68 FLYPAST March 2018
FIRST
1918 2018
Right
Flt Lt Myles Duke-
Woolley fl ying a
Blenheim If on a North
Sea patrol on February
14, 1940. 23 SQN RECORDSBelow right
Myles Duke-Woolley,
a former cadet at the
RAF College Cranwell,
and the fi rst pilot to
open 23 Squadron’s
‘account’.
23 SQN RECORDSVICTORYVICTORY
A
restored Blenheim has
graced British skies since
November 2014. The
painstaking renovation by the
Aircraft Restoration Company
team produced a short-nosed Mk.If
fighter, painted in the colours of
L6739 of 23 Squadron.
It was in December 1938 at
Wittering, near Stamford, that 23
Squadron took charge of twin-
engined Blenheim Ifs. The type
transformed the unit’s interception
abilities, replacing obsolescent
Hawker Demon biplanes. Fitted
with an under-fuselage pack carrying
four Browning machine-guns, the
Blenheims were intended for long-
range day and night duties.
By the start of World War Two in
September 1939, the squadron was
fully operational and flew its first
North Sea patrol on October 23. A
week later the Blenheims covered a
force of Royal Navy destroyers 150
miles (241km) out in the North
Sea. Maritime sweeps and shipping
sorties followed uneventfully into
the spring of 1940.FIRST ACTION
The German Blitzkrieg that May
included the first significantnocturnal Luftwaffe activity over
England, followed on June 18
by the first big night battle when
Heinkel He 111s from KG 4
targeted bomber bases in East
Anglia.
Among the fighters scrambled
were seven 23 Squadron Blenheims.
Over the Norfolk coast two of them
spotted He 111H-4 8747 ‘5J+DM’
of Stab II/KG 4 flown by Oblt
Ulrich Jordan. Also aboard was the
Gruppen Kommandeur, Major
Dietrich von Massenbach.
Flying S-for-Sugar, L1458, Sgt
Alan Close went into the attack but
the Blenheim was hit by return fire,
the crew being forced to bale out of
the burning aircraft. Sadly, Close
was killed.
Nearby, Flt Lt Myles Duke-
Woolley, a former Cranwell cadet,
and his gunner, AC Derek Bell,
were in L-for-London. The pilot
later described his first action: “I
was on patrol off the east coast over
the Wash. It was a gin-clear night
and control called me up to say that
German aircraft had been raiding
the Midlands and some of them
were coming our way.
“I looked to the west and could
see a number of searchlights criss-A BLENHEIM OPENED 23 SQUADRON’S ‘ACCOUNT’ BY DOWNING A HEINKEL
HE 111. BUT, AS ANDREW THOMAS EXPLAINS, THE TRIUMPH WAS COSTLY
crossing about, so called back to
say that it looked as if [they] had
somebody, and should I investigate?
I was told no, it was being dealt
with, so I just watched.