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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Squadrons UK and Commonwealth No.225 Sqn to No.269 Sqn  No.269 Sqn |
[UP] - No.225 Sqn - No.228 Sqn - No.229 Sqn - No.234 Sqn - No.235 Sqn - No.236 Sqn - No.238 Sqn - No.240 Sqn - No.242 Sqn - No.243 Sqn - No.244 Sqn - No.245 Sqn - No.247 Sqn - No.248 Sqn - No.249 Sqn - No.253 Sqn - No.254 Sqn - No.257 Sqn - No.261 Sqn - No.262 Sqn - No.263 Sqn - No.264 Sqn - No.266 Sqn - No.269 Sqn |
Omnia videmus - We see all things
No. 269 Squadron was transferred to RAF Wick on 10 October 1939, and executed aerial attacks against surfaced German U-boats on 15 September, 18 October, 28 October, 3 November, 19 November, and 3 December. Postwar examination of Kriegsmarine records showed that these attacks either did little damage or a U-boat was not on patrol in the area of attack
Aircraft from No. 269 Squadron made six separate attacks on German U-boats during February 1940, plus attacks on 8 August. No. 269 Squadron also carried out a number of missions in addition to its maritime patrol duties:
1 March — The Stavanger airfield was attacked.
11 June — The German battleships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Admiral Hipper were attacked while at anchor in Trondheim harbor.
22 June — Aircraft from the No. 269 Squadron and No. 442 Squadron RAF attacked the German battleship Scharnhorst while at sea north of Bergen, but inflicted little damage on the German warship.
27 June — No. 269 Squadron executed a special mission reconnaissance of Norwegian coast.
The squadron also began receiving new Lockheed Hudson patrol bombers starting in March 1940, completing the transition on 15 April, while it ceased operating Avro Anson aircraft as of 1 June. By 15 July, No, 269 Squadron was fully operational with 18 Hudson Mk1 aircraft
After a year of operations against enemy shipping from RAF Wick, No. 269 Squadron began transferring to Iceland starting on 12 April 1941, with the last Hudson aircraft arriving on 30 May. The squadron completed its re-deployment to Iceland on 10 July. A detachment of No. 269 Squadron deployed to RAF Reykjavik on 12 December.[4]
On 9 April, six aircraft from RAF Wick bombed the aluminium factory at Hoyanger, Norway. Also during late May, the squadron participated in the pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck. Aircraft from No. 269 Squadron also made four separate attacks on surfaced U-boats during June. On 6 August, Hudson patrol bombers from No. 269 Squadron escorted USAF fighter aircraft of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron to the Reykjavik airfield after being catapulted off the aircraft carrier USS Wasp. On 16 August, No. 269 Squadron flew twelve sorties escorting the battleship HMS Prince of Wales, with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill aboard for the upcoming, top-secret conference with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Aircraft from No. 269 Squadron made four separate attacks on surfaced U-boats during June. Aircraft of the No. 269 Squadron also attacked U-432 on 29 August, U-85 on 2 September, and U-439 and U-552 on 14 September, and they were also present during the Greer Incident.
On 27 August 1941, Squadron Leader J.H. Thompson of the No. 269 Squadron made RAF history by becoming the only aircraft captain to have a U-boat (U-570) surrender to him. Thompson and his navigator/bomb-aimer—Flying Officer John Coleman—were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 23 September 1941
Aircraft of the No. 269 Squadron attacked U-510 on 14 July, U-609 on 23 July, U-164 and U-210 on 26 July, and U-595 on 30 July and 31 July. No. 269 aircraft made eight separate U-boat attacks during August. Six U-boats were attacked during September. U-183 was attacked on 3 October. No. 269 Squadron scored its first confirmed U-boat kill by sinking U-619 on 5 October
| No.269 Sqn Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings Aviation Prints |
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| Text for the above items : |
Hudson Attack by Marii Chernev. On October 5th 1942 Lockheed Hudson N of 269 Squadron encountered and sank U-619 which was on its first patrol. |
| No.269 Sqn RAF Aircraft details |
 Anson Manufacturer : Avro Built : 11020 | Anson he Avro Anson originated from the Avro 652 commercial aircraft which first flew on 7th January 1935. It was a twin-engine British-built multi-role aircraft which saw distinctive service with both the Royal Air Force and The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm as well as The Royal Canadian Air Force during and after the Second World War. The prototype 652A first flew at Woodford on 7th January 1935 and was developed from an initial airliner design and named after Admiral George Anson. The adaptation for a coastal reconnaissance role resulted in the production variant, the Avro 652a, which flew at Woodford on New Years Eve 1935 with the type entering service in March 1936 as the Anson Mk1. Initially it was flown with a 3-man crew but later developments in its reconnaissance role required a 4th crew member. The Anson entered service on 6 March 1936 with 48 Squadron equipped with the Anson. At the start of the Second World War, the RAF had received 824 Ansons and there were 26 RAF squadrons operating the Anson I: 10 with Coastal Command and 16 with Bomber Command. All of the squadrons in Bomber Command in 1939 with Anson Is were operational training squadrons that prepared crews for frontline service. 