British Military Aviation in 1942 - Part 2

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12 February
A Posthumous Victoria Cross is awarded to Lieutenant Commander Esmonde of the Royal Navy, for his daylight attack on the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst in the Straits of Dover. The aircraft involved was a Fairey Swordfish (W5984 'H') of No.825 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm.

15 February
A second Special Duties squadron, No.161 Squadron, is formed at Newmarket from personnel detached from No.138 Squadron.

15 February
British forces on Singapore capitulate to the invading Japanese.

15-16 February
British forces join the Dutch and Americans in maximum-effort operations against Japanese invasion forces off Sumatra, inflicting heavy destruction on landing ships in the Banka Strait and in the mouth of the Palembang River.

22 February
Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris succeeds Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse as Commander in Chief Bomber Command.

22 February
Royal Air Force Bristol Blenheim bombers and Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bombers destroy a warship and hit several other vessels of the Japanese occupation forces on Java.

27 February
Operation Biting: Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys of No.51 Squadron, led by Wing Commander P.C. Pickard, take-off from Thruxton carrying 6 officers and 113 men of 'C' Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion, under the command of Major J.D. Frost, together with Royal Air Force RDF (radar) specialist, Flight Sergeant C.W.H. Cox.

This assault force is dropped near the Luftwaffe Würzburg radar station at Bruneval, near Le Havre, and successfully seizes the station. Flight Sergeant Cox then dismantles elements of the radar, which are brought back to the United Kingdom for examination, together with three prisoners, when the force withdraws by sea. The assault is brilliantly successful, all of the objectives are achieved, at a cost of three members of the attacking force killed, two missing and seven wounded.

March
During the month, the Luftwaffe fly a total of 4,927 sorties against Malta. Throughout the month, the average serviceability of Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft on the island falls as low as twelve, the RAF lose 12 fighters in combat, with 9 pilots killed, and a further 46 are destroyed on the ground. RAF casualties during Luftwaffe bombing attacks are 28 killed and 34 wounded.

1 March
Martin 139s, Brewster Buffaloes, Lockheed Hudsons and Bristol Blenheims attack Japanese ships landing troops on Java, with one Martin 139 and one Buffalo lost. A second attack by all available aircraft sinks two troopships, inflicting heavy losses on enemy forces.

1 March
A United States Navy (USN) Lockheed Hudson of VP82 sinks the submarine U-656, south west of Newfoundland. This is the first German submarine to be sunk by United States forces in the Second World War.

2 March
Martin 139s attack Japanese shipping, sinking two large transports and damaging three others. Martins also attacked Japanese aircraft on the ground at Kalidjati and this attack is repeated at dusk by Royal Air Force (RAF) and Dutch fighters.

3 March
Allied aircraft begin to evacuate Java. Royal Air Force and Dutch fighters continue to provide fighter cover until 7 March.

3 March
No.44 Squadron makes the first operational sortie with the new Lancaster bomber - a mine-laying operation in the Heligoland Bight.

3-4 March
The Renault factory in Billancourt, near Paris, is bombed by over 220 Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft.

7 March
The first Supermarine Spitfires reaches Malta, when fifteen aircraft are flown off the United States Navy (USN) aircraft carrier USS Wasp. The first fighter squadron on Malta to re-equip with the Spitfire, No.249 Squadron, become operational on 10 March and is fully re-equipped by 17 March.

7 March
A United States naval airship and submarine exercise successfully demonstrates the practicability of radio sonobuoys in aerial anti-submarine warfare.

8 March
Japanese forces enter Rangoon. The remnants of No.221 Group RAF are moved north to Magwe and Akyab Island where they form into the Burwing and Akwing.

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