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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth D  Duckenfield, Byron |
[UP] - Daines, Roy - Darch, Norman - Davenport, Fred - David, Dennis - Davies, Leonard - Davis, Alan - Day, Paul - Deere, Al - Denchfield, David - Dickson, William - Diamond, Frank - Doe, Bob - Donnet, Mike - Dowding, Harry - Drake, Billy - Duckenfield, Byron - Duff, Stanley - Duke, Neville - Dundas, Sir Hugh - Dunford, Ted - Dunn, George - Dunning-White, Peter - Dunstan, Donald |
Group Captain Byron Duckenfield AFC
Byron Duckenfield started at Flying Training School on 25th November 1935 in a Blackburn B2 at Brough. As a Sergeant, he joined No.32 Sqn at Biggin Hill on 8th August 1936 and flew Gauntlets and Hurricanes. He joined 74 Squadron at Hornchurch on 11th April 1940, flying Spitfires, and on 5th May was posted to 501 Squadron flying Hurricanes at Tangmere. On the 11th of May at Betheniville, he survived a crash in a passenger transport Bombay aircraft in an aircraft in which he was a passenger, While comin ginto land the aircraft at 200 feet the aircraft stalled and the aircrfat fell backwards just levelly out as it histhe ground. 5 of th epassengers were killed when the centre section collapsed and crushed them. Duckenfield was fortunate as he had moved position during the flight. as the two passengers sitting each side of where he was sitting had died in the crash. (it was found later that the Bombay had beeb loaded with to much weight in the aft sectiion. ) recovering in hospital in Roehampton. On 23rd July 1940, he rejoined No.501 Sqn at Middle Wallop, then moved to to Gravesend two days later, scoring his first victory, a Ju87, on the 29th of July 1940. During August and September he scored three more victories. After a spell as a test pilot from 14th September 1940, he was posted to command 66 Squadron on 20th December 1941, flying Spitfires. On 26th February 1942 he took command of 615 Squadron flying Hurricanes from Fairwood Common, taking the squadron to the Far East. In late December 1942 he was shot down in Burma and captured by the Japanese. He remained a POW until release in May 1945. After a refresher course at the Flying Training School in November 1949, he took command of No.19 Squadron flying Hornets and Meteors from Chruch Fenton. After a series of staff positions, he retired from the RAF as a Group Captain on 28th May 1969. Duckenfield would write later his details :
Burma
At first light, 12 Hurricanes IIC aircraft of 615 Squadron, myself in the lead, took off from Chittagong for central Burma to attack the Japanese air base at Magwe, 300 miles away on the banks of the River Irrawaddy. Arriving at Yenangyaung, we turned downstream at minimum height for Magwe, 30 miles to the South and jettisoned drop tanks. Just before sighting the enemy base, the squadron climbed to 1200 feet and positioned to attack from up sun. On the ramp at the base, in front of the hangers, were 10 or 12 Nakajima KI - 43 Oscars in a rough line up (not dispersed) perhaps readying for take. These aircraft and the hangars behind them were attacked in a single pass, before withdrawing westward at low level and maximum speed. A few minutes later perhaps 20 miles away form Magwe, I was following the line of a cheung (small creek), height about 250 feet, speed aboput 280 mph, when the aircraft gave a violent shudder, accompanied by a very lound, unusual noise. The cause was instantly apparent: the airscrew has disappeared completely, leaving only the spinning hub. My immediate reaction was to throttle back fully and switch off to stop the violently overspeeding engine. Further action was obvious: I was committed to staying with the aircraft because, with a high initial speed, not enough height to eject could be gained without the help of an airscrew. So I jettisoned the canopy and acknowledged gratefully the fact that I was following a creek; the banks of either side were hillocky ground, hostile to a forced landing aircraft. Flying the course of the creek, I soon found the aircraft to be near the stall (luckily, a lower than normal figure without an airscrew) extended the flaps and touched down wheels-up with minimum impact ( I have done worse landings on a smooth runway!) My luck was holding, if one can talk of luck in such a situation. December is the height of the dry season in that area and the creek had little water, it was shallow and narrow at the point where I came down: shallow enough to support the fusalage and narrow enough to support wing tips. So I released the harness, pushed the IFF Destruct switch, climed out and walked the wing ashore, dryshod. The question may occur -Why did not others in the squadron see their leader go down? - the answer is simple, the usual tatctic of withdrawal from an enemy target was to fly single at high speed and low level on parallel courses until a safe distance from target was attained. Then, the formation would climb to re-assemble. Having left the aircraft, I now faced a formidable escape problem? I was 300 miles from friendly territory: my desired route would be westward but 80% of that 300 miles was covered by steep north-south ridges impenetrably clothed in virgin jungle; these were natural impediments, there was also the enemy to consider. Having thought over my predicament, I decided the best I could do - having heard reports of mean herted plainspeope - was to get as far into the hills as possible and then find a (hopefully sympathetic) village. I suppose I may have covered about 15 miles by nightfall when I came upon this small hill village and walked into the village square. Nobody seemed surprised to see me (I suspect I had been followed for some time) I wa given a quiet welcome, seated at a table in the open and given food. Then exhaustion took over, I fell asleep in the chair and woke later to find myself tied up in it. Next day I was handed over to a Japanese sergeant and escort who took me back to Magwe and, soon after that, 2.5 years captivity in Rangoon jail.
