A formation of five Blenheim Mark IVs (Z5893 'W' nearest) of No. 14 Squadron RAF in flight over the Western Desert. A Curtiss Kittyhawk, one of the escorting fighters, can be seen on the far right. 1941. Victor Sierra

Blenheim over the desert

Operation MARKET III: air re-supply of British airborne forces in the Arnhem area, 19 September 1944. Burnt-out Douglas Dakota Mark III, KG401, of No. 48 Squadron RAF based at Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, which crash-landed in a field near Kessel, Holland, after parachuting supplies over Arnhem. The aircraft had just dropped its supplies from 700 feet when it was met with intense anti-aircraft fire. The tail unit, rudder, port aileron and engine, the starboard auxiliary fuel tank and all the gyro instruments were either damaged or put out of action, and one of the Army despatchers was mortally wounded. The captain, Flying Officer L R Pattee RCAF and his co-pilot, Flying Officer A C Kent RAF, flew the crippled aircraft back to the British lines, through three more areas of enemy flak, where they sustained further serious damage, including a five foot hole in the starboard wing which caught fire, and complete electrical and communications failure. Once over the British lines, Pattee gave the crew and despatchers the opportunity to bale out, but they refused and the pilots then made a successful belly-landing in the field. No sooner had they all quit the Dakota, than it was engulfed by flames. The unfortunate despatcher died soon after the landing, while the others were taken to Brussels and the crew returned to Down Ampney. Sixteen aircraft of 48 Squadron participated in MARKET III, flying through intense flak with no fighter escort. Many aircraft were hit and two, (KG401 and KG428), failed to return. Over the following four days the Squadron lost another six Dakotas on re-supply missions to Arnhem.

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Operation Market III victim

Groundcrew check Bristol Beaufort Mark I, DD959 “Q”, of No. 217 Squadron RAF, prior to a sortie from Luqa, Malta. Note the twin .303 machine guns mounted in the nose and the "Yagi" aerial of the airborne ASV radar underneath. DD959 was shot down in the Ionian Sea by a German night fighter Junkers Ju 88C of I/NJG.2 while returning from an aborted anti-shipping strike against an Italian convoy consisted of two merchant vessels, “Mario Roselli” and “Nino Bixio” escorted by three destroyers/torpedo boats on 20 June 1942. FO Frank John Robert Thomond Minster, RAFVR (Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve), having only flown his first operation on the 15 June, was force-landed DD959 on fire. Although he and his crew were seen to get into their dinghy, that was the last time any was seen. Another Beaufort, the Sgt. Hutcheson’s plane, managed back to Luqa. Victor Sierra