Connel and Lts Deakin, Boldingand Montanari. A skeleton party of groundcrew, sufficient for the maintenance of theaircraft, also accompanied the four aircraft.Further aircraft piloted by Lts Burl, Ground,Kelly and Van Heerden were detailed to pro-ceed to the same destination on the followingday. The intention was to employ theseaircraft in fighter sweeps over Mauritza(Rhodes) .

The OC returned from a conference at 219Group HQ and informed the Squadron thatwhile its base remained at EI Gamil, all opera-tions were to be conducted from Cairo-West.Lt Burl received the news of his promotionto Captain on the 21st and heard that he wasto be transferred to 41 Squadron. He was atthis stage one of the few original membersstill with the Squadron.

On 22 November the OC decided to replacefour of the more experienced pilots in Cyprus.Thus Capt Burl and Lts Deakin, Ground andMontanari were replaced by Capt Hughes andLt.:; Binedell, Richter and Atmore. There wereno incidents involving enemy aircraft, eitherat EI Gamil or in Cyprus. A total of 25operational hours was flown by 7 Squadronduring the stay at Cyprus.

The men returned to Cairo-West via Loku on30 November. The pilots handed over theiraircraft to 237 Squadron and went home fromLoku by truck.

On 7 December twelve aircraft (under theleadership of Maj Stanford) escorted a Yorkaircraft carrying President Inonu of Turkeyfrom Cairo to Ismailia.

On 12 December thirteen aircraft took offfrom Cairo-West and flew to Gamil, wherethe Squadron was to be based. There itsevered operational room ties with 238Squadron. It was decided that as far asoperational requirements were concerned, thetwo Squadrons would work 'Standby' and'Convoy' patrol duties on alternate days.


7 Squadron's Personnel 1944

1944-45

7 Squadron continued its patrol duties untilinstructions were received that four aircraftweer to proceed to Daba and six to Maryuton the 16th. No indication was given of theduties these detachments were required toperform, nor of the length of the stay. Thepilots designated for these operations werebriefed on their duties after they had reachedtheir destination. All other Squadrons in 13Sector's area had temporarily been withdrawnfor other duties and the two detachmentswere assigned to take over their commit-ments, normal standby and patrol duties. Onthe 17th the two detachments were orderedto proceed to Idku.

On 22 January seven officers and one hun-dred and one NCO's and other ranks receivedthe 'Africa Star with clasp'. Thirteen officersand fourteen NCO's and other ranks receivedthe 'Africa Star'.

On 8 April 1944 a signal was received from216 Group finalising the move to Italy. Fourflights of four aircraft each were to proceedto Marble Arch (refuel) then to Castel Benito(lunch and refuel). The last hop on the firstday was to Catania via Malta. The followingday the Squadron was to carryon to Trigno.

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The four aircraft landed at Trigno and sur-pr:sed everybody with a perfect landing. Trig-no's landing ground had an evil reputationwith newcomers and apparently 7 Squadronwas the first Squadron to carry out a perfectlanding.

Italy

Intense activity prevailed while the pilotswere settling into their new environment.The ground crew worked like Trojans over-hauling the machines and doing their uitmostto get the aircraft ready for active operationsagainst the Germans. By the 13th all buttwo of the aircraft were ready for the initia-tion flights.

On 14 April twelve aircraft under the leader-ship of Lt Col Bosman did a sweep overthe line. This was to enable the pilots tofamiliarise themselves with the terrain. Thearea covered was: Base - AvezzanoRieti - Terni - Aquila - Base.

The following day the first operational flighttook place. At 1300 hours four aircraft ledby Maj Stanford, together with four aircraftfrom 1 Squadron, escorted twelve Kittyhawkson a mission near Spoleto. After this missionvarious sorties were carried out in conjunc-


tion with 1 and 2 Squadrons. These sortieswere mostly as cover to Kittyhawks andBaltimores.