12 of the squadrons were in No. 6 (Operational Training) Group. Newly formed crews having completed individual flying and technical training were first trained as bomber crews in Ansons and then advanced to the various frontline aircraft types, which were also in the same squadrons with the Ansons. After training in the frontline aircraft type, crews would advance to the frontline bomber squadrons with those aircraft types (Fairey Battle, Bristol Blenheim, Vickers Wellington, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, and Handley-Page Hampden). At the start of the war, the Lockheed Hudson was beginning to replace the Ansons in Coastal Command with one squadron of Hudsons and one with both Ansons and Hudsons. Limited numbers of Ansons continued to serve in operational roles such as coastal patrols and air/sea rescue. Early in the war, an Anson scored a probable hit on a German U-boat. In June 1940, a flight of three Ansons was attacked by nine Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109s. Remarkably, before the dogfight ended, without losing any of their own, one of the Ansons destroyed two German aircraft and damaged a third. The aircraft's true role, however, was to train pilots for flying multi-engined bombers such as the Avro Lancaster. The Anson was also used to train the other members of a bomber's aircrew, such as navigators, wireless operators, bomb aimers and air gunners. Postwar, the Anson continued in the training and light transport roles. The last Ansons were withdrawn from RAF service with communications units on 28 June 1968. The Royal Australian Air Force operated 1,028 Ansons, mainly Mk Is, until 1955 |
 Hudson Manufacturer : Lockheed Built : 2584 | Hudson In 1938, the British Purchasing Commission sought an American maritime patrol aircraft and light bomber for the United Kingdom to support the Royal Air Force's Avro Anson. On 10th December 1938, Lockheed produced a modified version of the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra which was a commercial airliner and the Hudson Mk I went into production. The Hudson was the first significant aircraft construction contract for the Lockhead Aircraft Corporation with the initial RAF order for 200 Hudsons far surpassed any previous order the company had received. By February 1939, Hudsons began to be delivered. A total of 350 Mk I and 20 Mk II Hudsons were supplied in total. These had two fixed Browning machine guns in the nose and two more in a Boulton Paul dorsal turret. Initially the first batch of Hudsons were supplied to No.224 Squadron RAF based at RAF Leuchers in May 1939. By the start of the war in September 78 Hudsons were in service. Not only did the RAF use the Hudson but the Hudson also served throughout the war with Coastal Command and was also used in transport and training roles as well as delivering agents into occupied France. They were also used extensively with the Royal Canadian Air Force wiht their anti-submarine squadrons. They were operated by RAF Special Duties squadrons for clandestine operations, with No.161 Squadron in Europe and No.357 Squadron operating in Burma. During the war, they were used as maritime patrol aircraft in the Pacific by the US Navy, the RAAF and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. A total of 2,584 Hudsons were built. They began to be withdrawn from front line service in 1944. The Hudson provided the basis for the development of the Lockhead Ventura. |
 Shackleton Manufacturer : Avro | Shackleton The first prototype flew on 9th March 1949. The Shackleton was a development of the famous Avro Lancaster Bomber. and the Shackleton was designed for use for coastal Command. The First RAF squadrons to be equipped with the aircraft were NO. 120 squadron at Kinloss in 1951 followed by another 7 squadrons by 1953. The MR2 mark aircrafts began replacing the mK1's in 1954.. These aircraft saw long service with the last MR3 being retired in 1971 but a Airborne early warning variant joined no 8 squadron in January 1972. Crew: six to ten. Speed: 302 mph. range: 4215 at 200 mph at 1500 feet. Service ceiling 19,200 feet. Armament: two 20mm Hispano cannon in nose, two 20mm Hispano cannon in B.17 dorsal turret. Two .50in machine guns in tail |
 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. |
Warwick | Warwick No profile available |
| No.269 Sqn RAF Pilot and aircrew signature details |
Air Chief Marshal Sir John Barraclough KCB, CBE, DFC, AFC Our estimated value of this signature : £45 Died : 2008 | Air Chief Marshal Sir John Barraclough KCB, CBE, DFC, AFC Joined the RAF in 1938 and flew continuously on maritime-air duties before and during the war in Coastal and overseas Commands on flying boats and landplanes with Nos. 209, 240 and 269 squadrons. During the war he operated initially from a Flying Boat depot ship in the Shetlands on reconnaissance over the North Sea and to Norway. He moved later to the West Coast for anti-submarine and onvoy escort duties before going overseas for the Madagascar campaign in the Indian Ocean where his squadron operated from bare island bases to secure the Cape route for our shipping after control of the Mediterranean had been lost. For a while he commanded the captured Italian airfield at Mogadishu before returning to the UK as Chief Instructor at the Flying Boat Operational Training Unit in Northern Ireland. In his career Sir John served in five operational Commands at home and overseas and spent time in Training Command as a wing commander at the world famous Central Flying School. Above squadron level he commanded two jet fighter stations and a maritime patrol group; interspersed with various staff appointments including that of Vice Chief of Defence Staff. Sir John has flown over 70 different aircraft types and in the early fifties made the first single-engined jet flight to South Africa from the UK. He died on 10th May 2008. |
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