Australia’s War Diary

June 8 – Syria. At 2. 00am, the British invade Syria. The force includes the 7th Australian Division (less one brigade which is in Tobruk), 4th Indian Brigade, the Free French Division and some composite motorised units. They will be fighting numerically superior Vichy French defenders consisting of 45,000 men. Air cover consists of 70 aircraft: 3 Squadron RAAF (Tomahawks); 80 Squadron RAF (Hurricanes); 208 Squadron RAF army co-op. (Lysanders and oneflight of Hurricanes); “X” Flight (Gladiators); and 815 Squadron FAA (Swordfish) operating from Cyprus. Limited numbers of Blenheims from Iraq and Wellingtons from Egypt can be called in for support if needed.

In its first raid of the campaign 3 Squadron strafes six Morane 406 fighters on the ground at Rayak. That evening 4 Tomahawks escort Blenheims bombing oil tanks at Beirut. No opposition. June 11 – Britain. During a German air raid on Pembroke dock, Sgt Gordon Gould of 10 Squadron RAAF is killed while battling During the day at Mount Batten, 10 Squadron takes delivery of three Short S. 26 “G” class flying boats, formerly BOAC machines, to fly special long range sorties to the Middle East. Australia. T he Air Training Corps is founded as a cadet youth organisation in association with the RAAF. Boys and girls between 14 and 18 are eligible to join. June 13-Syria. The Australians attack Sidon.

June 14 – Syria. While covering British naval units off Tyre and Sidon, eight 3 Squadron Tomahawks intercept eight Ju 88s in Italian markings. Three bombers are destroyed, one each by S/Ldr Peter Jeffrey, F/Lt John Perrin and F/O J Saunders. June 15 – North Africa. Operation Battleaxe, a major British offensive to relieve Axis pressure on Tobruk, begins. In spite of some initial success at Capuzzo, by the end of the day heavy tank losses leave the attackers at a serious disadvantage. Syria. Vichy French counterattacks. 3 Squadron Tomahawks successfully attack 12 tanks and 30 vehicles near Sheikh Meskine. S/Ldr Jeffrey and F/O Peter Turnbull each destroy a Vichy Glenn Martin bomber.

Britain. Six Blenheims of 105 Squadron RAF find an enemy convoy of eight heavily armed merchant ships near The Hague. Led by W/Cdr Hughie Edwards, now CO of this squadron, they attack from 50 feet (15m) flying into an intense AA barrage. Edwards rakes his target, a ship of around 4,000 tons (4,064 tonnes), with machine gun fire before dropping bombs from mast height. The resulting explosion shatters the vessel, probably sinking it. Edwards is awarded an immediate DFC.

S/Ldr Robert Bungey takes over command of 452 Squadron RAAF. Bungey is a veteran of the fighting in France where he flew Fairey Battle light bombers and of the Battle of Britain when he changed over to fighters.

June 16 – Britain. 457 Squadron RAAF, Australia’s second Spitfire squadron in RAF Fighter Command, forms at Baginton, Warwickshire. Its CO, S/Ldr P Brothers, and two flight commanders are RAF while most pilots are EATS-trained Australians.

June 17-Syria. Australian troops capture Jezzine, inland of Sidon. North Africa. After confused fighting, the British withdraw to avoid being surrounded and cut off by Rommel’s tanks. By the afternoon the situation on the Libyan/Egyptian front is as it had been two days ago. Battleaxe has failed.

June 18-Ma/ta. Flying with 249 Squadron RAF, on loan from 185 Squadron because of its shortage of aircraft, Sgt F Sheppard shares in the destruction of one MC. 200 and a second is claimed as a probable.

June19-Syria. After anuneventfulmission escortingBlenheims, 3 Squadron Tomahawks intercept and disperse Vichy Glenn Martin 167 bombers trying to bomb Australian troops near Sidon June 20 – Britain. S/Ldr Ivan Podger and crew in Sunderland P9063/RB-H conduct a search for “G” class flying boat X8274 ‘Golden Fleece’, lost on a flight from Mount Batten to Gibraltar. Although newly fitted radar is used the search is unsuccessful. Meanwhile, most of the passengers and crew of ‘Golden Fleece’, formerly G-AFCJ of BOAC, perish but five survivors are eventually rescued by a German seaplane. One man, Cpl Len Corcoran, has the dubious honour of becoming 10 Squadron’s only POW of the war.

Australia. By now the RAAF has received 98 of its first 100 Lockheed Hudsons. Like Catalina flying boats they have been taken from orders originally placed in the USA by Britain. Syria. While the Indian brigade assaults Damascus, Tomahawks of 3 Squadron make low level attacks on Vichy French troops retiring towards Beirut. Queensland Battle of Britain veteran, S/Ldr Gordon Olive DFC, is appointed to command 456 Squadron RAAF which is being formed at RAF Station Valley in the Isle of Anglesey. This is Australia’s first night fighter squadron and its initial equipment will consist of 16Boulton Paul Defiants. It will come into official existence on the 30th. June 21 – Syria. 3 Squadron Tomahawks continue to strafe retreating Vichy French troops on the road to Beirut. Ground fire damages 3 aircraft. Damascus is captured.

