7 Squadron in World War II

Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 5, Nr 3, 1975. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za

7 S(_UAI)RO~ I~ './ORLU WAR II

(~a•.t 2: 1943.1945)

Middle East The following day 7 Squadron received in~ structions to move to Benina. At 1315 hours On 2 January 1943 Group Captain Cross of the Squadron had packed up and left San- 219 Group visited the Squadron. He outlined duro The journey to Benina was completed the future of the Squadron. The Squadron on 29 January. was to intercept Ju 88's which the enemy used to attack the Suez Canal, and would On 4 February one section of the Squadron's also supply cover to convoys. Arrangements aircraft escorted convoy 'Dimale' to Ben- were made for Maj Blaauw and six pilots to ghazi. Another convoy. 'Table', was escorted give an anti-tank demonstration at Maqubei- when it left Benghazi. On 7 February six air- lia in Palestine at 74 OTU. craft led by Capt Kirby left for Martuba to

Members of 7 Squadron in World War II

Before 7 Squadron assumed duty, practise assist the Squadrons of 16 Sector with ship- interceptions were carried out daily. A friend- ping patrols. Top and bottom cover were pro- ly Bogey, normally a Beaufort, was used. vided for the convoy 'Outwit'. 7 Squadron also went out on night flying exercises. On 22 January Lt Lovemore was On the 9th orders to move to Bersis were killed on one of these night flying exercises. received. The Squadron arrived on the 12th He had been on a cross-country flight to at Bersis. The same afternoon a section of Damietta and Tel-el Kibir. the Squadron provided cover for convoy

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'Pilot', which was attacked by a Ju 88. In On 9 April Capt Frewen announced that the the ensuing combat the enemy aircraft was Squadron was to return to the original task shot down. Unfortunate'y. the Squadron lost of tank busting. 3 Squadron was to return Lt Rosholt who was shot down by AA fire to take over 7 Squadron's operational com- from the ships in the convoy. Another air- mitments. Maj Van Vliet, DFC was posted to craft piloted by Lt King was also damaged. the Squadron as the new Officer Command- Another two escort missions were carried out ing. for convoys 'Roman' and 'Cannon' on the 19th. On the 22nd the Squadron again pro- Tank busting training was resumed imme- vided cover to convoys 'Season' and 'Casing'. diately and arrangements were made to build a concrete harmonising base for the Hurricane Despite the fact that the Squadron supplied Mk II's with which the Squadron was to be cover for convoys, training continued. Night equipped. flying exercises were carried out including oxygen climbs. On April 12 the AOC-in-C, Air Chief Marshal Sholto-Douglas, visited the Squadron and in- On 26 February the SASO AHQ Egypt, Air formed the OC that 7 Squadron was to be Commodore Saunders, paid a brief and in- attached to the First Army in Tunisia. The formal visit to the Squadron. The same after- following morning Maj Blaauw left Bersis to noon cover was provided for a special con- take up his new post. Ten new Hurricane Mk voy 'Curly'. This convoy consisted of a pas- II D's were delivered on the same day. senger ship, hence the importance. A less important convoy 'Dimple' was also covered On May 1 news was received that the by the Squadron. On February 28 three con- Squadron was to return to shipping protec- voys, 'Major', 'Angel' and 'Pilot' were tion. The men found this move a little morti- covered. During February the Squadron flew fying but nothing deterred the morale of 7 697 hours of which 340 were operational. Squadron and soon the Mk II D's were

Maj Blaauw with 7 Squadron's ground personnel

53 Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 5, Nr 3, 1975. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za

