Wednesday, 1 December, 1943
Slight wind – sunny and clear all day. The Squadron went on two sweeps today but no enemy aircraft were seen. There was one non-operational sortie on an aircraft test.
Thursday, 2 December, 1943
There was much cloud in the morning, which broke around noon. One Section, comprising of four aircraft, went on a sweep this afternoon in the area of Dreux, Trouville, Gisors and Bernai but no enemy aircraft were seen. There were also ten non-operational sorties on Cine-gun and local flying.
Friday, 3 December, 1943
It was foggy and dull all day. There was no flying carried out.
Saturday, 4 December, 1943
Much cloud in the morning, which decreased somewhat in the afternoon. The Wing went on a sweep this afternoon, which proved uneventful. There were eleven non-operational sorties today on aircraft tests and local flying.
Sunday, 5 December, 1943
It was dull in the morning with the weather breaking around noon, leaving scattered clouds in the afternoon. The Wing did The Wing did a sweep this afternoon. There were eleven non-operational sorties today carried out on cine-gun practice and aircraft tests.
Monday, 6 December, 1943
It was dull in the morning, with it clearing up somewhat in the afternoon. There were no operations carried out today but there were seven non-operational sorties for local flying and a practice beat-up of the aerodrome.
Tuesday, 7 December, 1943
Dull and foggy all day. No flying at all today.
Wednesday, 8 December, 1943
It was dull with much haze today. No flying was carried out. The Squadron was released at noon for the remainder of the day. F/L D.S. Munroe, the Squadron MO, proceeded on a Medical Course at AMU in London today.
Thursday, 9 December, 1943
It was very dull with 10/10ths cloud all day. The Squadron had one flight on readiness today from dawn until dusk. There were eight non-operational sorties today on local flying, practice dive bombing of the aerodrome and aircraft tests.
Friday, 10 December, 1943
It was very dull in the morning with 10/10ths cloud. This broke up in the afternoon, which became sunny and, towards the evening cloudless and cloud. The Squadron was released at noon today. There were six non-operational sorties on low flying, practice rhubarb and local flying.
Saturday, 11 December, 1943
It was dull with 10/10ths cloud for most of the day. It cleared slightly in the late afternoon. There was no practice flying today and the Squadron was released at 1445 hours this afternoon. At approximately 1515 hours, the release was cancelled and the Squadron took off at 1630 hours for Bramwell Bay.
Sunday, 12 December, 1943
The weather was dull all day with 10/10ths cloud. There was no flying carried out today; the aircraft remained at Bramwell Bay.
Monday, 13 December, 1943
It was slightly hazy with scattered cloud. Our Squadron went on two sweeps today from Bramwell Bay, which proved uneventful. There were thirteen non-operational sorties today on local flying, practice dive bombing, low flying and aircraft tests. F/O R.G. Middlemiss was promoted to Acting F/L and took over command of ‘B’ Flight wef today. F/L Lambert was posted to 421 Squadron today to be their Commanding Officer.
Tuesday, 14 December, 1943
The weather was dull with fairly thick fog in the morning. The fog lifted around noon to become 9/10ths cloud and still very dull. One flight of our Squadron was on immediate readiness this morning at dawn. At 0830 hours, a bad weather state was given putting one section at immediate readiness and two at 15 minutes notice. Word was received of a briefing at 1000 hours and the Squadron took off at 1200 hours for a sweep but were recalled due to bad weather. There were two non-operational sorties today on local flying. WO2 K.D. Windsor, a pilot of this Squadron, was posted to ‘R’ Depot pending repatriation to Canada.
Wednesday, 15 December, 1943
The weather was dull and hazy with a slight rain early this morning. Later in the morning the clouds became 10/10ths which improved to about 7/10ths around noon. Four of our pilots went on a sweep today but no enemy aircraft were seen. There were nine non-operational sorties flown toady on formation and cine-gun practice. F/O Hodgson was promoted to the rank of T/F/L wef 29-5-43. F/O J.P. Lecoq was promoted to T/F/L wef 8-8-43 – these were both time promotions.
Thursday, 16 December, 1943
It was dull this morning with 10/10ths cloud. The visibility cleared up around noon and we saw 10/10ths cloud and haze for the rest of the day. Two of our aircraft were supplied to go on a weather recco this morning that was cancelled. A briefing to be held at 1300 hours was also cancelled. All of the pilots attended a lecture at 1400 hours on Armament after which the Squadron was released for the remainder of the day.
Friday, 17 December, 1943
It was dull with 10/10ths cloud. No flying was carried out today.
Saturday, 18 December, 1943
Dull with 10/10ths cloud. No flying was carried out. There was a practice gas attack this afternoon.
Sunday, 19 December, 1943
The day started with 10/10ths cloud, which broke around noon to 8/10ths cloud. This afternoon, four of our pilots went on a rhubarb. There were also three non-operational sorties on local flying. A practice attack on the aerodrome was carried out by the Home Guard this afternoon. Our personnel defended 403 Squadron’s sector well but the Home Guard just would not die.
