FP_2015_05_

May 2015 FLYPAST 55

“We seemed to form legitimate

prey for German and British

defences as well as a worthwhile

target for both the RAF and

German air force. It was quite a

novel experience fighting your

way out of this country, weaving

and dodging on the enemy side,

and then forcing passage back to

your own airfield.”

The 801 Squadron

detachment went into action

on May 31 when nine Skuas,

each carrying a 500lb bomb, were

ordered to attack pontoon bridges

over the Nieuport Canal to the

north-east of Dunkirk. Direct hits

were claimed by the Skuas.

On the way home, north-west

of Nieuport, Belgium, they

were intercepted by a dozen

Messerschmitt Bf

109Es of 3/

JG 26. Skua

L3005,

flown by

attacks in support of the British

Expeditionary Force (BEF).

They were wary of their own

side, as Sub Lt Tom Harrington

recalled: “Our main role was to

cut any bridges the army wanted

‘done’, any enemy installations or

barges, which were found from

our other role of taking part in

a daily reconnaissance of the

local French, Belgian and Dutch

channel ports, and finally

to provide fighter

cover for special

convoys off the

Kent or Essex

coasts.

Sub Lt

Nicholson

was shot

down as was

that of Sub Lt

Robert Strange and

Pty Off Noel Reid.

A third Skua, L2881,

was hit and crash

landed at Manston

with Mid R

M S Martin

and NA R

Hedger

wounded.

They had fallen to Obltn

Arnold Lignits, Ltn

Hans Kobow and Uffz

Karl Heimann.

Among the surviving pilots was

a Royal Marine, Lt Ronnie Hay,

who wrote: “...on one operation

over the Channel coast where it

was thought from a distance that

a Spitfire escort was about to join

us. The ‘Spitfires’, however, had

black crosses and only four [sic] of

801 got back and I was chased by

an Me 109 until finally shaking

him off over North Foreland

[Kent].”

It had not been one-sided, as NA

Miles, the gunner flying in L3030

with Lt ‘Moose’ Martyn, shot

down the Bf 109 flown by Uffz

Werner Francke, who was killed.

Sub Lt Wigginton claimed another

as ‘probable’.

Clockwise

from top left

The section that

claimed 806’s fi rst

success over Dunkirk was

led by Lt Bill Barnes.

D J TRIBE

The bearded CO of 806

Squadron, Lt Cdr Charles

‘Crash’ Evans. VIA B CULL

Lt Ronnie Hay, a Royal

Marine, fought off several

Bf 109s. J STRICKLAND

52-56_Blitzkrieg_fpSBB.indd 55 13/03/2015 10:35