handed back and 3 Squadron returned the and Capt Kirby proved highly satisfactory. Mk II C's to 7 Squadron. The task of escort- By 14 July the four Spitfires were fully opera- ing convoys commenced once again. During tional and had been fitted with all the neces- this period a shortage of serviceable aircraft sary requirements. was once again experienced. A combined operation of 7, 80, 237 and 94 On 24 May instructions were received that Squadrons took place on 23 July. The opera- the Squadron was to move to Derna. The tion involved a ground straffing attack on following morning the Squadron moved off German troops in Crete. 7 Squadron pro- to Derna via Barce, Marava and Lamluda. vided nine aircraft under leadership of Maj By the 29th the new camp was completely Van Vliet. Although the targets were neither organised. numerous nor as good as had been antici- The Squadron immediately resumed duties. pated, all the pilots participating were de- On 1 May four aircraft intercepted two Me lighted with the operation. The Squadron did 109 Recce aircraft. Speed proved a vital fac- a substantial amount of convoy patrol work tor and 7 Squadron's Mk II C's lost their and although a number of Spitfire intercep- prey. In June the Squadron had to take tion sorties were carried out, no enemy air- extra precautionary measures against sabo- craft was sighted. tage attempts. Sabotage was expected as a large number of Italian parachutists were On 6 August a signal from HQ 212 Group dropped in the southern region of Derna. informed the Squadron that they were to proceed to St Jean where they were to hand Despite this threat 7 Squadron continued its over their Hurricane aircraft to 127 Squadron. duties. On 20 June the Squadron escorted The Squadron would in return be supplied convoy 'Naval'. On 25 June four aircraft with Spitfires. By the third week in August were sent to Gazala to assist 15 Sector in the Squadron had sixteen Spitfire Mk V's of escorting convoy 'Across' and on 1 July a which thirteen were operationally serviceable. convoy from Bi Amlid was escorted. On 2 July the Squadron took delivery of four On 27 August orders were received for the Spitfires to be used as interception fighters. Squadron to move to EI Gamil airfield at Test flights carried out by Maj Van Vliet Port Said.

Groundcrew with a Spitfire. Note the 20mm gun

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On 3 September news was received of the The Kos operation Allied invasion of Italy. On the 8th news was received of Italy's surrender. Instructions On 10 September six pilots under leadership stating that Italian aircraft or shipping might of Capt Kirby were instructed to leave on a under no circumstances be attacked, were secret mission. Their destination was onl'y also received. described as 'The Island'. A very secretive

Lt C. Logan doing a wheels-up landing after bursting a tyre on take-off. Note the propeller's splinters

Lt Logan climbing out - unhurt!

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atmosphere pervaded the entire Squadron as was subjected to heavy bombing by Stukas to the new commitments. On 21 September and Ju 88's for a few days. The airfield of it became known that 7 Squadron had landed Antimachia was also attacked. on the island of Kos from where they would On the 26th the enemy resumed his air offen- be operating in the Dodecanese Islands. sive and soon made conditions in Kos very After the Allies had invaded Italy, they started difficult. The Spitfires of 7 Squadron took a making preparations to secure a foothold in heavy toll of the attacking planes over the the Aegean. They wanted to seize the island period of pre-attack bombing. On the 27th of Rhodes because its capture would prepare five Me 109's attacked and shot down Lts the way for ultimate invasion of Greece. The Prescott and Hynd (of 7 Squadron) who had Germans realised this fact and doubled their been on patrol. Immediately afterwards the garrisons on Rhodes so that the Allies would island was bombed and ground-strafed by once again have to rely on their air forces three successive waves of Ju 88's. They con- for support. This was not forthcoming, for centrated on the dispersal and take-off areas. though the strength of the Allies in the air During these raids Me 109's remained in the was considerable, 't lay rather in bombers air, giving top-cover to the bombers. One and short-range fighters than in long-range Spitfire was damaged and the landing ground fighters. was made unserviceable. During that afternoon, after the airfield had been rendered The Allies then decided to invade Kos, Leros unserviceable, Maj Van Vliet and Lt Basson and Samos. Kos with its airfield at Antima- were attacked by Me 109's while on patrol. chia would be the key to the Aegean and They managed to destroy two enemy air- from there Rhodes and the other islands of craft. the archipelago could be invaded. On the 28th at 1500 hours another attack On 12 September the British invaded Kos and was made by Me 109's and Ju 88's. Capt on the 13th the Spitfires of 7 Squadron fol- Rorvik and Lts Taylor and De Jager re- lowed. taliated.

