Squadron Operations: Summary Information

Overview

Listed below is the information available for operations to this target flown by 550 Squadron.

Operation Summary: The column headers should be fairly self-explanatory. The term "aborted" as used here covers a number of possibilities:

• the operation was cancelled before crews were briefed
• the crews have been briefed as to the target, and in some cases the planes may even have been bombed up and the crews on-board at their stations awaiting take-off, before the op has been stood-down
• finally a number of cases where the op was already under way and the planes en-route but for whatever reason the operation was aborted (e.g. the master bomber orders the attack cancelled due to weather conditions at target adversely affecting targeting).

Aircraft Deployed: When a link to a particular aircraft is given, this indicates aircraft known to have taken part in this raid (in the records currently available to the web-site author). A record of whether the aircraft returned or failed to return (FTR) is also logged.

Servicemen Deployed: Names of the crew in the operation.

Station Summary: This section is the information from the RAF North Killingholme Station Record Book for the operational date (if available).

Definitions of the abbreviations used are available: here.

Manageable Lists

The amount of data in the database is growing and this is resulting in the "all operations/targets" list getting rapidly bigger and thus slower to generate. There are options to display shorter, more quickly generated, reports if you want to home in on something specific. For example, there are options to generate reports on operations to a single target, or by single aircraft (to all targets) or by single aircraft to a single target. There is, on the database-reports summary page, a short user guide (PDF format) on how to do this.

Operation/Target: Training (17 Mar 1945 - 17 Mar 1945)

Operation Summary
Target	Out	Back	Aborted (Y / N)	Comments
Training	17 Mar 1945	17 Mar 1945	N	The Squadron was not called upon to operate, and so put six aircraft and crews on day and night flying training. "E2" (F/S Lockyer) was attacked and shot down by an enemy intruder crashing at Bridlington, Yorks. The Flight Engineer, Sgt. Drawbridge was the sole survivor. It was his crew's first flight since joining the Squadron. [Ed. Some sources quote "Shot down by an intruder (F.W. Rudi Morenz from IV. / NJG2) at 18.00 and crashed on Sunk Island in the River Humber." The time is not correct: 18:00 appears to be the time the note is recorded in the ORB, and not the time of the shooting-down/crash. The debriefing report (Station Narrative No. 17) states at "23:05 A/c shot down near Withernsea. 23:17 A/c still burning and cannot be approached" and gives a grid reference listed as being "Withernsea sea-front". At 23:59 the North Killingholme CO is informed that Sgt Drawbridge is at Withernsea Police Station. Note: Only a single flight shown below: the Squadron record book does not list training flights (the exception being the mention of the FTR aircraft on this occasion).]

Aircraft Deployed			Servicemen Deployed
Aircraft Service Number	Returned or FTR	Comments	Crew Details
NG132	FTR	Training, shot down in the River Humber by intruder	P/O A C Lockyer (P) Sgt F E Drawbridge (F/Eng) Sgt W Berry (Nav) W/O H L Farmer (A/B) Sgt L Elliott (W/Op) Sgt S Matthews (MU/AG) Sgt D Lucey (R/AG)

Summary Statistics

Based on the data in the lists displayed above, and keeping in mind that data is still being updated and thus not yet complete, the following statistics are generated:

Aircraft Deployment Statistics

Aircraft deployments	1
MAX Aircraft deployed in single operation	1 (Training, 17 Mar 1945)

These details were last updated: 21 November 2024

Note

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