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No. 141 Squadron Royal Air Force
No. 141 Squadron was formed at Rochford Aerodrome on the 1st January 1918 as a home defence unit for London. It moved to Ireland in 1919, and disbanded in 1920.
On the 1st October 1939, No 141 re-formed as a Fighter Unit at Turnhouse with Gladiators and Blenheims, but in early 1940 it converted to Defiants. No 141's first operational patrol was June 1940. They moved to West Malling at the start of the Battle of Britain, but were swiftly withdrawn back to Scotland after their first disastrous engagement as the ineffectiveness of the Defiant against single-seat fighters became evident. In September 1940 a detachment returned to southern England for night patrols, the whole squadron moving there in October.
In April 1941, No. 141 returned to Scotland where it converted to Beaufighters for the defence of central Scotland and north-east England. In June 1942 it moved to Tangmere and in February 1943 to south-west England where it flew coastal patrols, intruder missions over north-west France amd air-sea rescue search missions. At the end of April 1943, it was transferred to Wittering where it was equipped with new experimental airborne enemy aircraft detection system. With this, it sent aircraft with Bomber Command's main force to attack enemy night-fighters and their bases. It also began flying intruder sorties over German airfields in support of Bomber Command. Mosquitoes began to replace the Beaufighters in October 1943 and in December the Squadron transferred Bomber Command in No. 100 Group.
Airfields occupied by No. 141 Squadron:
- RAF Turnhouse, Midlothian, from 4th October 1939 (re-formed. Gladiator I)
- RAF Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, from 19th October 1939 (Blenheim If)
- RAF Prestwick, Ayrshire, from 13th February 1940
- RAF Grangemouth, from 22nd February 1940 (Defiant I)
- RAF Turnhouse, from 28th June 1940
- RAF West Malling, Kent, from 11th July 1940
- RAF Prestwick, from 25th July 1940
- detachment at RAF Biggin Hill from 10th September - 22nd October 1940
- RAF Drem, East Lothian, from 15th October 1940
- RAF Dyce, Aberdeenshire, from 22nd October 1940
- detachment RAF Gatwick, Surrey, from 22nd October - 3rd November 1940
- RAF Turnhouse from 30th October 1940
- RAF Gravesend, Kent, from 3rd November 1940
- RAF Ayr, Ayrshire, from 29th April 1941 (Beaufighter If)
- RAF Drem, from November 1941
- RAF Acklington, Northumberland, from 29th January 1942
- RAF Tangmere, Sussex, from 23rd June 1942
- RAF Ford, Sussex, from 19th August 1942
- RAF Predannack, Cornwall, from 18th February 1943
- RAF Wittering, Northamptonshire, from 30th April 1943 (Beaufighter VIf, Mosquito II)
- to Bomber Command, RAF West Raynham, Norfolk, 4th December 1943
- RAF Little Snoring, Norfolk, from 3rd July 1945
4th October 1939 New fighter squadron formed in Scotland
4th Oct 1939 New Squadron
5th Oct 1939 Arrivals
6th Oct 1939 Arrivals
7th Oct 1939 Arrivals
8th Oct 1939 Arrivals
9th Oct 1939 Arrivals
10th Oct 1939 Training
11th Oct 1939 Training
19th October 1939 New Squadron moved and enlarged
1st December 1939 Crashed in training
Training
13th February 1940 Gunnery traing
6th April 1940 Bad Weather
15th May 1940 Flying accident
28th June 1940 Operational
10th July 1940 Tactical advice rejected
11th July 1940 Reinforcements
19th July 1940 Battle of Britain
19th July 1940 Enemy Aircraft
24th July 1940 Three 141 Squadron Defiants lost
25th July 1940 Night fighter role
10th September 1940 Night fighter ops
17th September 1940 Bomber brought down
15th October 1940 Back on ops
22nd October 1940 Relocation
3rd November 1940 Move to the Thames estuary
29th April 1941 Move for new aircraft
10th November 1941 Back to Drem
11th December 1941 Aircraft accident at Ayr
29th January 1942 Relocated
15th February 1942 German bomber shot down
25th April 1942 Crashed into hillside
8th May 1942 Air accident
23rd June 1942 Return to the south east
8th September 1942 Beaufighter lost
25th October 1942 Beaufighter shot down
17th December 1942 Crashed on take off
17th January 1943 Shot down by friendly fire