On 17 April the Squadron drew blood. Re-turning to the base from a Kittoyhawk coversortie, twelve enemy aircraft (Me 109's andFw 190's) were spotted flying in the oppo-site direction. The Squadron attacked andCapt Richter was credited with a kill. Un-fortunately the pilots experienced difficultyin manoeuvering their aircraft to favourablepositions as the extra fuel tanks provedsomething of a handicap.

In April the Squadron moved from the com-parative backwater of the Eastern Mediter-ranean to the front line. 7 Squadron wouldnot only go out on patrol flights but wouldalso carry out escort missions, recce flightsand supply cover for bombing raids. The air-craft that 7 Squadron provided cover for hadremarkable success in their bombing raids.Bridges, railways and convoys were destroy-ed. Credit must be given to the Squadronfor their effective display in such a fine com-bined effort to destroy the enemy.

Thunderbolts of the 57th Pursuit Group oftenattacked the formations 7 Squadron providedcover to. These unfortunate incidents involv-ing USAAF aircraft became a real menacein the air.

On 14 May orders were received that 7Squadron was to move to a new landingground at Sinelli, six miles north of Vasto.The camping facilities at Sinello gave the mena real change. The site was in a wheatfieldand tents were pitched under the trees.

On the 17th the Sqaudron was back tobomber escort missions. The 30 gallon tankswere removed and replaced by 90 gallontanks again.

Col Human DFC led the Squadron on the firstmission the following morning. The objectwas to sever the railway link between Sul-mona and Aquila using 500 Ib bombs. Theresults proved that dive bombing required anenormous amount of practice and better re-sults were anticipated on future sorties. Thesebombing raids continued and the Squadronimproved with every sortie. Over a period often days three hundred and seventeen 500Ib bombs were dropped and an enormousamount of .303 and 20 mm ammunition wasexpended.

The news of the occupation of Rome by theAllies reached the Squadron on 5 June. Thenews was followed by the announcementthat the invasion of Europe had begun. 7Squadron celebrated the news and was proudof the role it had played in the Italian cam-paign.

Sgts Landman, Ruiter and Vize

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After Rome

Bombing and strafiing attacks continued. On11 June the Squadron was ordered to moveto Marcigliana aerodrome about ten milesnorth of Rome. The pilots soon realised thatthe opposition was stiffer than the resistancethey had encountered in the Adriatic Sector.Practically all enemy convoys we,e protectedby LAA with HAA scattered all along themain routes. Adverse weather conditions alsomade flying d:tficult.

The bomb line advanced and 7 Squadron wasmoved to Orvieto. Since the arrival of theSquadron at Orvieto the routes were changedto conform to the new area that was con-centrated on. The new routes were:

110ute "A2": Pontassieve - Dicomano--Rocca San Casciano - Bagno.

Route "B2": Bagno - near Forli - Pen-nabili.

Route "C2": Sansepolcro - Pennabili -Kimini - Fano - Aqualagna.Later, owing to a wider range of ope-rations, a new route was workedout.

Route "0": Poggibonsi - San Casciano- West towards Leghorn - Cecina-. Poggibonsi.

Lt De Jager was the first pilot to completea tour of two hundred hours with 7 Squadron.He attained this honour on 30 June and wasduly grounded.

7 Squadron continued their straffing reccesand bombing operations w:th great success.They caused havoc and during these opera-tions caused considerable damage to railwaysand motor transport. Five hundred and seven-ty nine sorties were flown in June.

On 3 July Capt Connel led an offensive partyover the 'B1' Route. Intense LAA and HAAwere encounterc:1 and the aircraft piloted byLt Matthews was hit.

On the 7th orders were received from WingHeadquarters for the Squadron's 'A' party tomove to their neVJ landing ground near Foia-no Di Chiana, while the rest remained atOrvieto. The order finalizing the move toFoiano LG was received on the 16th and onthe same day the rest of the Squadron settledat their new base.