The Germans on nearby Rhodes and Crete Two days later news was received over the were soon mounting a counter attack. Kos radio that Kos was being attacked by German

ME 109 salvaged at Mersa Matru

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Paratroops and seaborne forces. On 2 Octo- By November 12 the Squadron had settled ber news came that another German attack down at EI Gami!. An order from Group Cap- was taking place. The Adjutant was instruct- tain Aitken instructed the Squadron to fit ed by the Air Force Commodore to hold the four aircraft with 90 gallon long range tanks. Squadron in readiness for immediate evacua- Upon completion they were to fly to Nicosia tion. The enemy was advancing rapidly. On and Cyprus to relieve a detachment of 74 5 October the advancing German troops drop- Squadron. The pilots designated for this tour ped mortars on the perimeter of 7 Squadron's were Capt Connel and Lts Deakin, Bolding airfield. The Squadron then made a hasty and Montanari. A skeleton party of ground dep.Jrture to the nearby beaches and took crew, sufficient for the maintenance of the to boats on which they managed to escape aircraft, also accompanied the four aircraft. to another island. Kos was once again in the Further aircraft piloted by Lts Burl, Ground, hands of the Germans after a brief period Kelly and Van Heerden were detailed to pro- (only three weeks) of Allied occupation. ceed to the same destination on the following day. The intention was to employ these During the German offensive 7 Squadron and aircraft in fighter sweeps over Mauritza 77 Squadron (RAF) took the brunt of the (Rhodes) . attack. By the end of the day (26 September) 7 Squadron had only four Spitfires which The OC returned from a conference at 219 were still able to fly. They fought gallantly Group HQ and informed the Squadron that and stubbornly before they were overwhelm- while its base remained at EI Gamil, all opera- ed and put out of operation for a period. tions were to be conducted from Cairo-West. Lt Burl received the news of his promotion 7 Squadron had to be brought up to strength to Captain on the 21st and heard that he was again. Immediate arrangements were made for to be transferred to 41 Squadron. He was at new postings. Training was to commence as this stage one of the few original members soon as possible. still with the Squadron.

On 22 November the OC decided to replace On 23 October orders were received for the four of the more experienced pilots in Cyprus. Squadron to proceed to Luigi Da Savoia. The Thus Capt Burl and Lts Deakin, Ground and Squadron handed over its commitments to Montanari were replaced by Capt Hughes and 238 Squadron (RAF) and left. Lt.:; Binedell, Richter and Atmore. There were no incidents involving enemy aircraft, either After Kos at EI Gamil or in Cyprus. A total of 25 operational hours was flown by 7 Squadron At Savoia the Squadron fell under 212 Group during the stay at Cyprus. RAF and operated under direction of 16 Sec- tor. By 1600 hours the entire Squadron had The men returned to Cairo-West via Loku on settled down, taking over billets from 94 30 November. The pilots handed over their Squadron. Capt Stanford (the new OC) was aircraft to 237 Squadron and went home from promoted to Major. Lt Ray Burl was awarded Loku by truck. the DFC as result of his stout efforts on the Island of Kos. On 7 December twelve aircraft (under the leadership of Maj Stanford) escorted a York On 7 November orders were received stating aircraft carrying President Inonu of Turkey that the Squadron was to move to Kabrit on from Cairo to Ismailia. the Suez Canal as soon as possible. The men started their journey on the morning of On 12 December thirteen aircraft took off the 9th. The destination of the Squadron was from Cairo-West and flew to Gamil, where changed to EI Gamil, thus it was back to 12 the Squadron was to be based. There it Sector and 219 Group again. Being the only severed operational room ties with 238 Squadron operating on the station, 7 Squad- Squadron. It was decided that as far as ron had quite a difficult task as both fighter operational requirements were concerned, the and shipping standbys and shipping patrols two Squadrons would work 'Standby' and had to be dealt with. 'Convoy' patrol duties on alternate days.

