Continue reading]]> Sergent-chef René Billotet, born on 18 April 1925 in Dôle (France) and last survivor of the Royal Air Force’s No 342 (Free French) Squadron passed away at his home aged 95.

Better known in France as the Groupe de Bombardement Lorraine, the squadron played an essential and unusual role during the D-Day landings. On the morning of 6 June 1944, six of the squadron’s aircraft were deployed to lay smoke screens between German coastal defences and the advancing Allied ships.

It was a particularly dangerous mission, as the aircraft had to fly a low, fast and predictable course very close to enemy defenses, making new passes regularly to maintain the smoke screens. One of the aircraft didn’t return to base : Boston BZ213 crashed into the sea during the mission, killing its crew of three.

The Boston IIIA BZ213 flown by Sgt Boissieux, SLt Canut & Sgt Henson, No 342 (Free French) Squadron, lost on 6 June 1944. © Gaëtan Marie

René Billotet was not selected to fly this mission but contributed to it by installing the smoke generators on the squadron’s Boston bombers during the previous night.

At the young age of 17, he had joined the French Resistance after Germany invaded the southern part of France on 11 November 1942. In June 1943 he managed to cross the Channel and joined the Free French Air Force where he was assigned to No 342 Squadron. He flew about ten wartime missions as an engineer.

After the war’s end, he continued serving in the French air force until 1963 and was always very active, visiting the Lyon-Mont Verdun airbase on a regular basis.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of sergent-chef René Billotet.

Sources

• Opex 360 | Dernier survivant du Groupe de bombardement Lorraine, le sergent-chef René Billottet nous a quittés
• Site de l’Armée de l’Air | Sergent-chef René Billottet : une vie au service de l’armée de l’air
• La Croix | René Billottet, un vétéran français du « D-Day » à l’heure anglaise

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Paul Caswell Powe Farnes (Photo Oem89 (CC BY-SA 4.0))

Wing Commander Paul Caswell Powe Farnes, the last surviving ace of the Battle of Britain, passed away on 28 January 2020 aged 101. His death takes place only a few weeks after that of Maurice Mounsdon, and there are now only two surviving Royal Air Force pilots of the Battle of Britain: F/L William Clark and F/O John Hemingway.

Born on 16 July 1918, Paul Farnes joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in April 1938. He was mobilized in July 1939 and was assigned to No 501 Squadron RAF . He took part in the Battle of France, claiming two shared victories against bombers and an individual victory against a Heinkel He 111. After the retreat from France, he took part in the battle of Britain, claiming another five aerial victories, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in October 1940.

He later served in Malta, North Africa and the United-Kingdom. After the war, he remained in the RAF until his retirement in 1958 with the rank of Wing Commander.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of Paul Farnes.

Sources:

• The Telegraph | Wing Commander Paul Farnes, Second World War fighter ace – obituary
• The Washington Post | Paul Farnes, last surviving ace of the Battle of Britain, dies at 101
• Wikipedia | Paul Farnes
• BBC | Battle of Britain ace fighter pilot Paul Farnes dies aged 101

Continue reading]]> Squadron Leader Miroslav “Tony” Liškutín DFC died on 19 February 2018. Born on 23 August 1919 in Czechoslovakia, he fled to France at the time of the German invasion. After serving with the French Foreign Legion, he joined the RAF, becoming operational as a fighter pilot in September 1941.

Serving with several RAF units, he flew 131 combat missions, during which he shot down eight enemy aircraft and two V-1 missiles. After the war he returned to his home country only to return to the UK after being persecuted following the 1948 communist coup. He rejoined the RAF and served there until 1962.

With Miroslav Liškutín’s passing, Emil Boček, who will soon celebrate his 95th birthday, is the sole surviving Czech pilot who served in the RAF in World War II.

More info:

• Radio Prague
• Chichester Observer

Continue reading]]> The Library and Archives Canada video channel posted this 42 minutes-ong footage a few months ago. It shows Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft in full colour and in exceptional quality. Despite the title, it appears part of the footage was shot in Canada, but this does not diminish in the least the quality of this remarkable historical document.

[Royal Air Force in Burma; RCAF : Stock Shots : Roffman Footage] (1942)

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Air Commodore John Mitchell, who has died aged 97, was the navigator of Winston Churchill’s personal aircraft during the Second World War.

A veteran of a bomber tour and a specialist navigator, Mitchell was selected for the crew flying Churchill’s VVIP aircraft in late 1942. Earlier, the prime minister had flown in RAF and civil aircraft but it was decided that a specially furnished RAF aeroplane should be used. The model chosen was the new Avro York and given the name Ascalon, after the lance with which St George killed the dragon.

Read his full obituary from the Telegraph.

Prime Minister Churchill’s Avro York “Ascalon”.

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Left to right: Les Munro, King George VI and Guy Gibson on 27 May 1943.

Squadron Leader John Leslie “Les” Munro, CNZM, DSO, QSO, DFC, JP, the last surviving pilot of the “Dambuster raid”, passed away on 4 August 2015 in New Zealand, aged 96.

Munro was born in 1919 and joined the RNZAF in 1941. He made a first tour of operations with No 97 Squadron flying the Manchester and later Halifax, in 1942-1943. He volunteered fo No 617 Squadron and joined the unit at its creation in March 1943. He was part of the famous raid against the Rühr dams on 17 May 1943, but was forced to return home with his anti-dam mine after he was hit by Flak over the Netherlands and lost all communications.

He took part in Operation Taxable, the plan to deceive the Germans into believing the Allied invasion was taking place in the Seine Maritime region rather than Normandy.

He left the Air Force in 1946 having flown 58 combat missions. After his return to New-Zealand, he took an interest in local politics and served as an adviser and mayor.

A full obituary can be found on The Telegraph.

Les Munro’s Lancaster during Operation taxable, on 5/6 June 1944.

Continue reading]]> Squadron Leader Tom Bennett, who has died aged 93, flew as a navigator in one of the specialist crews on No 617 (Dambusters) Squadron. After the war, he remained with the RAF until 1955 and then worked at the Port of London authority. He stayed close to 617 Squadron and is the author of an excellent book on this unit.

Read his obituary on the Telegraph.