43Sqn
Badge: A black gamecock
Motto: Gloria Finis (Glory is the end)
43Sqn's North East history
Within months of the breakout of World War Two, 43Sqn
arrived at Acklington from Tangmere to provide defensive cover of
Newcastle and its surrounding area. Though the squadron only
remained at Acklington for a little over three months, it was
relatively a busy one.
On 30th January 1940 F/L C. Hull and Sgt F. Carey (flying Hurricane I's L1849 and L1728 respectively) shot down a Heinkel He111 (1H+KM) of 4./KG26 ten miles East of Coquet Island.
Further 'kills' were achieved on 3rd February when F/O J.D. 'Eddie' Edmonds & Sgt J. Arbuthnot lead by F/O J. Simpson (flying Hurricane I's L1955, L1742 & L1727) shot down a Heinkel He111 (1H+HL) of 3./KG26 (though this is unconfirmed as 152Sqn flying Gladiators also out of Acklington have similar claims). What is beyond doubt is the shooting down off Tynemouth of another Heinkel He111 (1H+GK) from 2./KG26 by Sgt F. Carey flying & Sgt Ottehill (flying L1726 & L1849) that same day. Meanwhile further down the coast F/L P. Townsend had shot down a third Heinkel He111. The German aircraft made a forced landing at Bannial Flat Farm, two miles North of Whitby thus becoming the first enemy aircraft to crash in England.
On 22nd February F/L P. Townsend, F/O Christie and Sgt Ayling (flying Hurricane I's L2116, L1727 & L1759) were patrolling near the Farne Isles when they encountered a number of Heinkel He111's. F/L Townsend attacked and caused damage to one of the Heinkel's which immediately went into a steep dive. A second attack was made and further damage was caused to the Heinkel's wings. The Heinkel dived vertically towards the sea and although the Hurricane pilots didn't witness the crash due to a sea mist, plumes of black smoke was seen rising in the approximate area where the aircraft would've crashed.
The squadron departed North to Wick, Scotland on 26th February 1940 for further defensive duties.
43Sqn returned to the North East arriving at Usworth from Tranmere on 8th September 1940 for a deserved break. The squadron had suffered large losses during the Battle of Britain and needed a place to train new pilots arriving to replace those lost to the Luftwaffe. Some of the war weary Hurricane's were also replaced with new aircraft. Before the end of the year the squadron left for Drem, Scotland.
The squadron returned for the second time to Acklington in October 1941, now equipped with the Hurricane IIA & IIB to provide both day and night time fighter roles though never saw the levels of action the unit experienced earlier. It departed South to Tangmere in Summer 1942.
A 'diary' of North East squadron history follows :-
| Date | Event |
| 18/11/1939 | Arrived at Acklington from Tangmere with Hurricane I (in use until Apr 1941) |
| 26/02/1940 | Left for Wick |
| 08/09/1940 | Arrived at Usworth from Tangmere |
| 12/12/1940 | Left for Drem |
| 04/10/1941 | Arrived at Acklington from Drem with Hurricane II (in use until Aug 1942) |
| 16/06/1942 | Left for Tangmere |
Representative Aircraft
| Hurricane I | L1725 | L1726 | L1727 | L1728 | L1729 | L1734 |
| L1742 | L1744 | L1759 | L1847 | L1849 | L1955 | |
| L1963 | L2066 | L2116 | P3527 | V7303 | ||
| Hurricane IIA/B | Z2807 | Z3150 | Z3270 |