| Place. |
Date. |
Time. |
Summary of Events. |
Reference to Appendices. |
| Lympne | 1.5.20 | | After having been disbanded for a fundamental reorganization, 41 Squadron was reformed from the remains of the old squadron. The squadron is currently based at RAF Lympne as part of the 125 Wing, which will move to the continent soon to support the 2nd TAF during the Western Europe campaign.
The Officer Commanding is again S/Ldr 'Skipper' Merfort, who already commanded the squadron in the previous years. He arrived in the morning together with the ground crew. This nucleus is supplemented by some reserve pilots provided by the other squadrons of the wing. They will remain with the squadron until they can be replaced by regular pilots.
Due to the tense situation on the continent, the squadron received orders to commence operations as soon as possible. | |
| 3.5.20 | | Sufficient aircraft were allocated to the squadron to bring "A" Flight to established strength. | |
| Gent | 10.5.20 | | In preparation of the operations as part of 2nd TAF, the squadron flew to the Armament Practice Camp at Gent to take part in a dive-bombing course. | |
| 11.5.20 | 9.00 | This morning 41Sqn_MADOV arrived at Gent. He was assigned to the squadron to act as the new Second-in-Command. | |
| | 21.00 | The pilots have been instructed and the first dive-bombing practice flights were conducted. Afterwards, air gunnery against a towed target drone was practised. | |
| 12.5.20 | | On the second day at the A.P.C. further dive-bombing techniques were practised. | |
| 17.5.20 | | The final dive-bombing exercise of the course was completed. The pilots scored good results and are eager to use what they have learned in the next operations. | |
| 19.5.20 | | The squadron was supposed to leave for Volkel today, but the airfield was reported to be currently unserviceable. The deployment was postponed and further exercises will be carried out by the pilots later on today.
| |
| B.79 | | 17.00 | Despite the poor weather condition, No. 401 RCAF squadron arrived from B.116 (Wunstorf) according to schedule in preparation for a joint operation to be carried out later on today. | |
| | 21.00 | Joint advanced combat patrol from B.79 to the area of Breda with the No. 401 RCAF squadron. Light enemy activity was encountered near the advancing armored vehicles of the 2nd Canadian Division. Flight was led by S/Ldr 'Skipper' Merfort and 2 enemy aircraft were destroyed (Fw-190 and 1 Ju-87) by 41Sqn_Riksen of the 401 squadron. F/Lt 'Madov' Emblin lost control of his Spitfire during hard maneuvering and fatally crashed in the vicinity. | |
| Gent | 20.5.20 | | No. 401 Squadron RCAF arrived at Gent again for the dive-bombing course. 41Sqn_Riksen of 401 Squadron accompanied our practice flight to familiarize with the area. | |
| 21.5.20 | | 41Sqn_Skipper and 41Sqn_MADOV carried out a mock-up fighter sweep. | |
| 22.5.20 | | The squadron practised 30° shallow-glide bombing as a variation of the regular 45° dive-bombing. | |
| 23.5.20 | | WEF today, Fg Off Richards is posted into the Squadron. He is sent home on compassionate leave and the Squadron looks forward to his return. | |
| 25.5.20 | 21.00 | Looks like our training days are over. The squadron will temporarily dispatch a section to Eindhoven in the afternoon. In preparation, a final dive-bombing exercise was carried out. | |
| | 22.00 | Red Section flew to Eindhoven to load bombs and then continued to Geldern to bomb a troop concentration. They landed in Eindhoven to refuel and then patroled over the frontline before the returned to Gent. These were the first operational sorties since the squadron was reformed. | |
| 26.5.20 | | Movement of Red Section from Base to St. Trond advanced landing ground where the a/c were bombed up and mounted the Squadron's first operational dive-bombing attack on an airfield in Germany. This was Kelz airfield. One 109 in the air and several on the ground destroyed. Flight recovered to Gent the following morning. | |
| Volkel | 28.5.20 | | The squadron was finally transferred to Volkel. 41Sqn_Skipper and 41Sqn_MADOV accompanied No. 66 Squadron for a short notice defensive patrol of the local area at high altitude based on G2 intelligence from 2nd Army HQ. Over the Nijmegen area heavy combat was engaged and three enemy a/c are confirmed as destroyed and one damaged. 41Sqn_MADOV crash-landed his aircraft but was safely accounted for. | |
| 29.5.20 | | 41Sqn_MADOV off base with a 48 hr pass, believed to be recovering from his experience yesterday. | |
