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 52 Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 5, Nr 3, 1975. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za '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 pro- ceed 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 54 Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 5, Nr 3, 1975. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za 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! 55 Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 5, Nr 3, 1975. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za 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 after- noon, 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.