72Sqn
Badge:A Swift
Motto: Swift
72Sqn's North East history
1st Tour
72Sqn arrived at Acklington in early March 1940 with their
Spitfire I aircraft. However, the airfield runways were in such a
poor condition the squadron had to revert to using Gladiator
aircraft until the runways were sufficiently repaired. These were
duly completed by the end of the month and normal operations
commenced. The
Squadron barely had time to settle into a routine before it was sent
South to Gravesend to provide patrol duties during the Dunkirk
evacuation.
2nd Tour
Back at Acklington the squadron saw little action, however this changed
on the 15th August 1940 when the Luftwaffe launched a massive
attack targeting both airfields and industry. Shortly after midday
sixty-five Heinkel He.111 of KG26 led by General Stumpff escorted
by twenty-one Messerschmitt Bf.110's of 1/ZG76 were detected on
radar over the North Sea heading in a South Westerly direction
towards Tynemouth. 72Sqn were scrambled and vectored to meet the
enemy near the Farne Isles. Other aircraft scrambled were the
Hurricane's from 79Sqn Acklington, 605Sqn Drem & 607Sqn Usworth and
the Spitfires from 41Sqn Catterick.
F/L E. Graham led the squadrons eleven Spitfires into battle, but
not before a small delay the reason which has become legendary
within Fighter Command. The story goes that Graham was initially so
overwhelmed at seeing Stumpff's huge formation it took him a
short time to gather his thoughts and decide from which direction to
attack. Apparently unable to bear the suspense, one of his wingmen
asked whether he had sighted the enemy. With a slight stutter which
was habitual, he replied "Of course I've seen the b-b-b-bastards,
I'm trying to w-w-w-work out what to do.".
Attacking the formation from the flank, one section attacked the
bombers, the remaining attacking the fighters. Due to the Bf.110's
maximum range each aircraft was fitted with external fuel tanks. The
rear gunner position was also left empty to save weight. This proved
a costly mistake.
As soon as 72Sqn attacked, the Bf.110's jettisoned their fuel tanks
and dived for cover leaving the He.111's vulnerable. Many of these
dropped their bombs into the North Sea and flew for home while
others split and headed for targets in Yorkshire,
these being the airfields at Linton-on-Ouse and Dishforth. The other
squadrons continued to attack this group of
bombers and deterred the Luftwaffe from scoring any direct hits
(although the bombs did cause damage and loss of life).
The day was a total failure for the Luftwaffe and became known as
'Black Thursday' of which 72Sqn were credited with six 'kills'.
On the 31st August 1940 the squadron headed back South to cover the
Biggin Hill sector in the Battle of Britain.
3rd Tour
72Sqn returned to Acklington just before Christmas 1940 following
its successes in the Battle of Britain where the squadron had
claimed over sixty kills and fourteen probable's. However success
came at a price with twenty seven spitfire's and eight pilots lost
in the battle (see table below), with many more injured.
| Pilot | Date | Cause |
| P/O H. R. Case | 12/10/1940 | Killed in action when his Spitfire I (P9338) crashed near Folkestone at 09:20, the cause is unknown. |
| Sgt M. Gray | 05/09/1940 | Killed in action at 14:25hrs when his Spitfire I (N3093) was shot down by a Bf.109 over Kent. |
| P/O D. F. Holland | 20/09/1940 | Baled out of Spitfire I (X4410) over Canterbury at 10:20hrs but died of his injuries later that day. |
| P/O E. E. Males | 27/09/1940 | Killed baling out of Spitfire I (X4340) at 09:40hrs after being shot down by a Bf.109 over Sevenoaks, Kent. |
| F/O O. StJ Pigg | 01/09/1940 | Killed in action over Pluckley, near Ashford, Kent at 11:15hrs after his Spitfire I (P9458) had been attacked by a Bf.109. |
| P/O N. C. H. Robson | ? | ? |
| P/O E. J. Wilcox | 31/09/1940 | Killed in action when his Spitfire I (P9457) was shot down at 19:10hrs over Dungeness. |
| P/O D. C. Winter | 05/09/1940 | Killed at 14:25hrs when his Spitfire I (X4013) was shot down during combat with a Bf.109 over Kent. An attempted bale out was unsuccessful due to height of the aircraft |
Although the North East of England saw far less Luftwaffe incursions than the South, the enemy was never far away. On the 13th March 1941 F/L D. Sheen was scrambled in Spitfire K4596 to investigate a possible 'bogey'. This turned out to be a Junkers Ju.88A-5 of Ku.Fl.Gr.3./106. Sheen attacked and shot down the aircraft (2234 / M2+JL ) North East of Coquet Island. The squadron had further successes against Ju.88's on 10th & 30th April respectively flying their newly acquired Spitfire II's. On the 10th Ju.88A-5 0529 / F6+NL of 3(F)/122) was shot down near Alnmouth and on 30th Ju.88 715 / S4+JH of Ku.Fl.Gr.1./506 off the Farne Islands. On the 8th July 1941 the squadron headed South again for Gravesend.
4th Tour
On 4th August 1942 the squadron, now flying the Spitfire Vc
& IX's arrived from Biggin Hill for a weeks detachment at Morpeth
before heading further North to Ayr.
5th Tour
Ouston became the final North East wartime base for 72Sqn when the
squadron arrived back from Ayr in late September 1942 to prepare for
the North African campaign. The squadron departed on the 8th
November for Maison Blanche, Algiers via Gibraltar reaching their
new home on the 16th.
6th Tour
With the war now over 72Sqn had disbanded at the end of 1946, but
quickly reformed at Odiham on 1st February 1947 with the
re-numbering of 130Sqn flying Vampire F.1's. It was with these
aircraft that they arrived at Acklington with on 6th October 1947.
They remained until 28th November departing back to Odiham.
A 'diary' of North East squadron history follows :-
| Date | Event |
| 02/03/1940 | Arrived at Acklington from Church Fenton with Spitfire I (in use until Apr 1941) |
| Mar 1940 | Received Gladiator I / II (in use until Mar 1940) |
| 01/06/1940 | Left for Gravesend |
| 05/06/1940 | Arrived back at Acklington from Gravesend |
| 31/08/1940 | Left for Biggin Hill |
| 15/12/1940 | Arrived back at Acklington from Leuchars |
| Apr 1941 | Received Spitfire IIa / IIb (in use until Jul 1941) |
| 08/07/1941 | Left for Gravesend |
| 04/08/1942 | Arrived at Morpeth from Biggin Hill with Spitfire Vc (in use until Nov 1942) & Spitfire IX (in use until Feb 1943) |
| 12/08/1942 | Left for Ayr |
| 26/09/1942 | Arrived at Ouston from Ayr |
| 08/11/1942 | Left for North Africa via Gibraltar |
| 06/10/1947 | Arrived back at Acklington from Odiham with Vampire F.1 (in use until Oct 1948) |
| 28/11/1947 | Left for Odiham |
Representative Aircraft
| Spitfire I | K4596 | K9925 | K9942 | L1078 | ||
| Spitfire IIA | P7895 | P8146 | P8231 | P8238 | ||
| Vampire F.1 |