103 Squadron DFM

[alain charpentier]

Hello ,

I need some light about three airmen of 103 Squadron, not sure of the initials of their surname ,

Sgt A.C. Sykes, Sgt D.H. Edwards, Sgt G.L. Hill .

They were in same crew from automn 43 to april 44, and I would like to know if they got any Awards like a DFM ??? they survived to the war .

Thank you for your help .

Alain .

[MSIMPSON]

Hello Alain,
Cannot help much ,but can say that in the 103 Squadron O.R.B.,Sykes' initials are given as A.P and Edwards' are given as D.H. ,with one exception when they are D.A..Hill is always G.L.,although one one occasion his surname is given as Bell. However, in a couple of combat reports in AIR50/292, Hill's service number is given as 1691363 and his training units as 14 A.G.S. and 28 O.T.U..None of them appear in Tavender's D.F.M.Register. Hope this is of interest,
Regards,Mark.

[COL BRUGGY]

Alain,

Might I ask what your interest is in these three airmen (Edwards, Hill & Sykes)?

Col.

[alain charpentier]

Hello Col !

I am very interested by the story of this crew, their skipper was F/Lt Russell-Fry DFC AFC . [I] have some few details about the three others, but Nothing about these three ….Only Saunders one of the AirGunner, did not survive to the war, he was killed in July 44 as Squadron Gunnery Leader, he is buried in France ….He was from Dundee .


Alain .

[COL BRUGGY]

Hi Alain.

Thanks for that.

I have the following information on 133047 George Henry RUSSELL-FRY DFC, AFC.

SDF (Special Duties Flight) was formed on 18 April 1944 to provide 1 Group with its own 'pathfinder' force. Its first and only Commanding Officer was S/L Harold Frederick Breakspear, who was taken off operations from 100 Squadron. He chose five other crews from 1 Group - F/L D. F. Gillam (100 Squadron), F/L W.E. Hull (101 Squadron), F/L G. M. Russell-Fry (103 Squadron), F/O J. W. Stewart (626 Squadron), and P/O J. H. Marks (625 Squadron). Eighty airmen were posted from various stations in the Group to support the new unit.

SDF began training on 22 April 1944 and flew its first operation on the night of 30 April/1 May when 116 Lancasters of 1 Group successfully attacked an ammunition dump at Maintenon in northern France. Bill Breakspear was the 'Master of Ceremonies'.

SDF had but a short existence, flying its last sorties early in August 1944. On 10 August the small unit was disbanded, as the 1 Group Operational Report noted:

'The S.D.F. has served its purpose very well and, as the speed of the Allied advance made it very difficult to find suitable targets, it was decided to release the crews for normal duties rather than keep them standing by any longer. The magnificent marking carried out on some of the marshalling yards of France has been amply rewarded by the news of the chaotic state of the enemy's lines of communications.'

See:
Massacre over the Marne:The RAF Bombing Raids on Revigny, July 1944.
Clutton-Brock,Oliver.
Sparkford:Patrick Stephens Ltd.,1994.
pp.24-5.

Col.

[helen_stewart]

My father-in-law was F/O J. W Stewart of 626 Squadron who flew with SDF from April to August 1944. I have a lot of information but I do not have a copy of the citation for his DFC which was awarded following completion of his tour in September 1944 (London Gazette 12 December 1944) Does anyone know where I would find a copy?