550 Squadron and RAF North Killingholme Association

Squadron Operations: Summary Information

Overview

Listed below is the information available for operations to this target flown by 550 Squadron.

Operation Summary: The column headers should be fairly self-explanatory. The term "aborted" as used here covers a number of possibilities:

the operation was cancelled before crews were briefed
the crews have been briefed as to the target, and in some cases the planes may even have been bombed up and the crews on-board at their stations awaiting take-off, before the op has been stood-down
finally a number of cases where the op was already under way and the planes en-route but for whatever reason the operation was aborted (e.g. the master bomber orders the attack cancelled due to weather conditions at target adversely affecting targeting).

Aircraft Deployed: When a link to a particular aircraft is given, this indicates aircraft known to have taken part in this raid (in the records currently available to the web-site author). A record of whether the aircraft returned or failed to return (FTR) is also logged.

Servicemen Deployed: Names of the crew in the operation.

Station Summary: This section is the information from the RAF North Killingholme Station Record Book for the operational date (if available).

Definitions of the abbreviations used are available: here.

Manageable Lists

The amount of data in the database is growing and this is resulting in the "all operations/targets" list getting rapidly bigger and thus slower to generate. There are options to display shorter, more quickly generated, reports if you want to home in on something specific. For example, there are options to generate reports on operations to a single target, or by single aircraft (to all targets) or by single aircraft to a single target. There is, on the database-reports summary page, a short user guide (PDF format) on how to do this.

Operation/Target: Bordeaux (12 Aug 1944 - 12 Aug 1944)

Operation Summary
Target	Out	Back	Aborted (Y / N)	Comments
Bordeaux	12 Aug 1944	12 Aug 1944	N	Six aircraft were required for an attack on oil storage tanks at BORDEAUX and all took off on their long trip in almost perfect weather and the target area was clearly seen. Accurate flak was encountered over the target and "A" (F/O Purvis) was hit before bombing, rendering two engines unserviceable and the controls to the third would not function. Owing to this loss of power the aircraft fell out of control from 10,000 ft to 1,500 ft, when F/O Purvis regained control. On the return journey the bombs were manually released and the Flight Engineer (Sgt Leary) who was wounded gave valuable assistance to his Captain, who was nursing the aircraft back on one and a half engines. A crash landing was made at Bolt Mead and due to the unserviceable flaps and brakes the aircraft overshot coming to rest against a thick stone wall. Photographs show that the target "has had it". [Ed: F/O Purvis received an immediate Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions.]

Aircraft Deployed			Servicemen Deployed
Aircraft Service Number	Returned or FTR	Comments	Crew Details
LL800	Returned	Hit by flak over target and lost height to 1500 ft due to two engines put out of action. Crash landed at Bolt Mead. F/Engineer and Wireless Operator wounded.	F/O R Purvis (P) Sgt S Leary (F/Eng) F/Sgt C Stoddard (Nav) F/Sgt K R S Scholefield (A/B) Sgt L W Guthrie (W/Op) Sgt J Wright (MU/AG) Sgt V S B Scoble (R/AG)
ED905	Returned	Primary 10,000 ft at 15.12 1/2hrs. Shrapnel hole in cockpit windscreen.	F/L D A Shaw (P) Sgt C A Bruce (F/Eng) Sgt R W Harris (Nav) Sgt S Gartland (A/B) A L Llanwarne (W/Op) Sgt A Buckingham (MU/AG) Sgt E J Griffiths (R/AG)
LL811	Returned	Primary 10,000 ft at 15.13hrs
PD221	Returned	Primary 9,000 ft at 15.13hrs
ME776	Returned	Primary 10,500 ft at 15.10hrs. Damaged slightly by H/H	F/Lt R Thomas (P) Sgt S F Beardmore (F/Eng) Sgt V R Farmer (Nav) F/Sgt A C H Stack (A/B) Sgt E J Wilkins (W/Op) Sgt J J Curtis (MU/AG) Sgt C R Cronk (R/AG)
LM182	Returned	Primary 9,000 ft at 15.13hrs

Summary Statistics

Based on the data in the lists displayed above, and keeping in mind that data is still being updated and thus not yet complete, the following statistics are generated:

Aircraft Deployment Statistics

Aircraft deployments	6
MAX Aircraft deployed in single operation	6 (Bordeaux, 12 Aug 1944)

These details were last updated: 22 April 2024

Note

this list is still being built and will take some time to complete
what is currently displayed is believed accurate but much more is still to be added

This note describes the options currently available to produce a smaller, more manageable list and also describes planned future enhancements to the reporting facility.

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