FlyPast – August 2018

(John Hannent) #1

36 FLYPAST August 2018


Right
Posing in front of 615
Squadron Hurricane
‘KW-F’ is believed to
be Sgt Egan of 501
Squadron. He was
killed in action on
September 17, 1940.
WW2IMAGES

of the crash but thought it was on
marshland south of Ashford.
Climbing out of his Hurricane,
confused and disorientated, Hone
pulled out his revolver and started
firing in all directions. Realising he
was an RAF pilot, soldiers restrained
him and took him to a nearby
house where a lady gave him tea. He
passed out and eventually woke up
in Ashford Hospital.
Thought to have been shot down
as Oberleutnant Hans-Karl Keitel’s
sixth victory, Hone survived the war,
becoming a squadron leader.

CHURCHILL SALUTE
The body of 29-year-old Wg
Cdr Holmwood was retrieved
from Dunlies Wood, south of
Canterbury, and taken to a barn
at nearby Wadden Hall. He was
buried on March 3, 1941 at St
Luke’s Church, Whyteleafe, Surrey.
As 615 Squadron was ‘Churchill’s
Own’, the Prime Minister’s personal
bodyguard, Commander Walter H
Thompson, attended the funeral as
mark of respect.
Frenchman Adjudant René
Mouchotte, also serving with 615
Squadron, was not flying with
the others. That morning he had
trouble with his aircraft and
was stranded on an emergency
airstrip.

In his diary he wrote: “We loved
our CO. He was a great Francophile
and often took our part! His
frightful death, not in combat, is
upsetting everyone. Three planes
lost without anyone seeing a thing.”

VICTORS
On June 30, ‘Jupp’ Joppien brought
down five Soviet bombers near
Bobruysk, bringing his tally to


  1. He was himself shot down in
    early July but returned to duty the
    following month.
    At Jelnja, southwest of Bryansk,
    on August 25, Joppien was flying
    Bf 109F-2 9670 when his luck ran
    out. The 29-year-old was shot down
    by a Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich
    MiG-3, having been credited
    with 70 victories at the time of his
    disappearance, 42 of which were in
    western Europe.
    Immediately after his successful
    combat against 615 Squadron
    on February 26, Hans-
    Karl Keitel


1918 2018

Above
Wg Cdr Holmwood’s
Hurricane Z2354 at
Kenley, a few days
before it crashed at
Hastingleigh. PETER
COOKSLEY

Above right
A bomb-blasted
Hurricane of 615
Squadron after
a raid on Kenley
during the Battle of
Britain, summer 1940.
WW2IMAGES
Free download pdf