Air Force Index

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No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron Royal Air Force    No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron were part of Fighter Command, flying Spitfires. During the Second World War they shot down 132 enemy aircraft with another 46 probables and 53 damaged. They also destroyed 50 flying-bombs. The Squadron was disbanded in 1957 Airfields at which No. 610 Squadron were based: Hooton Park. to 10th Oct 1939 Wittering 10th Oct 1939 to 4th April 1940 Prestwick 4th April 1940 to 10th May 1940 Biggin Hill. 10th May 1940 to 27th May 1940 & 8th July 1940 to 31 Aug 1940 Gravesend 27th May 1940 to 8th July 1940 Acklington. 31 Aug 1940 to 15 Dec 1940 Westhampnett. 15 Dec 1940 to 29th Aug 1941 & 20th Jan 1943 to 30th April 1943 & 27 Jun 1944 to 2 July 1944 Leconfield. 29th Aug 1941 to 14 Jan 1942 Hutton Cranswick 14 Jan 1942 to 4th April 1942 Ludham 4th April 1942 to 16th Aug 1942 & 21st Aug 1942 to 15th Oct 1942 West Malling 16th Aug 1942 to 21st Aug 1942 & 19th June 1944 to 27 Jun 1944 Castletown 15th Oct 1942 to 20th Jan 1943 Perranporth 30th April 1943 to 26th June 1943 Bolt Head 26th June 1943 to 19 Dec 1943 & 16th May 1944 to 24th May 1944 Fairwood Common 19 Dec 1943 to 4th Jan 1944 & 23rd April 1944 to 30th April 1944 Exeter 4th Jan 1944 to 7 April 1944 Culmhead 7 April 1944 to 23rd April 1944 & 30th April 1944 to 16th May 1944 Harrowbeer 24th May 1944 to 19th June 1944 Firston 2 July 1944 to 12 Sept 1944 Lympne. 12 Sept 1944 to 4 Dec 1944 Evere, B56. 4 Dec 1944 to 21st Feb 1945 Warmwell 21st Feb 1945 to ? Eindhoven, B78. from ? to 3rd March 1945   14th Sep 1939 Training 28th Oct 1939 Posting 27th May 1940 Air cover 29th May 1940 Aircraft Lost 10th July 1940 Battle of Britain begins 13th July 1940  Battle of Britain 18th July 1940 Combat over the Channel 24th July 1940 Battle of the Thames Estuary 25th July 1940 Channel Convoy attacked 8th August 1940 Convoy attacked 11th August 1940  Ports and ships attacked 14th August 1940  Airfields attacked 15th Aug 1940 Eagle Day 16th August 1940 Aftermath of Eagle Day 18th August 1940 Airfields attacked 22nd August 1940 Battle of Britain 24th August 1940  Airfields bombed 26th August 1940  Battle of Britian 28th August 1940 ` Battle of Britain 29th August 1940 Battle of Britain 30th August 1940 Battle of Britain 14th Sept 1940 Battle of Britain 5th February 1941 Pilots lost 30th June 1941 Circus 27 27th April 1942 Sacking of Norwich 15th June 1943 Postings If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Logbooks Do you have a WW2 Flying Log Book in your possession? If so it would be a huge help if you could add logbook entries to our new database. Thank you. View Logbook entries Those known to have served with No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War 1939-1945. Bangerter B. M.. F/Lt. Drever Nigel George. Macqueen DFC. Norman Carter. F/Lt. (d.4th May 1942) Robinson DFC. Henry Francis. Sgt. Woolley DFC & Bar Frank Geoffrey. S/Ldr. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List Records of No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron Royal Air Force from other sources. The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time. The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 25 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. 18th Dec 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 265120 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible. Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQs The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. Want to know more about No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron Royal Air Force? There are:2025 items tagged No. 610 (County of Chester) 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. Nigel George Drever 610 Sqd. My father, Nigel George Drever, was a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 3, and was part of the Long March in 1945. He helped to dig the tunnel for the Great Escape, but was not among the escapees. He was also in the Battle of Britain, flying a Spitfire with 610 Squadron aged 19. He was shot down and captured in 1941, I am trying to trace fellow prisoners of war who may be willing to meet him for his 90th birthday. Clair Drever Add to this record. F/Lt. Norman Carter "Mack" Macqueen DFC. 249 Squadron (d.4th May 1942) On 10th of September 1939, Norman Macqueen was at No 3 Depot at Padgate, near Warrington in Cheshire where he joined the service as an Aircraftman 2nd Class with other recruits. This was the commencement of his training programme which later that year took him to the north of Scotland at RAF Wick. His final posting was to Malta as a member of the famous 249 Squadron. In December 1939, Norman joined the RAF Training Wing at Hastings and his first promotion came on 1st of January 1940 to Leading Aircraftman. By May 1940 he was at RAF Castle Bromwich (now Birmingham International Airport) and during October 1940 he was promoted to Sergeant as part of a transition to his Commission. Norman was confirmed in appointment and promoted to the rank of Flying Officer with effect from 19th of October 19th 1940 but with seniority back-dated to 12th of October 1940. However, on 12th of November 1940, Norman was granted a Commission as a