234 Squadron
"We Spit Fire and Death"



234 Squadron - A Brief History:    Back to Top

234 (Madras Presidency) Squadron was reformed at Leconfield in October, 1939, as a fighter squadron. It was originally intended for shipping protection duties. It flew a mixture of Blenheims, Battles and Gauntlets until March 1940, when it began to receive Spitfires, becoming operational on 11th May.
Throughout the Battle of Britain, it was based in southern England and in April, 1941, began sweeps over northern France. These continued between defensive patrols until January 1943, when it moved to the Orkney Islands, returning south in June.

After covering the invasion beaches in Normandy, The Squadron converted to Mustangs and began long range escort missions from East Anglia.

A few days before the end of the war, the squadron moved to northern Scotland to escort strike Wings operating along the Norwegian coast, but returned to East Anglia in July to convert to Spitfires. These were flown until replaced by Meteors in February, 1946, but on 1st September, 1946, the squadron was renumbered 266 Squadron.


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234 Squadron Codes:
AZ (April 1939 - September 1939)
AZ (May 1940 - August 1945)
FX (August 1945 - September 1946)
W (August 1952 - January 1954)
Note: Aircraft recognition codes were changed from 3rd September 1939 as a measure against German intelligence.

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234 Squadron Stations:

Base County Arrived Comments
Leconfield
Yorkshire
30/10/39
Formed. Battle. Blenheim If. Spitfire I
Church Fenton Yorkshire 22/05/40  
St. Eval Cornwall 18/06/40  
Middle Wallop Hampshire 14/08/40  
St. Eval Cornwall 11/09/40  
Warmwell Dorset 24/02/41 Spitfire IIa
Ibsley Hampshire 05/11/41  
Warmwell Dorset 23/03/42  
Ibsley Hampshire 04/04/42  
Portreath Cornwall 27/04/42  
Charmy Down Somerset 23/08/42  
Portreath Cornwall 30/08/42 Spitfire Vb
Perranporth Cornwall 28/10/42 Spitfire Vc
Portreath Cornwall 26/11/42  
Perranporth Cornwall 26/12/42  
Grimsetter Orkney 19/01/43 Spitfire VI
Skeabrae Orkney 24/04/43  
Church Fenton Yorkshire 26/06/43  
Honiley Warwickshire 08/07/43  
West Malling Kent 05/08/43  
Rochford Essex 16/09/43  
Hutton Cranswick Yorkshire 15/10/43  
Church Fenton Yorkshire 31/12/43  
Coltishall Norfolk 28/01/44  
Bolt Head Devon 18/03/44  
Deanland Sussex 29/04/44  
Predannack Cornwall 19/06/44  
North Weald Essex 28/08/44 Mustang III
Bentwaters Suffolk 17/12/44 Mustang IV
Peterhead Aberdeenshire 01/05/45  
Dyce Aberdeenshire 03/07/45  
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Pilots (1939-1945)

B   
Bailey, G.J.
Barnett, R.E.
Baynham, G.T.
Bell, C.H.
Blake, M.
   
Boddington,M.C.
Briggs, M.F.
Brown, P.G.F.
     
C   
Conner, F.H.O.
Coward, J.L.          
D   
Dewhurst, K.S.
       
E   
Edwards, I.N.
            
F   
           
G   
Gordon, W.H.G.
Gout, G.K.
   
H   
Hamilton, C.E.
Hardy, R.
Harker, A.S.
Hesselyn, R.B.
Hight, C.H.
   
Hookway, D.N.
Hornby, W.H.
Horton, P.W.
Hughes, P.C.
I   
Igglesen, C.P.
 
   
J   
 
   
K   
Klein, Z.
          
L   
Laurence
         
M 
MacKay, R.
                
O   
O'Brien, J.S.
Olenski, Z.
       
P
Page, C.L.
           
R   
Rogers, G.W.
Ritcher, G.L.
Rose, E.B.M.
        
S   
Sharpley, H.
Shepherd, J.B.
Stockwell, L.M.
   
Szlagowski, J.
  
         
T   
Theilmann, J.G.
Thompson, W.W.
         
W   
Wootten, E.W.
Wotton, H.J.        
Y   
Young, J.S.
 
         
Z   
Zurakowski, J.
   
         

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Aircraft
 
Fairey Battle
This aircraft was designed in response to Air Ministry specifications published in 1933, and were to replace the out-moded Hawker Hart biplane (light) bombers that were in service during the early 1930s, but the Fairey Battle was already obsolete by the time the Second World War began. Nevertheless, it was used extensively during the first months of the war, and took part in the Battle of France and suffered heavy losses. A total of 2,185 were built, but production was suspended in September 1940. About that time, the surviving Battles were withdrawn from front-line duty and re-assigned to training and target-tug roles.
The Battle had a bomb capacity of 990 lbs (450kg), a range of 1,000 miles (1,610km), and a speed of 200 mph (322kph). It had a wingspan of 54ft (16.46m), was 52ft 1in (15.87m) long and 15ft 6in (4.72m) high. It weighed in at 10,792lb (4,895kg) (loaded) and a ceiling of 23,500ft (7,160m). It was armed with 2 machine guns and carried a crew of 3. The Battle was powered by a single Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk I, 12-cylinder V, liquid-cooled 1,030 hp engine.

