28
troops, and so Detraining Stations were the principal targets. A report recently
published of the activities of the Panzer Lehr Division pays a fine tribute to the
night work of R.A.F. Squadrons dropping flares, flashes and bombs as a result of
which movements were severely hampered and much sleep was lost. Many excellent
reconnaissances were carried out by 140 and 69, who were quickly developing their
technique.
"Os" Dobell
took over command of 69 Squadron from
Martin Channon
on July 17th
and the Squadron became fully operational at the end of August, 'B' Flight having
put in some hard work under
"Wakers", S/Ldr. Wakefield
, whose untiring efforts
during the training period were largely responsible for the rapid progress made by
the Squadron and whose loss on operations on the night of Aug 7/8th was a severe
blow. On July 19th,
Sgt Dennison
, the gunner in
F/O J.C. Stuart
's crew, shot
down an
FW 190
which attacked their aircraft, and several crews about this time
were allowed claims to have damaged enemy aircraft. One amusing incident arose
from the noise made by the flash cartridges during tests in the
Northolt
area,
when an old lady in a bus was heard to say "Yes, I've noticed it before - there
are six pops and then a little later six more, and we never get any Doodle Bugs
that night!" In August, 69 were given the task of illuminating an area near
CAUDEBEC by the use of flares so that A.O.P. pilots could direct their guns at
night. Four aircraft were employed and it was a great success, a message of
congratulation being received from the Canadian army.
In the middle of August, the Germans were forced back across the Seine and
night reconnaissance justified itself at this period, if at no other, for both
69 and 140 produced some excellent and invaluable results both visually and photo-
graphically.
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