AndyL

Yes Troy, those are the ones, made by Lewis Leathers. The most popular ones were the pre war white suits with the squadron badge on the chest pocket.. There's a Prestige Suit on display at Duxford that was owned by Gordon Sinclair of 19 Squadron.

The photos show the Irvin Parasuit worn by air gunners. I'll get a colour call out on those...

Flat Black for pilots suits.

You could do the pilots in their black Prestige flying suit, as they were very popular with Defiant pilots.

Well, you've picked a good choice for the second Defiant as L7005 was flown on 29th May 1940 over Dunkirk by Flight Lieutenant Nicholas Cooke and Corporal Albert Lippett. Over two sorties they claimed eight enemy aircraft ( two Me 109's, five Ju 87's and an Me 110 ) and shares in a further two Ju 88's. For their actions that day they were awarded the DFC and DFM respectively. However they didn't live to receive their medals, as they were lost two days later; the squadron was ordered to re form and their Defiant started to climb to join the others, before dropping away. There was no response over the radio, and a second Defiant dived down to follow them, but had to break away when the airspeed got too high. Cooke and Lippett's Defiant dived into the North Sea, and both remain missing. They were a unique crew that broke the conventions of rank and class, and were indeed good friends that seemed to have a bond. That was what made good Defiant crews. I am in touch with both families and they are indeed very proud of their actions.

No it's 501, the Hurricane flown by Pilot Officer Cecil Hulse who was lost on 8th June 1940. The photo shows the remains of his Hurricane lay inverted in a small wooded area, and substantially complete.

Interesting as I've got a photograph of a 501 Squadron Hurricane lost in June 1940 showing what looks to be a red, white and blue spinner.

I'm always keen to see a Defiant build, even more so a 141 Squadron machine. The back story is that the loss of this aircraft, and the lives of Ian Donald and Arthur Hamilton is part of the day in the Battle of Britain now referred to as 'The Slaughter of the Innocents', when 141 on their first and only daylight engagement with the Luftwaffe resulted in the loss of four pilots and six air gunners. Ian Donald was one of 141's flight commanders, and Arthur Hamilton was a squadron gunnery leader; the latter baled out off Dover and drowned, while Ian Donald died in a vain attempt to get his Defiant back to Hawkinge. He could no longer keep the damaged aircraft airborne, and it crashed at Elms Vale Road, just outside Dover. Tragically, the 19th of July should have been Arthur Hamilton's wedding day, and their first thing the family knew of him being killed was when somebody from R.A.F. Hawkinge contacted the family to ask them where they wanted to have him buried. Part of my work for the history of the Defiant I am currently finishing for Pen and Sword was to try and come up with the definitive version of the events of that day, and source images of all ten airmen lost that day. The hardest to find was one of Ian Donald, but last year I was passed a snap of him vis the family of William Richardson, who was the commanding officer of 141. The snap turned out to be a significant one, for it was taken on the morning of July 19th to celebrate the fact it was William Richardson's birthday. The photo shows William, flanked by his flight commanders Malcolm Louden and Ian Donald, and it's a sobering thought that just hours after it was taken, Ian was dead, Malcolm Louden was on hospital with arm and shoulder injuries, and burns after almost getting his Defiant back to Hawkinge; he hits a tree and crashed into a hedge and had to be pulled from the wreckage by a farmer. As for William Richardson, he was hauled up at Fighter Command H.Q. that evening, and would eventually lose his command of 141 some six weeks later. Anyway, keep up the great work, I will be watching with interest.

From the report issued by Headquarters, No 1 Group, Intelligence. "F/Lt Gillies - Red 1; F/O Smith Red 2; P/O Crooks Red 3. P/O Brown Yellow 1; Sgt Cameron Yellow 2; P/O King Yellow 3. P/O Brown force landed at Le Zoute and is returning from Dunkirk to England by boat today or tomorrow. P/O King - Yellow 3 in attempting to return to this country got lost, mistook Calais for Margate and landed there. He returned in his own aircraft the same evening. Red 1 fired 2663 rounds, Red 2 2500, Red 3 2667 and Yellow 2 1006. Both Red 2 and Yellow 3 suffered one bullet strike apiece. Cine guns were fitted but not used. The composite squadron spotted a formation of seven Ju 87's in line astern and engaged. One Ju 87 fired red parachute flares which was a signal for fighter assistance which appeared in the form of 30 Me 109's which attacked our fighters. The engagement developed into a series of individual combats. Red 1 engaged a Ju 87 from which tracer was observed from twin rear guns. This tracer ceased after some seconds fire after which the enemy went into a steep dive with smoke coming from it, and disappeared down to the ground. Our a/c next engaged a Me 109 and as the Spitfire ran out of ammunition the enemy went into a dive. The result was not reserved. Red 2 attacked a Ju 87 and observed tracer going into the enemy aircraft between the rear turret and the pilot. The enemy went down in a dive. Red 2 broke off his attack and attacked three other Ju 87's. He then sighted a Ju 88 which he attacked, the enemy turning steeply, only receiving two short deflection bursts. The top rear gunner of the Ju 88 was firing two guns with tracer. Red 3 engaged three Ju 87's, one of which was seen to crash in flames, and a second was last seen to crash in flames, and a second was last seen in a shallow dive with petrol vapour streaming behind. Report on Yellow 1 is not yet to hand, but P/O Kay confirms that he saw P/O Brown bring down a Ju 87 in flames. Yellow 2 engaged a Ju 87 at 1,000 feet, attacking from astern and after his fourth burst of fire the enemy aircraft crashed. He then attacked two more Ju 87's, firing short bursts, but no result was observed. Our aircraft received fire from twin guns using tracer from the top turret of the enemy aircraft. Yellow 3 got in a short burst on a Ju 87 with no apparent effect. He then developed deflection attack, still with no effect. Then he noticed his reflector sight was inclined to the left . He made one more burst before his ammunition was expended. He received no return fire from the enemy rear gunner who had fired during the first attack. From this he assumed the rear gunner had been out of action. He then followed the E/A inland and made repeated dives on it hoping to make it crash. He drove the enemy down to approximately 20 feet from the ground. At this time, having received Red 1's call to rendezvous over Rotterdam, he left the enemy aircraft and started looking for Rotterdam. Enemy casualties: 5 Ju 87's conclusive, 5 Ju 87's inconclusive, 2 Me 109's inconclusive."

Paul, I've got quite a bit a few 141 Squadron photos covering their time on Blenheims, and later on Defiants, as I'm writing the history of the Defiant for Pen and Sword. As to the speed fairing, technically it could be in either position when parked, as it could be manually lowered via a lever in the turret. The system was operated by compressed air. As a matter of interest, I can check my photos to see if I have any of your father. Regards Andy

Feel free to re post them Tony. My post was in good humour

Not a problem, comment was very tongue in cheek

Nice 85 Squadron Havoc photos Tony. Wonder where they came from

I could always ask Jeram's son for you as I had some contact with him a couple of years ago.

N3328 was being ferried to Walney Island to go on strength with 10 Air Gunnery School. I have a copy of the F1180 Accident Card for N3328 if you'd like a copy.