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The role of the Squadron changed fromground straffing to dive bombing in closesupport of the advancing armie::;. The primaryobject of the bombing was to cut or blockroads, thus hampering enemy communica-tions. The move to Foiano created a changeof bomb line again.

On 18 July the Squadron received four newaircraft, fitted with Merlin 63 engines. Thiswas in accordance with the new policy of re-equ;pping the Squadron with aircraft fittedwith Merlin 63 engines. The aircraft that werereplaced were handed over to 2 and 4Squadrons.

On 23 July the Squadron went on to bomberescort duties and fighter readiness. This was,by way of change, warmly welcomed as thepiiats longed for operations of longer dura-tion. 45 gallon tanks replaced the bomb rackson seven of the aircraft. These seven ma-chines were sent to Fermo LG to carry outbomber escort duties from there.

Tho news was received that His MajestyKing George VI was on a visit to Italy. On27 July the Wing was honoured by his visit.After he had inspected the operations- andbr:efing-rooms at Wing, Maj Stanford andother Squadron Commanders were introducedto him.

July was a very successful month for theSquadron. A total of six hundred and fiftyfive sorties were flown making a total of813 hours. Several members of the Squadronreceived citations signed by the King in re-cognition of their services.

1 August brought the first air raid alarm sincethe Squadron's arrival in Italy. Three JU 87'scarried out a hit-and-run raid. No damage orcasaulaties were reported and Beaufightersshot down one enemy aircraft and damagedanothel'.

On 3 August a call for close support on 5thArmy front led to an attack on gun posi-tions. The target was very difficult to locate,and only one of the four pilots succeededin bombing the target area. Moderate LAAwas encountered in the area. More bombingraids were carried out during the day againstgun emplacements, and various straffing at-tacks against light motor transport resultedin one motor transport vehicle destroyed andother damaged by strikes.


Handcuffing the enemy

Raids continued despite the adverse weatherconditions. On the 4th operational flying waslimited to four sorties. Only one raid had acertain degree of success when the bombswhich were meant to hit a railway line missedthe target and scored direct hits on a roadalongside the railway line. On the 6th theweather cleared up at mid-day and one flighttook off at 1410 hours. On approachingFlorence they found 10/10 cloud to the northand west. It was clear over Borgo SanLorenzo. Failing to find any MT targets, theybombed a road junction and scored onedirect hlt on the road.

On the 17th four air.craft led by Maj Stanfordrendezvoused with eight aircraft of 2 Squad-ron in a raid on the Headquarters of the

278th German Division. 2 Squadron bombedfirst and by the time 7 Squadron's aircraftreached the target there was anti-aircraft fireover the area - 88m flak at 11 000 feet, 40 mat 8 000 feet and 20 mm at 3 000 feet.They bombed and sawall their bombs fallIn the target area and also saw that 2 Squad-ron had two direct hits on the buildings.

Various sorties against railway lines and gunemplacements were carried out during theday with moderate success and no incidentswere recoroed until four aircraft led by CaptMeikle took off to bomb gun positions. Thetarget was located and in order to verify itCapt Meikle and Lt Symons went down to5 000 feet. A barrage of light Anti-a:rcraftopened up and Lt Symons' aircraft was hit.

On 22 August fOLlr aircraft were sent out ona rather unusual task. Lt Schneider of 1

Maj R. H. C. (Bob) Kershaw, D50, DFC

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Squadron had been hit by flak north ofBologna and had to crash land in a field. Hewas not seen to leave the aircraft whichappeared to be more or less intact. Lt Twee-die of 1 Squadron led to show the exactspot and then they had to destroy the ma-chine. Before straffing the pilots made surethat nobody was in the cockpit and the twovehicles standing close to the crash were notstraffed owing to the possibility of Lt Schnei-der being in one of them.

loading in the station yards. It was on theseMrs that the first attack was made. Theyboth went up in flames.