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7 Squadron's Personnel 1944

1944-45 The four aircraft landed at Trigno and sur- pr:sed everybody with a perfect landing. Trig- 7 Squadron continued its patrol duties until no's landing ground had an evil reputation instructions were received that four aircraft with newcomers and apparently 7 Squadron weer to proceed to Daba and six to Maryut was the first Squadron to carry out a perfect on the 16th. No indication was given of the landing. duties these detachments were required to perform, nor of the length of the stay. The Italy pilots designated for these operations were briefed on their duties after they had reached Intense activity prevailed while the pilots their destination. All other Squadrons in 13 were settling into their new environment. Sector's area had temporarily been withdrawn The ground crew worked like Trojans over- for other duties and the two detachments hauling the machines and doing their uitmost were assigned to take over their commit- to get the aircraft ready for active operations ments, normal standby and patrol duties. On against the Germans. By the 13th all but the 17th the two detachments were ordered two of the aircraft were ready for the initia- to proceed to Idku. tion flights.

On 22 January seven officers and one hun- On 14 April twelve aircraft under the leader- dred and one NCO's and other ranks received ship of Lt Col Bosman did a sweep over the 'Africa Star with clasp'. Thirteen officers the line. This was to enable the pilots to and fourteen NCO's and other ranks received familiarise themselves with the terrain. The the 'Africa Star'. area covered was: Base - Avezzano Rieti - Terni - Aquila - Base. On 8 April 1944 a signal was received from 216 Group finalising the move to Italy. Four The following day the first operational flight flights of four aircraft each were to proceed took place. At 1300 hours four aircraft led to Marble Arch (refuel) then to Castel Benito by Maj Stanford, together with four aircraft (lunch and refuel). The last hop on the first from 1 Squadron, escorted twelve Kittyhawks day was to Catania via Malta. The following on a mission near Spoleto. After this mission day the Squadron was to carryon to Trigno. various sorties were carried out in conjunc-

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tion with 1 and 2 Squadrons. These sorties On 14 May orders were received that 7 were mostly as cover to Kittyhawks and Squadron was to move to a new landing Baltimores. ground at Sinelli, six miles north of Vasto. The camping facilities at Sinello gave the men On 17 April the Squadron drew blood. Re- a real change. The site was in a wheatfield turning to the base from a Kittoyhawk cover and tents were pitched under the trees. sortie, twelve enemy aircraft (Me 109's and Fw 190's) were spotted flying in the oppo- On the 17th the Sqaudron was back to site direction. The Squadron attacked and bomber escort missions. The 30 gallon tanks Capt Richter was credited with a kill. Un- were removed and replaced by 90 gallon fortunately the pilots experienced difficulty tanks again. in manoeuvering their aircraft to favourable Col Human DFC led the Squadron on the first positions as the extra fuel tanks proved mission the following morning. The object something of a handicap. was to sever the railway link between Sul- In April the Squadron moved from the com- mona and Aquila using 500 Ib bombs. The parative backwater of the Eastern Mediter- results proved that dive bombing required an ranean to the front line. 7 Squadron would enormous amount of practice and better re- not only go out on patrol flights but would sults were anticipated on future sorties. These also carry out escort missions, recce flights bombing raids continued and the Squadron and supply cover for bombing raids. The air- improved with every sortie. Over a period of craft that 7 Squadron provided cover for had ten days three hundred and seventeen 500 remarkable success in their bombing raids. Ib bombs were dropped and an enormous Bridges, railways and convoys were destroy- amount of .303 and 20 mm ammunition was ed. Credit must be given to the Squadron expended. for their effective display in such a fine com- The news of the occupation of Rome by the bined effort to destroy the enemy. Allies reached the Squadron on 5 June. The Thunderbolts of the 57th Pursuit Group often news was followed by the announcement attacked the formations 7 Squadron provided that the invasion of Europe had begun. 7 cover to. These unfortunate incidents involv- Squadron celebrated the news and was proud ing USAAF aircraft became a real menace of the role it had played in the Italian cam- in the air. paign.

