98 SQUADRON 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
April 2018 FLYPAST 63although a broken valve spring in
Holiday’s machine again forced his
early return.
On April 21, crews were again up
before dawn to take off at 0600hrs to
raid Armentières. Most dropped pairs
of 112lb bombs, but Holiday and
Whyte released a 230-pounder. Thick
ground mist prevented any sight of the
results.
At 0700hrs one of the flights of four
was attacked by more than 20 Fokker
Dr.I triplanes, one of which was sent
out of control by Lt Charles Harrison
in the rear cockpit of C6108 flown by
Lt A M Phillips. Lt F H Wrigley, the
observer in Lt C J Stanfield’s C6199,
sent another Fokker down, although
he was wounded in the process. These
were 98’s first air combat successes.
At about 0715hrs Lt C J Gillan and
his observer Lt W Duce in C6079
machine gunned a kite balloon from
which the observer jumped, but his
parachute did not open. In the early
evening, nine DH.9s set out to hit
a railway and bridge to the east of
Armentières. Several bomb bursts
were seen, after which troops spotted
moving along the Nieppe road were
strafed.RENEWED ASSAULT
The next day, the first aircraft took
off at 0625hrs through ground
mist. Once again, the engine of
Holiday and Whyte’s aircraft proved
troublesome, they struggled back with
a broken valve spring.
Early in the afternoon, 98’s crews set
off once more and at 1315hrs released
bombs from 9,000ft over Steenswerck
in the face of heavy anti-aircraft fire
that resulted in several aircraft being
damaged.
A second raid on SteenswerckAbove left
Fitters checking the
armament on a DH.9.
CAPT D S GLOVERLeft
Detail of the forward-
fi ring machine gun,
cockpit and gunner’s
position in a DH.9.
KEY COLLECTIONBelow left
A 112lb bomb falls
away form a de
Havilland bomber
over the Western
Front. T HENSHAWalthough a broken valve spring in
Holiday’s machine again forced his
early return.before dawn to take off at 0600hrs to
raid Armentières. Most dropped pairs
of 112lb bombs, but Holiday and
Whyte released a 230-pounder. Thick
ground mist prevented any sight of thewas attacked by more than 20 Fokkermaintained by the unit as a whole
in the battles that are to come, and
looks to 98 Squadron to keep up
the reputation it has already gained,
never failing.” Those last words stuck;
the squadron’s motto became ‘Never
Failing’.
TAKING ON FOKKERS
As sleet and snow fell on the 19th, the
Germans attacked towards Béthune
to broaden the southern part of their
salient. This was beaten back, with
heavy casualties, and a period of
relative quiet began.
During one raid by 98 Squadron,
DH.9 C6087 flown by Lts S B Welch
and C T de Guise had its controls shot
away by an enemy scout and crashed
near Lindy, though the crew survived.
Interestingly, the German Jagdstafflen
made no claims on this day.
Early the next morning, the unit’s
DH.9s left Alquines for another raid,