Then the tank-cars standing in the sidingwere attacked. In a matter of moments therewas a huge conflagration. Dense columns ofblack smoke rose to 100 000 feet and theBBC announced that 'the fire and smokecould be seen when the aircraft were 50miles away'. Strikes were also obtained on

Administration staff with Capt Geering sitting in the middle second row

Reports were received from Intelligence thatall pilots had to avoid haystacks as far aspossible. The Germans were camouflagingtheir multiple pom-pom guns as haystacksand these innocent-looking objects would'open up' as the aircraft flew over.

On 25th the Squadron's already rapidlymounting score of destroyed enemy vehicleswas raised when Lts Binedell, Griessel, Fer-rar and Theron destroyed a train of 15 fuel-tank trucks. They had been on a recce mis-sion of the Bologna-Ferrara-Ravenna areabut failing to find any straffing targets in thisarea, Lt Binedell led the flight north of thePo. This was the first time 7 Squadron pene-trated that area.

At the small station of Boschi, a few milesnorth-east of Legana, two Mrs were seen

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four other covered trucks but when the air-craft left, they were not yet burning.

Still they were not satisfied with theirachievement and the flight carried on. Beforecoming home another three motor transportvehicles were destroyed as well as a trailer.

In view of a forthcoming offensive certainmovements of the Squadron were aimed atfooling the enemy, so that he would have noidea from where the Allies were going toattack. Some of 7 Squadron's aircraft wereemployed on a special mission - they hadto fly in the vicinity of the aerodrome usingthe call-signals of the other Squadrons.

On 1 September two formations (three air-craft led by Lt Tribelhorn and four led byLt Atmore) took off to attack Bivonac northof Pisa. Both formations reported bombs had


fallen in the target area. Later that day thesame targets were attacked again. The firstformation had two near misses and the secondformation had three bombs in the target area.On the same day four aircraft led by CaptHughes were sent out to attack motor trans-port reported on the Bagni-San Mercello road.The motor-transport was not located but aroad junction was bombed.

On 2 September four aircraft led by CaptHughes flew to investigate the Pistoia-SanMarcello-Bagni-Lucca-Florence area for move-ment. Failing to find any they bombed thebuildings that were their alternative target.

north of the perimeter and ground dispersal,a few fell among the tents occupied by NMCdetails inflicting casualties and damagingtents. Near misses were also scored at thefuel dump but the situation was taken careof by Lt Theron and Cpl Uys of the equip-ment seeton, who managed to put out allthe fires in the vicinity.

The rest of September was spent on bombingmissions. 53 missions were flown ag3instbuildings, guns, flak positions, dumps, rail-ways, bridges, headquarters and tanks. Fortydirect hits were recorded on buildings, 10 onroads and one on a bridge . Only 5 MT were

Spitfire Mk VIII

Lt Jenkinson, the Squadron's engineering offi-cer, devised and perfected a method of carry-ing two 500 Ib bombs under the Spitfire'sbelly. Maj Kershaw (OC) carried out a test

Twoalso

more damaged.locomotives were

destroyed and twoHDV's and twodamaged.

So it was not a very enterpnslng and event-ful month compared to some of the previousmonths when the Squadron had been inoperation. In November they were moreactive and continued their bombing missions.The targets varied between close support tothe Army and armed recces. During thesecond week the Squadron moved fromRimini airfield to Bellariel and with a runwayonly 1 000 yards long, the pilots were not atall impressed with this move.

On 9 September twelve sorties were flownagainst the village of Mersca during whichseveral buildings received direct hits. An at-tack led by Lt Richter bombed a factory anda bomb falling north-west of the factorycaused an orange explosion and on to theeast a column of black smoke. The factoryitself received a direct hit.

In September the Squadron was employedsolely on bombing missions and as a resultall missions were of a shorter duration. Snagsin serviceability also hampered operationalflying. Despite this setback the Squadrondropped 434 bombs.

