Spare

The attack was successful, two bridges were destroyed and several huts were burned in the area.  Only one aircraft failed to return, Flight Lieutenant Cullen’s Spitfire LF.VIII of 452 Squadron was missing. He was last seen recovering from a dive-bombing run having successfully released his payload.

Judgement

Operation “Judgement”, carried out exactly 77 years ago on the 4th May 1945, was the final offensive operation mounted by the Royal Navy in World War Two’s European theatre. It resulted in the sinking of two German surface vessels and a submarine for the loss of two FAA aircraft. The war in Europe ended three days later.

45 Seconds

On the 25th of September the Battle of Britain was entering its third month. While there may never be complete agreement on the specific the win/loss ratios, it is nevertheless true to say that through August and early September the RAF had barely managed to replace its losses in aircrew and aircraft. Aircraft production had been heavily targeted by the Luftwaffe and the RAF’s operational aircrew losses were only just matched by the training unit output; the exhaustion of both its physical and material reserves was a real and present danger.