Pilot Officer in the GD Branch, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve for the duration of hostilities. As an officer, Norman was posted to 610 Squadron for two weeks before a further posting to 602 Squadron on 16th of December 1940. He was granted the paid Acting Rank of Flight Lieutenant on 16th of October 1941 and on 31st of January 1942 it was confirmed that Norman was to retain the rank of Acting Paid Flight Lieutenant and this coincided with his service at RAF Redhill in Surrey. It was during this period that Norman was selected for service overseas. His service record confirms his appointment to HQ Mediterranean as 9th of February 1942 and then to 249 Squadron on 8th of March 1942. At this time, 249 Squadron had been sent to Malta. The unit was based at RAF Ta Kali and it was to play a major role in the defence of the island against the German and Italian forces. In February 1942 Squadron Leader Stan Turner arrived to take over 249 and he brought a lot of valuable experience of flying tactics with him. The first contingent of 15 Spitfires (Mk Vs) flew into Malta from the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle (Operation Spotter). Norman Macqueen was part of this operation. More Spitfires were to follow later to augment the number of aircraft, later combined military efforts from Malta were to wreak havoc on enemy shipping and vital supplies to German and Italian forces in North Africa, thus German advances in this theatre of war were frustrated thanks to Malta. It was soon clear that his combat experience over the Channel was to pay dividends over the skies of Malta as a mainstay of the Squadron, he was a popular and well liked member of the team. He was certainly one of the most successful pilots in the early weeks of Spitfire operations on the island. His first victory in Malta came on 14th of March 1942 with a Bf 109 destroyed over the island of Gozo. Later, during the month two more Messerschmitts followed to add to the score. In April, he destroyed three Ju 88s and shared a claim in the destruction of a Bf 109. On May 1st he was to claim another share in the destruction of another Bf 109, this victory was to take his tally to seven and two shared destroyed and four planes damaged. However, he was bounced by some Bf 109s from lll/JG53. One Bf 109 managed to dive through the Spitfires and pull up and fired a quick snap shot in the underside of Macqueen's Spitfire (BR226). It was reported that he faltered and in the event he continued to fly his aircraft almost all the way back to Ta Kali before nose diving into the ground just short of the runway. Radio contact had been lost with Mac and it was believed that the tracer fire in the attack had wounded him and as a result he had lost consciousness on the way back to Ta Kali. The London Gazette dated 1st of May 1942 carried the announcement of the award of a DFC to Flt Lt Macqueen. His parents would have received a telegram from the War Office advising them of his death. This officer carried out a large number of sorties over enemy-occupied territory and destroyed 1 enemy aircraft whilst based in this country. In the Middle East he has destroyed a further 4 hostile aircraft. Throughout his operational career, Flight Lieutenant Macqueen has rendered most valuable service. He has displayed great skill and leadership. Norman Carter Macqueen was laid to rest in the Kalkara Cemetery which belonged to the Admiralty and he shares the grave with other RAF personnel. The cemetery contains many graves from the 1914-1918 War as well as a number of Commonwealth graves. There are a number of sections in the cemetery. Malta is only a comparatively small island and land space is a valuable commodity. Kalkara Cemetery is near Rinella, a bay and hamlet opposite Valetta across the mouth of the Grand Harbour situated on a peninsula. The cemetery is maintained to a very high standard as a sombre memorial to those many people who made the supreme sacrifice in the prosecution of war. The name N.C. Macqueen DFC is inscribed on the memorial stone at the Garden of Remembrance in Rhyl along with many other names of the fallen. After his death of his father in 1979, the ashes of Joseph Gordon Macqueen were scattered near the stone in the Garden of Remembrance. Normans father outlived his wife and three sons and this final act was the best that could be done to unite a dear father and a beloved son. Charles Leach Add to this record. F/Lt. B. M. Bangerter 350 Sqdn. F/Lt Bangerter served with 350 and 610 Squadrons during WWII. Add to this record. S/Ldr. Frank Geoffrey Woolley DFC & Bar 350 Sqdn. Sq. Ldr Woolley served in 350, 602 and 130 Squadrons during WWII. Add to this record. Sgt. Henry Francis Robinson DFC. 61 Sqd. My father Henry Robinson was a Rear Gunner in WW2, he was awarded the DFC as a WO. His first opp was to Brest with 61 Sqd. His pilot was PO Gunter, they did 25 trips together. He also flew with Sgt Northgate & F/Sgt Ferguson. He did a second tour with 619 Sqd with PO Knilands and then finished at Bardney where he flew with F/O Morrison, F/O Mathers and F/O Duncan If there is anybody who has any recollections or information about him or reollections of this time I would be grateful. Richard Robinson Add to this record. 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