On the night of 30 September /1 OctoberRimini LG was attacked by 10 Ju 87's. Anti-personnel and incendiary bombs were drop-ped and while most were dropped 100 yards

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Maj R. H. C. Kershaw, a.c.

flight and to everyone's surprise the extrabomb had very little effect on the aircraft'sperformance. Preparations were then made tomodify all the Squadron's aircraft to carry two500 Ib bombs instead of one.

November was one of the Squadron's mostsuccessful offensive months. Numerous directhits were scored on enemy positions destroy-ing, a considerable amount of material andtransport. The operational plan 'Timothy'proved "devastating to the enemy. (A largenumber of aircraft from various Squadronswere used to cover an area 1 000 yards aheadof the front line.)

Captured German POW's confirmed the factthat the close air support of the Allies wasa major factor in their defeat. They also feltthat the intensity of the attacks from the airwas something they had never seen before.

Winter was setting in and the weather con-tinued to worsen. All the mountain peakswere covered with snow. Bad weather madeflying impossible on a number of days, despitethe Army's calls for air support.

On 2 December 12 aircraft took part in aclose support mission in co-operation withthe Army to invade the town Russi. Intenseand accurate 20 and 40 mm flak was en-

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countered over the target area, but consider-able destruction was caused by the airattacks and the Army took Russi the nextday.

Attacked by Germans

The Germans retaliated and their Ju 87'sattacked 7 Squadron's airfield. Fortunately theintense barrage of flak sent up by 7 Squad-ron's AA avoided a catastrophe. The Germanshad placed their incendiary markers very ac-curately in and around the dispersal area butfailed to follow up with bombing attacks. Thefollowing evening the Beaufighters were wait-ing for them. They attacked at 2030 hoursbut the Beaufighters shot down two anddamaged a third. After this episode there wereno further attacks on the airfield.

Although the Squadron did not do as manysorties as the previous month, its results werethe highest in the Wing. The Squadron canlook back on a very successful 1944.

In 1945 the Squadron continued with bomb-ing missions. During the first four days itflew 142 sorties.

The Squadron also went on bomber escortmissions to Yugoslavia and the Voine area.


Maj Kershaw returning to the Union of South Africa after being released from aP.O.W. Camp

The weather worsened and hampered mis-sions. On a number of occasions the aircrafthad to turn back due to poor visibility.

Because of weather conditions operational fly-ing was limited and so several personnel wereable to have short periods of leave.

In March the Squadron moved to a new campat Marina Di Ravenna. The new site was inpleasant surroundings beside the shores ofthe Adriatic. The front line was only eightmiles away.

This move increased the Squadron's rate ofactivity. More bombing missions were car-ried out. The pilots encountered a lot of re-taliation from the enemy flak and at timesfound themselves in vulnerable positions. TheGermans also increased protection aroundammunition dumps and raids became diffi-cult.

A number of armed recces were flown to en-sure that the enemy did not make a massevacuation of the forward areas. Main roads

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and all important junctions were bombed toimpede the enemy's lines of communication.

In April 7 Squadron was very active. Thefinal defeat of the Germans in Italy seemedimminent, but it was not until May that theysurrendered unconditionally.

Their surrender provided the men with an op-portunity to take leave until the future of theSquadron was decided on. On the 16th Maythe Squadron was moved to Tisso LG. It'wasdecided that no operations would take placeuntil the Squadron was ordered to anothertheatre of war.

On 11 July the Squadron moved off to Leecein Southern Italy. On 8 August they left forTaranto where they embarked on HMT Ber-gensfiord. They arrived at Durban on 10 Sep-tember 1945.

7 Squadron had carried out its task withgreat credit and came out with top honoursthus upholding the motto of the Squadron:

BULALA UMTHAKATI.


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7 S( UAI)RO~ I~ './ORLU WAR II - AJOL