Bristol Blenheim
The Blenheim was a British high-speed light bomber used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was later adapted into a successful heavy fighter.
A Canadian-made variant named the Bolingbroke was used as an anti-Submarine and training aircraft. It was the first British aircraft to have all-metal stressed skin construction and one of the first to utilize retractable landing gear, flaps, powered gun turret and variable-pitch propellers. When it first flew as Britain First at Filton on 12 April 1935, it proved to be faster than any fighter in service with the Royal Air Force at the time. The Air Ministry was obviously interested in such an aircraft, and quickly sent out Specification B.28/35 for prototypes of a bomber version of the Bristol called the Type 142M (M for "military").

The aircraft was all-metal with twin Bristol Mercury VIII radial engines of 860 hp (640 kW) each. It carried a crew of three – pilot, navigator/bombardier and gunner/wireless operator and was armed with a forward firing 0.303 inch (7.7 mm) machine gun outboard of the port engine and a 0.303 inch machine gun in a semi-retracting dorsal turret firing to the rear. A 1,000-lb (454 kg) bomb load was carried in the internal bay.

To achieve its relatively high speed, the Blenheim had a very small fuselage. Pilot's quarters on the left side of the nose were so cramped that the control yoke obscured all flight instruments while engine instruments eliminated the forward view on landings. Most secondary instruments were arranged along the left side of the cockpit with essential items like propeller pitch control actually placed behind the pilot where they had to be operated by feel alone.

By the start of the Second World War, fighter technology had eclipsed the Blenheim's speed advantage and it would only achieve moderate success as a bomber and coastal patrol aircraft. One of the greatest advantages that the Blenheim had over other fighter aircraft was its range. It could penetrate deep into enemy territory, that is provided that they did not come into contact with any other enemy fighters. With a top speed of only 263 mph (423 km/h) and cumbersome and slow in turning, it was soon eclipsed by other more modern types, nonetheless, the Blenheim continued in frontline service throughout the early years of the conflict.

Type 300 - "Spitfire" Mark I
This was basically the same airframe as the prototype allowing for changes to facilitate a production line. The all up weight was increased to 5,720 lb, and a 998 HP Merlin II (later 953 HP Merlin 3) fitted. The airscrew was initially 2-blade fixed pitch, but was soon changed to a 2-pitch 3-blade design from either De Havilland or Rotol. Armament was eight 0.303 Browning machine guns. Terminology will change frequently through these descriptions, as it did originally, and one of these changes involved the Mk 1b Spitfire. The (b) suffix usually denotes a particular wing variant, but since there was only one wing type in this Mark, it refers to a limited number of airframes armed with 20 mm cannon.
These had a tendency to jam and were not popular with aircrews. On 3rd September 1939, 306 Spitfires had been delivered to the RAF. Altogether 1,569 Mk I Spitfires were produced. The first production Mk Is reached 19 Squadron RAF at Duxford in August 1938.

Type 349 - "Spitfire" Mark Vb
With the arrival of the Me (Bf)109F an interim aircraft was produced by adding the latest Merlin to a strengthened airframe. They were powered by a 1,230 HP Merlin 45 or 46, with a maximum all-up weight of 6,170 lb. 3 patterns of wing were introduced:
  • A - eight 0.303 Browning machine guns
  • B - two 20mm cannon, and four Browning machine guns
  • C - either four cannon or either of the other combinations.
Mustang III/IV
One of the few remaining complaints with the Merlin-powered aircraft was a poor rearward view. This was a common problem in most fighter designs of the era, which had only been recognized by the British after the Battle of Britain proved the value of an all-around view. In order to improve the view from the Mustang at least partially, the British had field-modified some Mustangs with fishbowl-shaped canopies called "Malcolm Hoods." Eventually all Mk IIIs, along with some American P-51B/Cs, were equipped with Malcolm Hoods.

General characteristics of the Mustang:

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
  • Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m)
  • Height: 13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
  • Wing area: 235 ft² (21.83 m²)
  • Empty weight: 7,635 lb (3,465 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 9,200 lb (4,175 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 12,100 lb (5,490 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1× Packard Merlin V-1650-7 liquid-cooled supercharged V-12, 1,695 hp (1,265 kW)

    Performance:

  • Maximum speed: 437 mph (703 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,620 m)
  • Cruise speed: 362 mph (580 km/h)
  • Stall speed: 100 mph (160 km/h)
  • Range: 1,650 mi (2,655 km) with external tanks
  • Service ceiling 41,900 ft (12,770 m)
  • Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
  • Wing loading: 39 lb/ft² (192 kg/m²)

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