Sadly we have learned that Byron Duckenfield passed away on 19th November 2010.
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Byron Duckenfield at a signing session in 2010. |
Byron Duckenfield's Hurricane P3059 (SD-N) of 501 Squadron. |
Byron Duckenfield signing the print Quartet by Gerald Coulson at a signing session in February 2010.
Cranston Fine Arts extend our many thanks to Byron Duckenfield for spending the day (21/2/2010) signing a number of our art prints.
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| Text for the above items : |
Terminal Morane by Ivan Berryman. On the evening of 25th May 1940, Luftwaffe Ace Hans-Ekkehard Bob claimed his third victory, bringing down a French Morane 406 near Cambrai during the Battle of France. |
Total Commitment by Ivan Berryman. On the afternoon of 5th September 1940, Spitfires of 41 Sqn intercepted a large formation of Heinkel 111 bombers and their escorts over the Thames estuary, en route for London. Flying N3162 as Red 2, Flight Lieutenant Eric Lock attacked the bombers head on as they began to turn north. In a fraught combat, Lock was to destroy two He.111s and a Bf.109 on that single mission, setting him on course to become the highest scoring ace in the RAF during the Battle of Britain with sixteen confirmed victories and one shared. His final total at the end of the war was twenty six kills confirmed and eight probables. |
Tribute to Johannes Steinhoff by Graeme Lothian. No text for this item |
Spitfires of No.611 West Lancashire Squadron by Ivan Berryman. Spitfire Mk.IXs of No.611 Sqn including aircraft FY-F belonging to the Commanding Officer of 611 Squadron, Sqn Ldr Hugo Armstrong, on patrol late in 1942. Armstrong scored a victory in this aircraft on 2nd November 1942, bringing down an Fw190 for his only victory with this squadron. With a total of nine victories, he was awarded the DFC in May 1942, and the Bar to the DFC in January 1943, before being shot down and killed over the English Channel in February 1943. |
Lost Over Dunkirk by Ivan Berryman. Spitfire N3289 of F/O John Wilson was shot down over Dunkirk on 29th May 1940 by a Messerschmitt Bf109. |
Can Openers by David Pentland. Two Hawker Hurricane Mk.IID tank busters of No.6 Shiny Six Squadron about to attack retreating axis mechanised units, November 1942 at El Alamein. |
Valiant Response by Robert Taylor. The Spitfires of 54 Squadron, quickly scrambled from nearby Hornchurch, clash with the Me109s from 1./JG51 over Kent. Below, Me110s from KPRG210 are about to receive unwelcome attention as the rest of the Spitfires hurtle down upon them and in the distance, a group of Hurricanes rip through a dense formation of Do17s from KG76 as they struggle back to France. What clouds there are will be unlikely to give much sanctuary and, for the onlookers on the ground far below, the skies will soon be filled with weaving trails of smoke and debris. For nearly a week the Luftwaffe had thrown everything they had into the attack on southern England in order to annihilate RAF Fighter Command, in preparation for Operation Sealion, the invasion of Britain. And, heavily outnumbered, the young RAF Spitfire and Hurricane pilots of Fighter Command had so far repelled them, at a cost. But on Sunday 18 August 1940, the Germans launched the heaviest formations of aircraft seen in the battle so far. This was to be a grinding day of relentless assaults on the airfields of southern England, the hardest day of the Battle of Britain. |
Close Combat by Ivan Berryman. Whilst flying with A Flight of 85 Squadron on 30th July 1940, Geoffrey Allard encountered a pair of Messerschmitt Bf.110s about 40 miles from the coast, apparently patrolling near a convoy. After Squadron Leader Townsend, flying Red 1, had made two unsuccessful attacks, Allard closed to 150 yards and began to fire continuously, eventually closing to just 25 yards, whereupon the starboard engine of the Bf.110 began to disintegrate. This was just one of eight victories that Allard claimed during the Battle of Britain to add to a previous eight that he had scored flying Hurricanes during the Battle of France. |