Sgts Landman, Ruiter and Vize

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After Rome The role of the Squadron changed from ground straffing to dive bombing in close Bombing and strafiing attacks continued. On support of the advancing armie::;. The primary 11 June the Squadron was ordered to move object of the bombing was to cut or block to Marcigliana aerodrome about ten miles roads, thus hampering enemy communica- north of Rome. The pilots soon realised that tions. The move to Foiano created a change the opposition was stiffer than the resistance of bomb line again. they had encountered in the Adriatic Sector. On 18 July the Squadron received four new Practically all enemy convoys we,e protected aircraft, fitted with Merlin 63 engines. This by LAA with HAA scattered all along the was in accordance with the new policy of re- main routes. Adverse weather conditions also equ;pping the Squadron with aircraft fitted made flying d:tficult. with Merlin 63 engines. The aircraft that were The bomb line advanced and 7 Squadron was replaced were handed over to 2 and 4 moved to Orvieto. Since the arrival of the Squadrons. Squadron at Orvieto the routes were changed On 23 July the Squadron went on to bomber to conform to the new area that was con- escort duties and fighter readiness. This was, centrated on. The new routes were: by way of change, warmly welcomed as the 110ute "A2": Pontassieve - Dicomano-- piiats longed for operations of longer duration. 45 gallon tanks replaced the bomb racks Rocca San Casciano - Bagno. Route "B2": Bagno - near Forli - Pen- on seven of the aircraft. These seven machines were sent to Fermo LG to carry out nabili. bomber escort duties from there. Route "C2": Sansepolcro - Pennabili - Kimini - Fano - Aqualagna. Tho news was received that His Majesty Later, owing to a wider range of ope- King George VI was on a visit to Italy. On rations, a new route was worked 27 July the Wing was honoured by his visit. out. After he had inspected the operations- and Route "0": Poggibonsi - San Casciano br:efing-rooms at Wing, Maj Stanford and - West towards Leghorn - Cecina other Squadron Commanders were introduced -. Poggibonsi. to him.

Lt De Jager was the first pilot to complete July was a very successful month for the a tour of two hundred hours with 7 Squadron. Squadron. A total of six hundred and fifty He attained this honour on 30 June and was five sorties were flown making a total of duly grounded. 813 hours. Several members of the Squadron received citations signed by the King in re- 7 Squadron continued their straffing recces cognition of their services. and bombing operations w:th great success. They caused havoc and during these opera- 1 August brought the first air raid alarm since tions caused considerable damage to railways the Squadron's arrival in Italy. Three JU 87's and motor transport. Five hundred and seven- carried out a hit-and-run raid. No damage or ty nine sorties were flown in June. casaulaties were reported and Beaufighters shot down one enemy aircraft and damaged On 3 July Capt Connel led an offensive party anothel'. over the 'B1' Route. Intense LAA and HAA were encounterc:1 and the aircraft piloted by On 3 August a call for close support on 5th Lt Matthews was hit. Army front led to an attack on gun positions. The target was very difficult to locate, On the 7th orders were received from Wing and only one of the four pilots succeeded Headquarters for the Squadron's 'A' party to in bombing the target area. Moderate LAA move to their neVJ landing ground near Foia- was encountered in the area. More bombing no Di Chiana, while the rest remained at raids were carried out during the day against Orvieto. The order finalizing the move to gun emplacements, and various straffing at- Foiano LG was received on the 16th and on tacks against light motor transport resulted the same day the rest of the Squadron settled in one motor transport vehicle destroyed and at their new base. other damaged by strikes.

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Handcuffing the enemy 278th German Division. 2 Squadron bombed first and by the time 7 Squadron's aircraft Raids continued despite the adverse weather reached the target there was anti-aircraft fire conditions. On the 4th operational flying was over the area - 88m flak at 11 000 feet, 40 m limited to four sorties. Only one raid had a at 8 000 feet and 20 mm at 3 000 feet. certain degree of success when the bombs They bombed and sawall their bombs fall which were meant to hit a railway line missed In the target area and also saw that 2 Squad- the target and scored direct hits on a road ron had two direct hits on the buildings. alongside the railway line. On the 6th the weather cleared up at mid-day and one flight Various sorties against railway lines and gun took off at 1410 hours. On approaching emplacements were carried out during the Florence they found 10/10 cloud to the north day with moderate success and no incidents were recoroed until four aircraft led by Capt and west. It was clear over Borgo San Lorenzo. Failing to find any MT targets, they Meikle took off to bomb gun positions. The target was located and in order to verify it bombed a road junction and scored one direct hlt on the road. Capt Meikle and Lt Symons went down to 5 000 feet. A barrage of light Anti-a:rcraft opened up and Lt Symons' aircraft was hit. On the 17th four air.craft led by Maj Stanford rendezvoused with eight aircraft of 2 Squad- On 22 August fOLlr aircraft were sent out on ron in a raid on the Headquarters of the a rather unusual task. Lt Schneider of 1

