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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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3 Squadron Crest
01.07.1943 No. 3 Squadron Typhoon R8946 QO-L F/O. A.T. Little

Operation: Roadstead

Date: 01st July 1943 (Thursday)

Unit: No. 3 Squadron (11 Group)

Type: Typhoon Ib

Serial: R8946 / DN589 / EJ970

Code: QO-L / QO-A / QO-M

Base: RAF Manston, Kent

Location: North Sea North West Ostend

Pilot: F/O. Alan Trevor Little NZ/413862 RNZAF Age 26. Killed

Pilot: P/O. Colin George Benjamin AUS/403855 RAAF Age 22. Killed

Pilot: Sgt. F. Lawrence 1330629 PoW No. 1721 Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Manston at 11:25 hrs on a Roadstead to the Hook Of Holland. Attacking the convoy with cannon fire and bombs - the squadron reported the 7 ships had been damaged. Luftwaffe fighters then came to their aid and they were attacked by JG1 and 2 who claimed 4 Typhoons shot down.

3 Squadron lost 3 aircraft, the other two as described above. F/O. Little was shot down at 12:17 hrs, his body was washed up at Walcheren near Westkapelle on the 12th July and buried the following day. P/O. Benjamin was shot down at 12:00 hrs, his body recovered by a German Minesweeper and brought back to Rotterdam. Sgt. Lawrence shot down at 12:15 hrs and taken PoW.

175 Squadron lost a Typhoon later that day, DN408 Flown by Fl/Sgt. Osmond R. Kelsick who was rescued after crashing into the sea. From 197 Squadron, 26 year old, Sq/Ldr. Alan Henry Corkett 41903 flying Typhoon Ib DN357 OV-Q suffered an engine failure and taken PoW.

Burial details:

F/O. Alan Trevor Little. Flushing Northern Cemetery (Vlissingen). Row F. Grave 23. Son of James and Louisa Little, of Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand and husband of Pegg C. Little, of Timaru. A total of 372 flying hours logged.

Other:

P/O. Colin George Benjamin. Rotterdam General Cemetery (Crooswijk). Plot LL. Row 2. Grave 47. Ben on the 13TH October 1920, the son of Cyril Hastings Benjamin and Eva Eleanor Benjamin, of 7 Carter Street, Gordon, New South Wales, Australia. Grave inscription reads: “His Duty Fearlessly And Nobly Done. Ever Remembered”.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Cenotaph, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

KTY - 19.10.2017

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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