10th February 1943 Missing over the Channel
18th February 1943 Move to Cornwall
26th March 1943 Low morale reported
10th April 1943 Shot down by flak
13th April 1943 Air-Sea Rescue
18th April 1943 Spitfire pilot rescued
20th April 1943 Sorties begun
26th April 1943 Killed in low flying incident
30th April 1943 New duties: new base
11th May 1943 Unexplained crash
12th May 1943 New device under test
14th June 1943 Enemy aircraft detection system operational
17th June 1943 Shot down into the North Sea
15th August 1943 Shot down
6th September 1943 Lost over the Channel
7th September 1943. Serrate system trials completed
16th September 1943 Abandoned over the North Sea
1st October 1943 Bomber protection
13th November 1943 Aircraft Lost
15th November 1943 Crash on take-off
18th November 1943 Crash
December 1943 Operations
3rd December 1943 New radar equipped fighter force approved
4th December 1943 Transfer to Bomber Command
23rd December 1943 Beaufighter lost on patrol over Belgium
30th January 1944 Disappointing performance
11th June 1944 Aircraft Lost
24th February, 1944 Crash
26th Mar 1944 141 Squadron Mosquito lost
27th April 1944 Serrate system jammed
28th Apr 1944 Aircraft Lost
16th May 1944 Mosquito lost on exercise
29th May 1944 Explosion in mid-air
June 1944 Luftwaffe responds to AI Radar development
6th June 1944 D-Day
9th June 1944 Flak Damage
17th June 1944 Mistaken for enemy intruder
22nd June 1944 Mosquito abandoned
25th June 1944 141 Squadron C/O Lost
28th June 1944 Two Mosquitos lost
6th Jul 1944 141 Squadron Mosquito lost
13th July 1944 Ju88 captured
21st July 1944 Mosquito abandoned
25th July 1944 Shot down
6th November 1944 Mosquito Lost
30th November 1944 Crash
15th January 1945 Successful sortie
16th January 1945 Successful sortie
8th Feb 1945 Two Mosquitos lost
19th April 1945 Shot down
25th April 1945 Hit by Flak
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Those known to have served with No. 141 Squadron Royal Air Force during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Blower Frederick Drummond. PO. (d.11th May 1943)
- Boylson DFC & Bar William. (d.25th June 1944)
- Hampshire Herbert Robin. F/Lt. (d.28th Jun 1944)
- Snape Desmon Byrne. P/O. (d.24th February 1944)
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. 141 Squadron Royal Air Force from other sources.
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Want to know more about No. 141 Squadron Royal Air Force? There are:2089 items tagged No. 141 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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F/Lt. Herbert Robin Hampshire 141 Squadron (d.28th Jun 1944) My grandfather Herbert Hampshire was shot down over Belgium. Both he and his navigator were killed. They are buried in Wevelgem where there is a small Commonwealth War Graves section in the local cemetery.
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P/O. Desmon Byrne Snape 141 Squadron (d.24th February 1944) Pilot Officer Desmon Snape was the son of Claude Manning Snape and Doris Mary Snape.
He was aged 20 and he is buried in the Loppersum
General Cemetery, Groningen, Netherlands.
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William Boylson DFC & Bar 7 Sqdn. (d.25th June 1944) I am trying to find out more about my great uncle, William `Bill' Boylson, DFC & Bar. He was Australian but flew with the RAF. He was with 7 Squadron and also 141 Squadron. He took off with Squadron Leader G. H. Wilson, DSO/DFC, from Upwood at 23.25 in a Mosquito XX on a night bombing run, and was intercepted by a night fighter at approximately 01.30am on the night of 24/25th June 1944, northwest of Berlin. Does anyone know him or G. H. Wilson?
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PO. Frederick Drummond Blower 141 Squadron (d.11th May 1943) Warrant Officer (658317) Frederick Drummond Blower was made Pilot Officer (146165) on 19th March 1943. He served in 141 Squadron. His death was registered in Peterborough, so it is likely that he died in the vicinity of his home airfield RAF Wittering. I do not know whether his death was due to enemy action or not.
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