Maj R. H. C. (Bob) Kershaw, D50, DFC

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Squadron had been hit by flak north of loading in the station yards. It was on these Bologna and had to crash land in a field. He Mrs that the first attack was made. They was not seen to leave the aircraft which both went up in flames. appeared to be more or less intact. Lt Twee- die of 1 Squadron led to show the exact Then the tank-cars standing in the siding spot and then they had to destroy the ma- were attacked. In a matter of moments there chine. Before straffing the pilots made sure was a huge conflagration. Dense columns of that nobody was in the cockpit and the two black smoke rose to 100 000 feet and the vehicles standing close to the crash were not BBC announced that 'the fire and smoke straffed owing to the possibility of Lt Schnei- could be seen when the aircraft were 50 der being in one of them. miles away'. Strikes were also obtained on

Administration staff with Capt Geering sitting in the middle second row

Reports were received from Intelligence that four other covered trucks but when the air- all pilots had to avoid haystacks as far as craft left, they were not yet burning. possible. The Germans were camouflaging Still they were not satisfied with their their multiple pom-pom guns as haystacks achievement and the flight carried on. Before and these innocent-looking objects would coming home another three motor transport 'open up' as the aircraft flew over. vehicles were destroyed as well as a trailer. On 25th the Squadron's already rapidly In view of a forthcoming offensive certain mounting score of destroyed enemy vehicles movements of the Squadron were aimed at was raised when Lts Binedell, Griessel, Fer- fooling the enemy, so that he would have no rar and Theron destroyed a train of 15 fuel- idea from where the Allies were going to tank trucks. They had been on a recce mis- attack. Some of 7 Squadron's aircraft were sion of the Bologna-Ferrara-Ravenna area employed on a special mission - they had but failing to find any straffing targets in this to fly in the vicinity of the aerodrome using area, Lt Binedell led the flight north of the the call-signals of the other Squadrons. Po. This was the first time 7 Squadron pene- trated that area. On 1 September two formations (three aircraft led by Lt Tribelhorn and four led by At the small station of Boschi, a few miles Lt Atmore) took off to attack Bivonac north north-east of Legana, two Mrs were seen of Pisa. Both formations reported bombs had

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fallen in the target area. Later that day the north of the perimeter and ground dispersal, same targets were attacked again. The first a few fell among the tents occupied by NMC formation had two near misses and the second details inflicting casualties and damaging formation had three bombs in the target area. tents. Near misses were also scored at the On the same day four aircraft led by Capt fuel dump but the situation was taken care Hughes were sent out to attack motor trans- of by Lt Theron and Cpl Uys of the equip- port reported on the Bagni-San Mercello road. ment seeton, who managed to put out all The motor-transport was not located but a the fires in the vicinity. road junction was bombed. The rest of September was spent on bombing On 2 September four aircraft led by Capt missions. 53 missions were flown ag3inst Hughes flew to investigate the Pistoia-San buildings, guns, flak positions, dumps, rail- Marcello-Bagni-Lucca-Florence area for move- ways, bridges, headquarters and tanks. Forty ment. Failing to find any they bombed the direct hits were recorded on buildings, 10 on buildings that were their alternative target. roads and one on a bridge . Only 5 MT were

Spitfire Mk VIII

On 9 September twelve sorties were flown destroyed and two more damaged. Two against the village of Mersca during which HDV's and two locomotives were also several buildings received direct hits. An at- damaged. tack led by Lt Richter bombed a factory and a bomb falling north-west of the factory So it was not a very enterpnslng and event- caused an orange explosion and on to the ful month compared to some of the previous east a column of black smoke. The factory months when the Squadron had been in itself received a direct hit. operation. In November they were more active and continued their bombing missions. In September the Squadron was employed The targets varied between close support to solely on bombing missions and as a result the Army and armed recces. During the all missions were of a shorter duration. Snags second week the Squadron moved from in serviceability also hampered operational Rimini airfield to Bellariel and with a runway flying. Despite this setback the Squadron only 1 000 yards long, the pilots were not at dropped 434 bombs. all impressed with this move.