A Welcome Shore by Ivan Berryman. Hurricane LK-M of No.87 Squadron piloted by Flt Lt Alex Thom DFC limps over the south coast of England on 19th August 1942. While supporting troops on the ground at Dieppe, the Hurricane was hit by ground fire and lost oil pressure. Alex Thom got the damaged aircraft back to Britain, making a forced landing at East Den. Ferried back to 87 Sqns airfield, he immediately set off once more for Dieppe in Hurricane LK-A. |
Victory Over Malta by Ivan Berryman. George Beurling in Spitfire VC BR301 in action against a Macchi 202 over Malta in 1942. |
Ace of Burma - Tribute to Wing Commander Frank Carey by Ivan Berryman. Having been posted to help relieve the pressure on the Allied forces in Burma, Frank Carey's 135 Sqn found themselves immediately in action against the Japanese. On 29th January 1942, Carey's first victim was the Nakajima Ki.27 'Nate' of Sgt-Maj Nagashima of the 77th Sentai, his aircraft falling close to the RAF airfield at Mingaladon Township, Rangoon. The following month, Carey scored again, claiming three more confirmed Ki.27s, a reconnaissance aircraft, a transport aircraft and another Ki.27. |
Tribute to F/Lt Owen Tracey by Ivan Berryman. 79 Sqn Hurricane of F/Lt Owen Tracey trying to get airborne again amid explosions from the attacking German Dorniers on 15th August 1940. |
Close Encounter by Ivan Berryman. Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1As of No.610 (County of Chester) Sqn RAAF, intercept incoming Heinkel 111H-16s of the 9th Staffel, Kampfgeschwader 53 Legion Condor during the big daylight raids on London of August and September 1940 - the climax of the Battle of Britain. Spitfire N3029 (DW-K) was shot down by a Bf109 on the 5th of September 1940 and crash-landed near Gravesend, Kent, thankfully without injury to Sgt Willcocks, the pilot. For the record, N3029 was rebuilt and, following some brief flying in the UK, was sent overseas by convoy to the Middle East. Ironically, the ship carrying this aircraft was torpedoed en route and both ship and all its cargo were lost. |
Quartet by Gerald Coulson. The inspiration for this subject was principally the setting. A low sun turning the tops of towering cumulus to a soft ochre against a backdrop of azure. Through breaks in these massive clouds can be seen a landscape beginning to fade, greens and yellows changing to liquid blues and mauves. All that is now required to complete the picture are the lines of a beautiful aeroplane, provided here by four Spitfires on No.66 Sqn. The aircraft shown are LZ-M, LZ-N, LZ-K and LZ-X. LZ-X was flown by H R Dizzy Allen throughout the Battle of Britain. |
Night Reaper, 4th May 1942 by David Pentland. Hawker Hurricane IIc of top Czech ace Flt. Lt. K.M. Kuttlewascher, No.1 Fighter Squadron on a night intruder sortie from RAF Tangmere. On this mission he destroyed three Heinkel IIIs over their own airfield, St. Andre, in occupied France. |
F/Lt J R Baldwin by Ivan Berryman. F/Lt (later Wing Commander) Baldwin was to become the highest-scoring Typhoon pilot of all with 15 confirmed victories, one shared, one probable and four damaged. He is depicted here downing a Bf.109 in Typhoon 1B, DN360 (PR-A) of 609 Sqn over Beachy Head. |
501 Sqn Scramble by Ivan Berryman. Byron Duckenfield and his 501 Squadron wingman struggle to get airborne in their Hurricanes as the spectacle of the scrambling squadron draws a group of passing motorists out of their vehicle to witness the thunderous noise of the aircraft. |
Time to Leave by Ivan Berryman. Spitfire L1062 (DW-L) of 610 Sqn was hit by flak over Dunkirk on 29th May 1940 and this picture depicts Sergeant Peter Jenkins struggling to get out of the cramped cockpit as his stricken aircraft plunges toward the sea. |
Flt Lt Walter Lawson by Ivan Berryman. Depicting the No.19 Sqn Spitfire Mk.IIA of Flt Lt Walter Lawson attacking a Bf.109 E-4 of JG.3 in the Summer of 1940. The final tally of Lawson before he was listed as missing in August 1941 was 6 confirmed, 1 shared, 3 probables and 1 damaged. The Bf.109 shown here was flown by Oberleutnant Franz von Werra. He survived this encounter, but was shot down over Kent in September 1940. |
Hurricanes over the Houses of Parliament by John Young. (AP) Hurricanes of No.1 Sqn fly over the famous London landmark. |
Land, Sea and Air by Ivan Berryman. Spitfire of 761 Training Squadron (attached to the Royal Navy) flies over the Forth Railway Bridge on the eve of World War Two, also shown is HMS Royal Oak departing Rosyth for the open sea. |
Byron Duckenfield during a signing session in March 2010.