An independent British force, “Habforce”, under the command of Lt General John Laverack of Melbourne, begins to move from Iraq against Palmyra. Aerial reinforcements include 45 Squadron RAF (Blenheims) and 260/450 Squadron (Hurricanes), an amalgamation of Australian ground crews of 450 Squadron with the pilots and aircraft of 260 Squadron RAF.

June 22 – Eastern Front. Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, begins. Although outnumbered in terms of men and machines, from the outset the Germans achieve phenomenal successes on the ground and in the air thanks to the technical superiority of their equipment and their combat experience. By nightfall, the Red Air Force has lost 1,811 aircraft, 1,489 on the ground, and German panzers have penetrated deep into Russian territory inflicting heavy losses. The Luftwaffe has lost only 35 planes, one a Bf 110 rammed by Lt Kokorev of the 124th Rgt.

June 25 – Britain. After a patrol flown by F/Lt Tom Stokes, Sunderland P9603/RB-H overshoots the flare path and crashes onto rocks while landing on Milford Haven. It is destroyed and two crew members, S/Ldr Norm Hick and F/O Ron Scutts, die from injuries sustained.

June 26 -North Africa. Between Tobruk and Capuzzo Tomahawks of 250 Squadron RAF encounter 30 enemy aircraft while escorting bombers to Gazala. In the dogfight, P/O Clive Caldwell of Rose Bay, NSW and Sgt G Coward of North Ipswich, Queensland both destroy Bf 109s. P/O J Kent from Edgecliff, NSW heavily damages a Bf 109, shoots down a Fiat G. 50 and strafes a staff car on the escarpment near Sollum. One Australian, Sgt Gale, is lost.

Syria. Eight 3 Squadron Tomahawks encounter four Vichi Leo 45s south-west of Palmyra and shoot down at least 3.

Britain. Flying with 610 Squadron RAF, P/O F A (Tony) Gaze of Toorak, Victoria shoots down a Bf 109 over France.

Malta. No 126 Squadron is formed at Takali with Hurricanes. Among the RAF pilots is one Australian, Sgt A H Haley RAAF. June 27/28-Britain. RAF Bomber Command suffers its heaviest night losses of the war so far when 11 Whitleys and 3 Wellingtons fail to return from a raid on Bremen. Storms and severe icing cause many bombers to stray over Hamburg where intense night fighter attacks are encountered.

June 28-Syria. Nine 3 Squadron Tomahawks intercept six Glenn Martin bombers attacking Habforce units near Palmyra. All are shot down. F/Lt Alan Rawlinson claims 3; F/O Peter Turnbull 2; and Sgt Rex Wilson 1.

June 29 – Syria. In a strafing attack on the airfield at Kuseir, 3 Squadron damages numerous trucks, destroys petrol and ammunition dump sand leaves a hangar on fire. P/O L Knowles of Canberra shoots down a Glenn Martin 167. Since the 22nd, when airfield attacks began again, the squadron has destroyed seven aircraft on the ground and damaged thirteen others. Eastern Front. The Germans continue to penetrate deep into Russian territory and at Minsk a pincer movement traps another large pocket of Soviet forces around Gorodische. In desperation the Red Air Force sends in waves of unescorted bombers and they are cut to pieces.

June 30-North Africa. Nine Tomahawks of 250 Squadron intercept twenty Stukas and thirty escorting fighters while covering a Tobruk bound convoy. Clive Caldwell accounts for two Ju 87s and shares a probable Bf 110 with Sgt Robert Whittle. P/O Kent fails to return.

Britain. Flight commanders for 455 Squadron RAAF arrive at Swinderby. They are S/Ldr Sherwood and the colourful S/Ldr Dereck French DFC, the first Australian to be decorated in WW2.

This month 184 EAT S trained Australians – 108 pilots, 26 observers, 40 WAGs and 10AGs- have arrived in the UK.

Sunderland P9600/RB-E of 10 Squadron RAAF, flown by F/O “Attie” Wearne and crew, clashes with a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor and both aircraft sustain considerable damage. The Condor departs with wounded on board. Wearne’s Sunderland has been seriously holed below the waterline and in the port float and it is losing large quantities of oil from the port-outer fuel tank. Engine failure seems certain but LAC Milton Griffin crawls into the wing and plugs two large holes in the bottom of the tank. Then, crawling back and forth in the hot, confined space with a can for over two hours he manages to keep up a supply of oil to the engines so that Wearne can bring P9600 safely to Mount Batten. Griffin is awarded a DFM.

Atlantic. Owing to the withdrawal of German aircraft to take part in operation Barbarossa, there has been a fall in the number of Allied ships lost through air attack. A total of 109 ships, including 61 sunk by submarines, have gone down from all causes, representing a loss of 432,000 tons (438,900 tonnes).

Singapore. Soon after his arrival earlier in the month, F/Lt G R Burlinson from Sydney is appointed Group Defence Officer at Air Headquarters. He later records: “After a week of studying files it became apparent the four stations on Singapore Island – Seletar, Tengah, Sembawang, and Kallang – were defended on the old principles of the ‘thin red line . . . very thin and not much of a line’. . . “