which squadron

[jlewis]

I am researching an RAF officer and have his gazette entries, name number, rank etc etc but do not know what his service would have entailed in ww2 , whether he was a flyer or not, which operational areas he would have been active in?
Is there anyway of finding out which squadron he would have been attached to and whether he was a pilot or not. I know post war he flew commercially, so he must have qualified as a pilot at some stage.

His name is Adrian Victor Donati service number 65579, I know his brother Marcus Donati died 17 Jan 1941 whilst serving on HMS Goshawk (is that a shore establishment?) also as a pilot

[davew]

The Donati's came from Porlock, Somerset and there are four people of that name currently listed in the online telephone directory. May be worth a call.

regards

DaveW

[paulmcmillan]

General Duties Branch in London Gazette usually means he was a Pilot

[CZ_RAF]

HMS Goshawk:

http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RNVR_officersV.html
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-sea/3439-hms-goshawk-1945-a.html

Pavel

[John Larder]

Marcus Donati survived landing in Swordfish K6002 of 816 Sq. after the Narvik attack on 12/4/1940. Furious pitched heavily as he landed and he went over the side and survived in the sea for 45 minutes in sea temperatures of 28F until picked up by Hero. (FAA Aircraft 1939-45 Sturtivant/Burrow)

[thorne83]

Hi Jlewis,

if you wish to contact me off board i might be able to put you in touch with this chaps relatives.

Cheers, Tom

[jlewis]

thanks everyone for the help so far most helpful
cheers james

[Henk Welting]

I am researching an RAF officer and have his gazette entries, name number, rank etc etc but do not know what his service would have entailed in ww2 , whether he was a flyer or not, which operational areas he would have been active in?
Is there anyway of finding out which squadron he would have been attached to and whether he was a pilot or not. I know post war he flew commercially, so he must have qualified as a pilot at some stage.

His name is Adrian Victor Donati service number 65579, I know his brother Marcus Donati died 17 Jan 1941 whilst serving on HMS Goshawk (is that a shore establishment?) also as a pilot

I've Marcus David Donati as being killed on S.S. Almeda Star; torpedoed 350 miles (nautical ?) W off Isle of Lewis.
Regards,
Henk.

[Resmoroh]

The "Almeda Star" was carrying, amongst other passengers, and on an unescorted passage (due to her speed), a number of RAF and Navy personnel to the W Indies (or thereabouts) and (possibly) Brazil. They were to be some of the ground-based elements of the S Atlantic Re-inforcement Route whereby airframes, manufactured in the USA, were flown to the Mediterranean, the Middle East, India, and the Far east, via the W Indies, Brazil, Ascension, W Africa, Central Africa, and then onwards.
She was torpedoed by U-96 at 58 16N 13 40W on 17 Jan 41.
Six meteorological ORs - bound for Trinidad - were lost (the biggest single loss of life in the Met Branch in the entire War).
HMS Goshawk was indeed a "Stone Frigate". It was the Establishment that your man was headed for. It was the RNAS base at Piarco Airfield, Trinidad.
HTH
Peter Davies

[dennis_burke]

Hello J Lewis,

Run the surname through the search engine at
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/search.aspx?search=

YOu will find at least this article

August 1952

X X T H - C E N T U R Y
P E G A S U S
Foxhunter and his Team-mates Fly to
and from The Olympic Games
A LMOST every species of animal seems to have been carried by air, and there have been very few which have not taken kindly to this mode of travel. From the owner's point of view, carriage by air offers many great advantages, the chief of which are convenience and speed. There is little or no danger, and such matters as feeding and attention on
a 12-hour flight must be compared with provisioning, care and exercise for, say, a three-week sea journey.

Horses and their riders are regularly flown, and it was not surprising that the British and Canadian Olympic equestrian teams chose the air as the means of travelling to and from Helsinki. Yorks operated by Skyways of London (Lancashire Aircraft Corporation) were selected for these particular nights, which started on July 18th.

Then theres a photo of A V Donati!!

(Below, right) Aircrew of the York were (left to right)
A. Norwood, navigator; J. A. Davis, radio officer; J. Furber, captain; A. V. Donati, first officer.

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1952/1952%20-%202208.html

There may be more.
So, he may well have been a pilot.


And then 23 May 1958
Capt. A. V. Donati has been appointed chairman and managing director of Orion Airways, Ltd., of Blackbushe, in succession to Capt. P. E. Palmer.

Dennis