Cranston Fine Arts extend our many thanks to Byron Duckenfield for signing a number of our art prints over a number of sessions.
| Group Captain Byron Duckenfield AFC Aircraft details |
DH.103 Hornet Manufacturer : de Havilland Built : 383 | DH.103 Hornet The Hornet prototype RR 915 first flew on 28 July 1944 with Geoffrey de Havilland Jr. at the controls. Powered by twin Merlin engines, it was the fastest twin piston-engined fighter in Royal Air Force service, a little slower than the fastest (single) piston-engined Supermarine Spiteful. The Hornet also has the distinction of being the second fastest wooden aircraft ever built, after the Heinkel He 162, and the second fastest operational twin propeller-driven aircraft — being slightly slower than the unconventional German Dornier Do 335 of 1945. The Hornet entered service in 1946 with 64 Squadron based at RAF Horsham St Faith. Next to convert to the Hornet was 19 Squadron at RAF Wittering, followed by 41 Squadron and 65 Squadron, both based at RAF Church Fenton. No. 65 Sqn was to participate in one of the first official overseas visits by an RAF unit when they visited Sweden in May 1948. Pilot conversion to the Hornet was provided by No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit (O.C.U.) which was based at RAF Molesworth. Operationally, the Hornet I (later F 1) was to last only a short time before being superseded by the F 3 version. The first Hornet F 3 was PX 366 which flew at the Farnborough Air Show in June 1946. New units to convert to this mark were 33 Squadron, 45 Squadron (based at RAF Tengah, Singapore where, in early 1952, the unit converted to the Hornet from the unreliable Bristol Brigand) and 80 Squadron. Along with 64 Sqn these squadrons operated in Malaysia where they replaced Beaufighters and Spitfires operating against Communist guerrillas during the Malayan Emergency. Armed with rockets and/or 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs Hornets, with their long range and good endurance, were able to spend up to two hours loitering over the target area. They also proved to be very reliable; 45 Sqn Hornets, based in Singapore achieved 4,500 operational sorties over five years. The last operational Hornet sortie was flown on 21 May 1955. On 23 July 1954, two Hornets from RAF Kai Tak in Hong Kong were the first to arrive on the scene of a shootdown of a Cathay Pacific Skymaster off the coast of Hainan Island. All Hornets were withdrawn from operational service by mid-1956 |
Gauntlet Manufacturer : Gloster | Gauntlet No profile available |
 Hurricane Manufacturer : Hawker Built : 14533 | Hurricane Royal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built. |
 Meteor Manufacturer : Gloster Built : 3947 | Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet. Designed by George Carter, and built by the Gloster Aircraft Company, Armstrong-Whitworth, the Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Gloster Meteor was not an aerodynamically advanced aircraft but the Gloster design team succeeded in producing an effective jet fighter that served the RAF and other air forces for decades. Meteors saw action with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in the Korean War and other air forces used the Meteor. The Royal Danish Air Force, The Belgian Air Force and Isreali Air Force kept the Meteor in service until the early 1970's. A Total of 3947 meteors were built and two Meteors, WL419 and WA638, remain in service with the Martin-Baker company as ejection seat testbeds. |
 Spitfire Manufacturer : Supermarine Built : 20351 | Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954. |
| Group Captain Byron Duckenfield AFC Squadron details |
No.19 Sqn RAF Country : UK Known Codes : , QV, WZ, | No.19 Sqn RAF Possunt quia posse videntur - They can because they think they can |
No.32 Sqn RAF Country : UK Known Codes : , GZ, KT, | No.32 Sqn RAF Adeste comites - Rally round, comrades |
No.501 Sqn RAF Country : UK Disbanded 10th March 1957 Known Codes : , SD, RAB, ZH, | No.501 Sqn RAF County of Gloucester, City of Bristol (Auxiliary) Nil time - Fear nothing |
No.615 Sqn RAF Country : UK Disbanded 10th March 1957 Known Codes : , KW, RR, V6, | No.615 Sqn RAF County of Surrey (Auxiliary) Conjunctis viribus |
No.66 Sqn RAF Country : UK Disbanded 20th March 1969 Known Codes : , LZ, HI, RB, | No.66 Sqn RAF Cavete praemonui - Beware, I have given warning |
No.74 Sqn RAF Country : UK Known Codes : , GM, JH, 4D, ZP, | No.74 Sqn RAF Trinidad I fear no man |
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