Monday, 20 December, 1943
Today was sunny with very little cloud. The Wing went on two sweeps today. F/O Pentland damaged one FW 190 on the first operation and 421 Squadron destroyed four FW 190s, one ME 109 and damaged one FW 190 and three ME 109s. S/L Lambert of 421 Squadron is posted as missing. On the second sweep no enemy aircraft were seen. P/O Weaver and F/L Goldberg took off on a rhubarb at 1600 hours. They shot up a number of newly constructed buildings and damaged twelve military vehicles. Both pilots returned safely although F/L Goldberg was forced to land at West Malling due to a number of flak holes in his starboard wing. There were four non-operational sorties today on aircraft tests and local flying. F/O E.L. Gimbel was posted to 421 Squadron today as a Flight Commander. P/O A.V. Hargraves was posted to 587 Squadron Weston Zoyland wef today. F/O Pentland crash-landed on the edge of the aerodrome today after the second sweep. He was admitted to the hospital in a very serious condition, and action has been taken to have him posted non-effective sick to 127 Airfield HQ wef 20-12-43.
Tuesday, 21 December, 1943
The weather in the morning was sunny, clouding over in the afternoon. The Wing went on a sweep this morning but no enemy aircraft were seen. There were three non-operational sorties on local flying today.
Wednesday, 22 December, 1943
It was sunny with scattered cloud developing in the afternoon. The Wing took-off on a sweep at 1210 hours. They were vectored onto some enemy aircraft but none were seen. There were two non-operational sorties flown on aircraft tests today.
Thursday, 23 December, 1943
The weather was sunny with scattered clouds. A briefing was held at 0830 hours this morning but the sweep was postponed three times and then cancelled. The Squadron took off at 1050 hours on a practice formation but were recalled due to a briefing and then, shortly afterwards, took off on a sweep. There were sixteen non-operational sorties flown on a practice formation and local flying.
Friday, 24 December, 1943
Scattered clouds and sunny today. The Squadron went on a sweep at noon today but no enemy aircraft were seen. This afternoon, one flight was placed on readiness until dusk.
Saturday, 25 December, 1943
The weather today was hazy with 10/10ths cloud. There was no flying carried out today. The Squadron was released at 1100 hours for the remainder of the day. The Officers served in the Airmen’s mess according to custom; a good time was had by all.
Sunday, 26 December, 1943
The weather was dull with 10/10ths cloud. The Squadron was released at noon for the remainder of the day.
Monday, 27 December, 1943
It was dull with 10/10ths cloud. There was no flying done today.
Tuesday, 28 December, 1943
The weather was sunny at times with scattered cloud. Four of our pilots went on a ‘Ranger’ this afternoon but no enemy aircraft were encountered. There were sixteen non-operational sorties flown on cine-gun, local flying, and aircraft and cannon tests. F/L D.S. Munroe ceased his attachment to AMU London on completion of his course.
Wednesday, 29 December, 1943
The weather today was dull with much cloud. There was no flying done today. We had one flight on readiness from dawn noon when the Wing was released for the rest of the day. 421 Squadron took over readiness for the remainder of the day.
Thursday, 30 December, 1943
It was sunny with scattered clouds. Our Squadron went on a sweep today and both F/O Finley and P/O Weaver destroyed an ME 109 each. There were fifeteen non-operational sorties on aircraft tests, cine-gun and local flying.
Friday, 31 December, 1943
The weather was sunny with some cloud. Our Squadron went on a sweep today which was uneventful. There were two non-operational sorties flown on aircraft tests and cine-gun practice. P/O McGarrigle was promoted to F/O wef 10/10/43; this was a time promotion. The health of the Squadron personnel remained very good throughout the month with the exception of a few common colds.
403 Squadron Establishment and Flying Times for Month of December 1943
RCAF Other
No. of Officers – Flying 23 2 (USA)
No. of Officers – Ground 2 –
No. of Airmen – Flying 3 1 (USA)
No. of Airmen – Ground 1 1 (USA)
Flying Times for the Month
Operational: 340:45
Non-Operational: 102:15
Tiger Moth: _10:30
Total 453:30
Aircraft on Squadron Strength: 19 Spitfire Mk IX
BS549 MA578 MJ310 MA832 MA842 MH928
BS129 BS284 MH840 MA844 MA226 MH842
MA840 MH335 BS533 MH831 BS239 MH331
MH844
1 Tiger Moth
Our Casualties for the Month: F/O R.T. Pentland Seriously injured 20-12-43
(not due to enemy action)
Enemy Casualties: 19-12-43 P/O Weaver & F/O Pentland shared 9 MT vehicles destroyed.
20-12-43 F/O Pentland damaged 1 FW 190.
20-12-43 P/O Weaver and F/L Goldberg shared 12 MT Vans
damaged.
21-12-43 F/L Hodgson & P/O Myers shared 1 JU 87 destroyed.
30-12-43 F/O H.R. Finley destroyed 1 ME 109
30-12-43 P/O Weaver destroyed 1 ME 109