On the night of 30 September /1 October Lt Jenkinson, the Squadron's engineering offi- Rimini LG was attacked by 10 Ju 87's. Anti- cer, devised and perfected a method of carry- personnel and incendiary bombs were drop- ing two 500 Ib bombs under the Spitfire's ped and while most were dropped 100 yards belly. Maj Kershaw (OC) carried out a test

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Maj R. H. C. Kershaw, a.c. flight and to everyone's surprise the extra countered over the target area, but consider- bomb had very little effect on the aircraft's able destruction was caused by the air performance. Preparations were then made to attacks and the Army took Russi the next modify all the Squadron's aircraft to carry two day. 500 Ib bombs instead of one. November was one of the Squadron's most Attacked by Germans successful offensive months. Numerous direct hits were scored on enemy positions destroy- The Germans retaliated and their Ju 87's ing, a considerable amount of material and attacked 7 Squadron's airfield. Fortunately the transport. The operational plan 'Timothy' intense barrage of flak sent up by 7 Squad- proved "devastating to the enemy. (A large ron's AA avoided a catastrophe. The Germans number of aircraft from various Squadrons had placed their incendiary markers very ac- were used to cover an area 1 000 yards ahead curately in and around the dispersal area but of the front line.) failed to follow up with bombing attacks. The following evening the Beaufighters were wait- Captured German POW's confirmed the fact ing for them. They attacked at 2030 hours that the close air support of the Allies was but the Beaufighters shot down two and a major factor in their defeat. They also felt damaged a third. After this episode there were that the intensity of the attacks from the air no further attacks on the airfield. was something they had never seen before. Although the Squadron did not do as many Winter was setting in and the weather con- sorties as the previous month, its results were tinued to worsen. All the mountain peaks the highest in the Wing. The Squadron can were covered with snow. Bad weather made look back on a very successful 1944. flying impossible on a number of days, despite the Army's calls for air support. In 1945 the Squadron continued with bombing missions. During the first four days it On 2 December 12 aircraft took part in a flew 142 sorties. close support mission in co-operation with the Army to invade the town Russi. Intense The Squadron also went on bomber escort and accurate 20 and 40 mm flak was en- missions to Yugoslavia and the Voine area.

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Maj Kershaw returning to the Union of South Africa after being released from a P.O.W. Camp

The weather worsened and hampered mis- and all important junctions were bombed to sions. On a number of occasions the aircraft impede the enemy's lines of communication. had to turn back due to poor visibility. In April 7 Squadron was very active. The Because of weather conditions operational fly- final defeat of the Germans in Italy seemed ing was limited and so several personnel were imminent, but it was not until May that they able to have short periods of leave. surrendered unconditionally.

In March the Squadron moved to a new camp Their surrender provided the men with an op- at Marina Di Ravenna. The new site was in portunity to take leave until the future of the pleasant surroundings beside the shores of Squadron was decided on. On the 16th May the Adriatic. The front line was only eight the Squadron was moved to Tisso LG. It'was miles away. decided that no operations would take place until the Squadron was ordered to another This move increased the Squadron's rate of theatre of war. activity. More bombing missions were carried out. The pilots encountered a lot of re- On 11 July the Squadron moved off to Leece taliation from the enemy flak and at times in Southern Italy. On 8 August they left for found themselves in vulnerable positions. The Taranto where they embarked on HMT Ber- gensfiord. They arrived at Durban on 10 Sep- Germans also increased protection around tember 1945. ammunition dumps and raids became difficult. 7 Squadron had carried out its task with great credit and came out with top honours A number of armed recces were flown to en- thus upholding the motto of the Squadron: sure that the enemy did not make a mass evacuation of the forward areas. Main roads BULALA UMTHAKATI.