Obscure Battle of Britain 64 Sqn question...

[PaulR]

Evening all,

I have been looking at Eduard's Me110 for my annual BoB build, and one option is for an a/c shot down on the 18th August by the CO of 64 sqn, Sqr ldr MacDonald. The events of 18th August are a particular interest, so I was wondering how I might go about finding the serial and code of Macdonald's spitfire for that particular action. I have found a profile for his plane a couple of days up to the 18th, but that plane was shot down prior to the 18th. How would I go about it? Would his log book be online, or is there another source of info about 64 sqn that might show what I am looking for?

As ever, any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards, Paul

[Edgar]

On a future visit to Kew, I can have a look in the ORB; you'll be told that it's possible to order pages from Kew, but it can get expensive since, at times, there are two, or more, pages to a day, and there's absolutely no guarantee that you'll get what you want. I've lost count of the ORBs which list only names, sometimes with a partial serial, sometimes a full serial, and, very rarely, an individual code letter.

[XV107]

I think you may mean Don MacDonell? A very interesting chap, as a quick shufti at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dogfight-Diplomacy-Spitfire-Pilots-1932-1958/dp/1848841981 (particularly the blurb at the bottom of the page) will show...

There are combat reports for him in the National Archives at AIR 50/24/40, and you can get hold of a pdf copy for 3 of your finest British pounds, as you can for the 64 Sqn ORB at AIR 27/589.

Which I already have, so...

According to the ORB for 18 Aug, he was flying R6623. '1345. Interception patrol. Home base bombed. E/A engaged.... S/Ldr MacDonell destroyed one unconfirmed Do215 ... S/Ldr MacDonell damaged 1 JU88. ... All aircraft landed satellite aerodrome'

His combat report - which doesn't tell you the letter of his aircraft - says:

'The Sqdn was ordered to patrol base at 20,000ft, While directly over base at 21,000ft, I saw the first bomb explode on the hangars. Sqaudron was in sections line asetern stepped down. I dived to 7000 ft and saw many Dornier 215s and He 111s flying in a straggled formation at 12,000ft. Squadron zoomed and engaged enemy singly. I attacked on Do 215 from astern and below, opening first at 250 yds and rapidly closing to 150 yds. E/A was hit in both engines, stalled almost vertically and spun slowly down crashing near Biggin Hill...'

Hang on, I hear you say - I asked about a 110, not a Do 215! indeed, but the problem is that the ORB and MacDonell's combat report don't have him shooting down a 110 on that date. However, since the ORB says 'destroyed unconfirmed', I'm guessing that this meant that he wasn't 100% sure what the twin-engined type he'd shot down was...

You can find MacDonell's obit from 1999 here - http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/donald-macdonell-1.287001

I think that the obit gets the date of his 2nd marriage wrong (10 years late) before anyone thinks 'Crikey! Starting a new family in his 70s...' from what I recall of the book.

Edited July 23, 2013 by XV107

[Vicarage Vee]

In the absence of any photos or other evidence for the individual code letter a long shot is to check 64Sq pilots' log books for the era at Hendon. There seem to be a few books by 64Sq pilots, but again that's a very long shot for photos of a specific aircraft, I can't find a specific squadron history.

Maybe try the Battle of Britain experts on the Flypast historic forum?

[PaulR]

Wow- many thanks for the informastion chaps! greatly appreciated!

Paul