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No. 219 Squadron Royal Air Force
No. 219 Squadron were formed at Catterick in October 1939 flying Blenheims. They converted to Beaufighters in October 1940 and from February 1944 flew Mosquitos.
Airfields at which No. 219 Squadron were based:
- Catterick. 4th Oct 1939 to 12 Oct 1940 & 25 Apr 1943 14 May 1945
- Redhill 12 Oct 1940 to 12 Dec 1940.
- Tangmere. 12 Dec 1940 to 23 June 1942.
- Acklington. 23 June 1942 to 21 Oct 1942
- Scorton 21 Oct 1942 to 25 Apr 1943
- Bone 14 May 1945 to ?
- Sidi Amor. ? to 27 Feb 1944
- Woodvale 27 Feb 1944 to 15 Mar 1944
- Honiley 15 Mar 1944 to 1 Apr 1944
- Bradwell Bay. 1 Apr 1944 to 29 Aug 1944
- Hunsdon. 29 Aug 1944 to 10 Oct 1944
- Amiens, B48. from 10 Oct 1944
15th Aug 1940 Eagle Day
15th August 1940 Yorkshire bombed
12th October 1940 Bombers attacked in fog
19th December 1940 Night fighters
8th December 1942 Postings
30th June 1943 Medical report
2nd December 1943 Mid-air collision
9th July 1944 Flying Bombs
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Logbooks
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Want to know more about No. 219 Squadron Royal Air Force? There are:2007 items tagged No. 219 Squadron Royal Air Force available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Sgt. Thomas Pegler 219 Squadron Dad, Tom Pegler was the navigator of Mosquito FK-E piloted by Jack Bremner, who was from the London area. He would never tell anyone what they were detailed to do, other than theirs was a Night Fighter Squadron.
He did tell me, however, one summer morning retuning to Acklington over the North Sea, the tops of the clouds were perfectly flat, so being the 'good airmen' they were, they did several practice landings on the top of the clouds until they realised the rest of the section had disappeared.
When they landed, everyone else had been back safely for several minutes and concern was shown for them. When he and Jack got to the briefing room, they were asked why they were late. 'Port engine, sir, got a bit hot so I shut it down' was the reply.
After debrefing, they got their flying kit off and hit the sack.
They hadn't been in bed long when the tannoy went, 'Will the crew of E for Easy report to the boss at once' (I use the word 'boss' because he never stated the rank of the man to whom they were answerable). They had to get their flying kit on again before they they went, but duly arrived. 'I've had that port engine run up - there's **** all wrong with it- now what were you actually doing?' '.'Practising landing on the clouds, sir.'
I cannot repeat what was said, suffice it to say he went ballistic and their proverbial cards were marked.
I believe they didn't do it again!
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AC. John Edward Meade 219 Squadron John Meade is my father. He was with 219 Squadron until their deployment to Bone in Algeria when he joined British Intelligence in Egypt for the rest of the war. He was demobbed in 1945.
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James Smee 219 Sqdn. (d.8th May 1942) My uncle was killed in air crash at Tangmere while in 219 Sqdn. in 1942 any information or photos around that time would be appreciated.
Update: The only fatal crash between the dates 7-8 May 1942 was:
Beaufighter R2267. Pilot 1380996 Sergeant James Kenneth Smee, age 20. Son of Mr John Smee and Mrs Valetta Smee of Mayfield, New South Wales, Australia. Buried in Hayes and Harlington Cemetery.
AI Operator 926261 Sergeant Claude Stanley Bassett, age 22. Son of Mr Arthur Henry Cash Bassett and Mrs Gertrude Alice Bassett of Ropley, Hampshire, England. Buried in Hillingdon and Uxbridge Cemetery.
They were flying Night Fighter Duty on Search Light co-operation and took-off from Tangmere 8 May 1942 0005 hrs and crashed 0359 hrs.
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F/Lt. Kenneth Freeman Mills DFC 219 Squadron Kenneth Freeman Mills DFC served in Bristol Blenheims, later converting to Bristol Beaufighters in 219 Squadron based at RAF Tangmere. He flew over 36 sorties and was involved in destroying a Heinkel He III. He then moved on to 264 Squadron flying Mosquitos from RAF Colerne, Wiltshire and RAF Predannack, Cornwall.
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F/Lt. Frederick Thomas "Eric" Reynolds 65 Squadron (d.6th Mar 1945)    Flight Lieutenant Frederick Thomas Reynolds joined the R.A.F.V.R. in 1938, his original Service Number was 742592, This changed to 86373 on or around 29th September 1940 when he was promoted to 'Pilot Officer' (on probation) Ref 'London Gazette No 34986 Tuesday 5th November 1940'. He served in RAF No 65 Squadron and we know from a letter to his family he was stationed in with them at RAF Turnhouse near Edinburgh in the period August-November 1940. We also know from another letter he was with RAF Squadron 256 stationed February - March 1941 at Colerne near Chippenham, he flew Hurricanes at this time, and that he was involved in the defence of Liverpool.
His sister (my mother) says she knew he destroyed a German aircraft in this period but we have no details, she also recalls he crashed his aircraft on Rhyl Beach but again we have no details.
In 1944/45 he was with 219 Squadron flying Mosquito NF30's under Wing Commander Peter Green based at Amiens-Glisy in France and he is recorded as destroying a Messerschmitt Me110 on night of 1-2 January 1945. He was killed when his Mosquito crashed in flames in the town of Amiens (eye witness account) on 6th March 1945. This was officially recorded as an Aircraft Accident but we do not know the cause or any details.
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F/O. Hilbrand Gerrit Holtrop 219 Squadron (d.10th Jun 1944) Hilbrand Holtrop was a Dutch airman serving with 219 Squadron based at RAf Bradwell Bay.
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