Australia’s War Diary —June 1940

50 Years Ago . . .

June 1 – Dunkirk. The British evacuation, Operation Dynamo, continues and 64,429 men are rescued on this day.

Ian Bedfor Nesbitt Russell of 609 Squadron is killed in action when surprised from behind by a Messerschmitt Bf 110. His Spitfire (L1058) crashes into the sea. In the past fortnight over France and Dunkirk, ‘Hack’ Russell has destroyed 11 enemy aircraft and probably 6 others. Although from Melbourne, he is sometimes mistakenly called an American because before the war he was a commercial airline pilot in the USA. He will be posthumously awarded 609 Squadron’s first DFC.

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