The following day Sqn Ldr Robert Holland
took command and, in a battle over Dover
on the 16th, his squadron claimed four more
destroyed for the loss of Fg Off Laurence
Pyman.
The squadron continued to be heavily
engaged with the Luftwaffe for the rest of
the month but on September 1, after several
months of intensive combat, it was withdrawn
for a rest, moving north to Turnhouse,
Scotland. There it quickly rebuilt and soon
began flying sector patrols and shipping
escorts off the Forth, but saw no fighting.
While there, 65 was designated as the East
India Squadron as part of the policy of linking
units with parts of the Empire and many of
its aircraft later carried this title. By then, 65’s
pilots had claimed 34½ confirmed victories.
In late October, its Spitfires flew some
fighter affiliation with 263 Sqn’s Whirlwinds,
returning south to Tangmere, Sussex, in
November. It was soon back in action
claiming a Bf 110 over Portsmouth but
suffered a great loss on December 12 when
Franklin was killed in action; his final tally was
13 confirmed destroyed and three shared.ON THE OFFENSIVE
Germany had been deterred from launching
an invasion of Britain and in the New Year the
RAF began offensive sorties over occupied
France with 65 escorting small formations of
Blenheim light bombers.
The first victory of 1941 came on the
January 4 when Fg Off Finucane shot down
a Bf 110 off Selsey Bill, Sussex, to claim the
third of his eventual 32 victories. A rare nightsuccess came soon afterwards when Flt Lt
Tom Smart, in X4675, shot down an aircraft
over Portsmouth.
During January, the squadron also began
re-equipping with the improved Spitfire IIa
and were soon using them on sweeps over
Northern France, though it lost two on February
5 during what was termed a ‘Circus’; where a
large force of fighters would escort bombers
and attempt to bring the Luftwaffe to combat.
At the end of February, the squadron
returned to Kirton in Lindsey from where
patrols off the east coast were interspersedwith an intensive period of training. In the
spring of 1941, the squadron once more
began operating over France, usually
refuelling at a south coast airfield en route. It
participated in other ‘Circus’ operations.
One was on February 5 when 65 provided
the forward escort with 610 Sqn to the
Blenheims of 114 and 139 Sqns bombing
targets near St Omer. Ten miles into France,
65 engaged some Bf 109s, three of which
shot down Plt Off G Hill. ‘Paddy’ Finucane
shot down the enemy leader, but a second
Spitfire flown by Sgt H G Orchard was also
lost. This type of mission became the routine
for the rest of the year, with occasional
successes.
For example, on July 8, two Bf 109Fs were
destroyed and another damaged. In early
August Sqn Ldr ‘Pancho’ Villa became OC
and he led 13 squadron aircraft on the 12th to
give withdrawal cover to the bombers that had
attacked the Cologne power stations. During
the sortie he damaged a 109 for his final air
combat claim.
In September, 65 Sqn received some
examples of the cannon-armed Spitfire IIb
and on October 7 went to Westhampnett,
Sussex, where it re-equipped with the more
powerful Spitfire Vb. In addition to bomber
escorts, 65 also began sending pairs of
aircraft out over France to attack targets of
opportunity in what were called ‘Rhubarbs’,
and flew escorts to anti-shipping Hurricane
attacks. One particularly successful escort
was on November 27 in a convoy attack off
Le Havre when two Bf 109s were shot down.
The squadron did some ship hunting of32 Aviation News incorporating Jets January 2018Above: Sqn Ldr Desmond McMullen, with 17
and five shared victories, was already highly
successful pilot when he became OC in the
summer of 1942. P H T Green Collection
Below: A trio of Spitfire Is of 65 Sqn, including
R6712/YT-H and R6714/YT-M, scramble from
Hornchurch on August 13 when the Battle of
Britain was at its height. Author’s collectionSgt Percy Morfill flies one of 65 Sqn’s first Spitfire
Is during the summer of 1939. P F Morfill30-33_raf_spitfireDCDC.mfDC.mfDC.mf.indd 32 04/12/2017 11:35