34 Squadron casualties Dec 1941 to end Feb 1942

[dennis_burke]

Thanks Col,

I added your 8 men, which points to Chaney being a POW also as he is buried in same cemetery as McLeod.
I have incorporated your information into the post above.

Dennis

[COL BRUGGY]

Kevin,

Beg,steal or borrow a copy of the following:

Unsung Heroes of the Royal Air Force:The Far East Prisoners of War.
Stubbs,Les & Pam.
Hough on the Hill:Barny Books,2002.

A quick check brought forth the following:-

BLAKE,Francis John - 615135 - 34 Squadron - Held Java, Singapore, Hokkaido(Hakadate), Kyushu(Yawata). (p.86)

Daly,Edward James - 934648 - 34 Squadron - Held Java(Tilijap Hospital) - 10.4.42 Buried Jakarta. (p.110)

What with many 84 Sqn men also listed, you can get a bit cross-eyed looking at the lists. Another problem is that many are simply listed as, 'Unit not known'.

Lane's lists are not without error, so use advisedly, eg., (p.267) 27 Squadron - RONUIRIES, Ac2, William 1350516 - Surname should read- 'SQUIRES'.

I can smell printer's ink !

Regard's,
Col.

[Kevin Mears]

Thank you so much for all your help.

I will be picking up a copy of Unsung Heroes from the National Memorial Arboretum this afternoon and may well spend some time looking at the FEPOW Memorials through different eyes.

COL BRUGGY.

Printer's ink? Maybe it is a case of once bitten and twice shy. At the moment, my interest stems from a thread on another forum about an airman who had a rather long and distinguished career. Knowing he was with 34 Squadron caused me to look at the Squadron and operations in a theatre I know next to nothing about. Purely personal interest and hugely educational.

Thanks again to everyone for their help.

Really appreciated.

Regards,

Kevin Mears

[Kevin Mears]

Brian.

This might sound a daft question but was Bloody Shambles ever called Bloody Chaos?

Regards,

Kevin Mears

[brian]

Hi Kevin

Apologies for the delay in responding - snowed under with requests for information and photos, not to mention having to complete two drafts over the Christmas/New Year period!

'Bloody Shambles' was not previously called 'Bloody Chaos' - but I do seem to recall that it was a bloody chaos at times when we were researching/writing it!

I've had a quick look at Volume I and the only 34 Squadron flying fatalities I can find are as follows:

12-13/12/41: Blenheim V5379 crashed on take-off, Sgt K.Connell (AG) killed.

28/12/41: V5636 shot down by AA fire. F/Lt RE Hill and Sgt KR Carter RAAF killed (checking against Dennis' list, it would seem that F/Sgt RJ Rayner was also killed in this aircraft)

2/1/42: V5388 FTR from operational sortie, Plt Off JG Lomax RNZAF and crew lost (plus F/O SW Andersen and F/Sgt RFR James, per Dennis)

20/1/42: Sqn Ldr F. O'Driscoll and crew shot down by K-43s, no survivors (plus W/O JL Simm and W/O CH Moore, per Dennis)

Unfortunately, identity of O'Driscoll's aircraft not known. Perhaps someone has the answer, hopefully. Fortunately, 34 Squadron lost most of its aircraft on the ground, thereby reducing the number of casualties.

I will now check Volume II and will be back shortly - just checked, no fatalities listed in Volume II
Hope this helps
Cheers
Brian

[Errol Martyn]

Kevin,

You may be thinking of:

Glory in Chaos : RAAF in Malaya Against Japanese Before Pearl Harbour
Hall, E. R.
ISBN 13: 9780731680252
Publisher: Sembawang Association
Publication Date: 1989

Errol

[Errol Martyn]

Kevin,

Regarding New Zealanders who died with 34 Sqn:

From my trilogy 'For Your Tomorrow - A record of New Zealanders who have died while serving with the RNZAF and Allied Air Services since 1915 (Volume One: Fates 1915-1942)':

Tue 12 Aug 1941
Far East
Formation practice
34 Squadron, RAF (Tengah, Singapore)
Blenheim IV V5877 - took off with others of the Squadron and during the practice collided with the formation leader over Johore and crashed. All three crew were buried at Bidadari Cemetery, but later reinterred at Kranji.
Pilot: NZ403548 Plt Off John Francis HUNT, RNZAF - Age 25.

Sat 3 Jan 1942
Far East
Attack on convoy
34 Squadron, RAF (Tengah, Singapore)
Blenheim IV V5388 - took off with two others on a patrol along the western coast of Malaya. At least two of the Blenheims located and bombed two vessels off Kuala Selangor, and a number of small craft were machine gunned ten miles south of Penang. V5388 was brought down further north, some 200 yards off the coast, about 3 miles from Yen. All three crew are buried at Taiping.
Pilot: NZ405289 Plt Off James Garfield LOMAX, RNZAF - Age 29.

Fri 9/Sat 10 Jan 1942
Far East
Raid on Sungei Patani airfield, Malaya
34 Squadron, RAF (Tengah, Singapore)
Blenheim IV V5597 - took off with five others, only two of which reached the target in the poor weather prevailing. All returned except V5597, which was thought to have been brought down at about 0330 on encountering severe turbulence in a tropical storm. All three crew are commemorated on the Singapore Memorial.
Pilot: NZ402905 Sgt James Ellis SMITH, RNZAF - Age 25.

Tue 12 May 1942
India
Test flight
34 Squadron, RAF (Allahabad, India - 221 Group)
Blenheim IV V6254 - took off during the evening and made a forced landing 23 miles SSW of Bamrauli after an engine failure. All three crew were injured, the pilot dying at 0900 next day in the British Military hospital at Allahabad. He was buried in the Cantonment Cemetery at Allahabad, but later reinterred at Delhi.
Pilot: NZ404377 Flt Sgt Harold KAY, RNZAF - Age 21. 295hrs (215 solo - 128 on Blenheim)
Official records are divided over whether Kay died on the 12th or 13th. The flight may have taken place on the 11th but the weight of evidence suggests it was the 12th.

Errol

[Scott McIntosh]

Hi Kevin

Just put the title into the search address mentioned below and you should get some hits.

http://www.bookfinder.com/

Both volumes seem to be available from Bookshelf Aviation Books for £23.93 each

No idea if that includes post.

Same goes for many other books

[dennis_burke]

I've updated the list in above thread with Errol's great information, Smith was new to the list and I had typed in Hillebrand's date wrong so its
Hillebrand RAF
Smith RNZAF
Brown RAAF on V5597

From Brian,
12-13/12/41: Blenheim V5379 crashed on take-off, Sgt K.Connell (AG) killed.
Connell is listed as 60 Squadron on CWGC ? Any thoughts, on secondment or his records had not been updated. I can't see other 60 Sqn men for that date.

S/Ldr F O'Driscoll is dated 16th December by CWGC. A relation of his published his service record on this forum:
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-air/5676-raf-service-records-ww2-2.html

Was he a bombing raid casualty or bombed while landing, I wonder of the Gentleman 'Frank' was reading Warners book on the Blenheim.

Dennis

[Henk Welting]

20-1-1942: S/Ldr O'DRISCOLL has (CWGC)date of death 16-1-1942 and 34 Sqn lost this day Z5796 (Air Britain: SOC as lost 16.1.42). Unfortunately CWGC has date of death 21-1-1942 for SIMM and MOORE.
Regards,
Henk.