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Narvik May 1940. Note covering of snow |
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Mountain scene taken by Plt Off Drummond |
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Detailed map of operating area |
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Above: Fg Off Drummond; according to the ORB he pranged Hurricane L1601 near Digby on 27. March 1940 Drummond (and a Sgt. Lawson) took off from RAF North Coates at 1750, to escort a convoy, returning to Digby at 1930 hrs. “P.O. Drummond crashed in a field near the aerodrome. He received no serious injury and his machine was only slightly damaged.” |
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Flying Officer P.J.“Jack” Frost in Hurricane L1815 in wooden shelter at Bardufoss, following dogfight with a Ju 87 Stuka over Harstad, photographed after landing at 1540 hrs on Sunday 2. June 1940. Windscreen smashed by German bullet. With him is Drummond, camera in hand, . |
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At 0830 on 26th of May Squadron Leader Kenneth Cross took off from Glorious in his Hurricane P2632. This was the first Hurricane to take off from a carrier. Since Glorious did 30 knots the take off was not a problem for Cross nor the rest of the Squadron that all departed Glorious that evening. In three formations they set course from Skånland west of Narvik. Each formation was lead by a navigating Swordfish. The runway at Skånland consisted of 700 metres of steel-meshed “sommerfelt” tracking laid on bare earth. Cross landed first. On the roll-out the wheels on his Hurricane started to sink into the too soft earth and the plane tipped over bending the propeller blades. There followed two successful landings, but then Flight Lieutenant Stewart tipped over and ended up inverted. Stewart was unhurt but his Hurricane was damaged beyond repair on site. After two more landings Cross ordered Flight Lieutenant P.G “Jamie" Jameson to continue with the remaining eight Hurricanes onwards to Bardufoss, which had solid earth runway. At Bardufoss all planes landed safely although one of them overshot the short runway and ran a few yards into the scrub. Early next morning Cross led three Hurricanes off from Skånland in the Squadron’s first scramble. Actually only two got airborne. Pilot Officer Bunker tipped over on the take off due to the soft earth. The patrol did not make contact with German planes. Cross now decided to evacuate Skånland and after flying a patrol, all planes landed at Bardufoss. Cross flew his own Hurricane, having been able to straighten the bent propeller. In the evening, 46 Sqn. had 15 of its remaining 16 Hurricanes operational at Bardufoss. From 0730 and through the night 46 Sqn flew patrols over Narvik to give cover to an allied attack. They did not sight any German planes. At 00:41 in the morning they had to stop flying due to fog at Bardufoss. At that time Ju 88’s and He 111.s from Trondheim arrived in the Narvik area and did a lot of damage to Royal Navy ships. Later in the morning the weather at Bardufoss improved and 46 Sqn flew 15 missions that day. Now they made contact with the enemy. Flying Officers Mike Mee and Jack Lydall attacked two Ju 88s over the Ofotfiorden west of Narvik. Lydall was able to shoot one of them down. Three 3 3 Hurricanes, led by Jameson, attacked two water-borne Dormer Do 26 flying boats, hidden in a small cove in the Rombaksfjord east of Narvik. After four attacks both Dorniers were ablaze and sinking. At 00.40. on the 29th (still light at that latitude). Jameson and his wingman Pilot Officer Jack Drummond shot down one He III each over the Ofotfiorden although Oberleutnant Egon Schmidt managed to crash-land the aircraft hit by Drummond in Swedish territory. Drummond’s Hurricane was hit by return fire and he had to bail out, and was picked up by the destroyer HMS Firedrake. In the afternoon of 24th May, Pilot Officer Banks attacked and shot down a FW 200 Condor bombing Tromsø. The stricken aircraft fell at Dyrøy. In the evening, Lydall was able to shoot down a He 111, it made an emergency landing at Andøya. Probably hit by return fire from the Heinkel, Lydall had to make an emergency landing. He crash-landed in a small marsh on the western slop of Tjeldøy. The Hurricane turned over on its back and Lydall was not able to get out. A small fire started, and Lydall feared that he would be burned to death. He managed to throw a few private letters some metres away onto the snow. The fire died out before it reached the cockpit. When people finally arrived at the scene of the crash, perhaps as much as one hour later, Lydall was dead from wounds and exposure. Nearby, and at about the same time, Pilot Officer Neville Banks also attacked the Heinkels. He probably managed to shoot one Heinkel down. However, his Hurricane was severely damaged by bullets from one or more Heinkels. He tried to make an emergency landing in a marsh a few miles north of Lødingen. Unfortunately, he landed short; in a small river, and the Hurricane hit large stones. The stop was abrupt and Banks was thrown out of the cockpit and hit a birch. He died instantly. |