The Bristol Beaufort Type 152 was a British twin-engined torpedo bomber. At least 1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and other British manufacturers. Beauforts first saw service with RAF Coastal Command and then the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers, conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942, when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945.
Although it was designed as a torpedo-bomber, the Beaufort was more often used as a medium day bomber. The Beaufort also flew more hours in training than on operational missions and more were lost through accidents and mechanical failures than were lost to enemy fire. The Beaufort was adapted as a long-range heavy fighter variant called the Beaufighter, which proved to be very successful and many Beaufort units eventually converted to the Beaufighter.
No. 149 (TB) Squadron, RCAF, was formed as a Torpedo Bomber unit at Patricia Bay, British Columbia, on 26 October 1942. This squadron was the only home unit to be equipped with the Bristol Beaufort to meet the Japanese naval threat from the Aleutians. When the Japanese withdrew in the summer of 1943, the squadron was redesignated Bomber Reconnaissance (BR) and re-equipped with Lockheed Ventura aircraft. It was employed on West Coast anti-submarine duty until it was disbanded at Terrace, BC, on 15 March 1944. (S. Kostenuk and J. Griffin)
The RCAF's overseas experience with torpedo bombers differed greatly from the sporadic and often ineffective operations on the home front. Although the RCAF carried only one torpedo bomber squadron in its overseas Order of Battle, many Canadians flew with British squadrons in this role.
Nos. 22 and 42 squadrons were the first RAF units to receive the type, and among the first to fly them were British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) graduates. These men, who were trained under the Canada-based BCATP, began arriving in Britain in November 1940. One of them, Pilot Officer Lawrence Stanley Hill, a navigator from Calgary, had barely reported to No. 42 Sqdn. when he was dispatched on a Dec. 28 Beaufort mission to locate an enemy tanker off Trondheim, Norway. The aircraft was last seen on a homeward track off Scotland's Shetland Islands. Hill and the other four crew members are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial west of London, England.
Torpedo bombing required both skill and nerves of steel. The "fish" were dropped from an altitude of roughly 80 feet, approximately 1,000 yards from target. Close for sure, but if a ship had shallow draught the torpedoes could pass harmlessly underneath. The attack itself demanded a straight and level approach which made the aircraft an easy target for enemy gunners, and so it was not uncommon for a strike force to lose a third of its planes. The death of Warrant Officer Alan Morris of Ottawa, a wireless operator in No. 42 Sqdn., is particularly tragic. Not only had the wireless operator in No. 42 Sqdn. completed his tour and participated in several attacks, he was ready to leave the squadron when asked to replace a sick man for a May 17, 1942, strike on the cruiser Lutznow. The mission was a disaster. Three Beauforts in the first wave were shot down. Four more - in the second wave - were destroyed by German fighters, and the cruiser escaped.
Torpedo bombers were dispatched in response to sighting reports, but more often Beaufort offensive operations consisted of mine-laying operations which caused the most aircrew casualties. Nevertheless, Sergeant James Philip Scott of Toronto, a RCAF navigator in No. 22 Sqdn., died during one of the most daring RAF torpedo bomber sorties. On April 6, 1941, Beauforts penetrated Brest harbour and attacked the German battle cruiser Gneisenau. The British pilot, Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell, ran a gauntlet of flak before launching his torpedo which put the vessel into dry dock for eight months. The Beaufort crew perished in the mission; Campbell was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
No. 415 Squadron, RCAF, formed at Thorney Island, Sussex, on 20 Aug 1941, worked up on Beauforts, and became operational on Hampdens in April 1942. Hugh A. Halliday
Known Squadron Assignments: ;217
1941-July-17 KIA RAF Flight Lieutenant Thomas Francis Kerr 2023-12-15Known Squadron Assignments: ;217
1941-December-09 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant John Ansley Foster 2021-08-06Known Squadron Assignments: ;86
1942-July-28 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant Eric Phippen Sutherland 2021-07-21Known Squadron Assignments: ;22
1941-August-19 KIA RCAF Pilot Officer Herbert Emile Joseph Whiston 2021-07-09Known Squadron Assignments: ;42
1941-December-11 PoW RAF Flight Lieutenant Oliver Lawrence Spurling Philpot DFC, MC 2021-05-21Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1942-September-06 KIA RAF Flight Lieutenant Donald Charles Sharman 2021-08-01Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1943-February-24 KIA RCAF Pilot Officer Richard John Secord Dawson 2023-07-21Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1942-September-22 KIA RCAF Flying Officer Aubrey Fenwick Izzard 2021-08-11Known Squadron Assignments: 39
1942-August-22 PoW RAF Warrant Officer Gordon Stanley Leith Cumming 2023-04-04Known Squadron Assignments: ;42
1942-May-17 KIA RCAF Warrant Officer 2nd Class Alan Hubert Andrew Morris 2023-07-23Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1943-March-12 KIA RCAF Flying Officer Raymond William Wilsdon 2021-07-08Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1943-May-15 KIA RCAF Warrant Officer 2nd Class Francis Joseph Payne 2021-08-18Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1942-November-02 KIA RCAF Warrant Officer 1st Class Alfred Gordon Turner 2021-07-14Known Squadron Assignments: ;47
1942-October-26 KIA RCAF Flying Officer Haraldur Johannes Davidson 2021-08-04Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1942-November-29 PoW RCAF Warrant Officer 1st Class Ellis Walker 2023-08-16Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1943-January-03 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant Douglas Seaman Cameron 2023-12-11Known Squadron Assignments: ;1
The Air War Events log has Flying Officer RA Bendwig on Beaufort I aircraft #DW 834. Interesting that RAF Commands has Bendwig commemorated on the Malta Memorial and the other crew commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. We have the aircrew from DW 834 commemorated on the Malta Memorial, so I am going to maybe go out on a limb and say that RAF Commands having Bendwig on a Wellington is likely incorrect. 2021-03-28Known Squadron Assignments: ;301
1943-March-31 KIFA RCAF Warrant Officer 2nd Class Robert Walker Wood 2021-07-07Known Squadron Assignments: ;1
1943-June-14 KIA RNZAF Flight Sergeant Donald Kenneth Hardie McDonald 2021-04-16Known Squadron Assignments: ;319
1943-May-04 KIFA RCAF Warrant Officer 2nd Class John Stanley Measor 2023-07-18Known Squadron Assignments: ;306;1
1943-May-07 KIFA RCAF Warrant Officer 2nd Class George Raymond Grant 2023-07-20Known Squadron Assignments: ;5
Engine fire, crashed on approach
source: Malcolm Deeley, Ulster Aviation Society
2023-05-02Known Squadron Assignments: ;5
1943-July-23 KIFA RCAF Flying Officer Maurice John William Aspinall 2023-04-05Known Squadron Assignments: ;5
1943-July-17 KIFA RCAF Warrant Officer 1st Class James Waclaw Hoba 2023-07-19Known Squadron Assignments: ;5
1942-March-01 KIFA RCAF Pilot Officer Rafe Sherme Brimacombe 2022-04-14Known Squadron Assignments: ;22
1940-May-07 KIFA RAF Flying Officer John Theodore Berryman 2021-05-10Known Squadron Assignments: ;42
1942-March-20 KIA RCAF Pilot Officer Tom Thornley Braithwaite Stoker 2021-07-25Known Squadron Assignments: 42
1940-October-26 PoW RAF Flight Lieutenant Harry Francis Burns 2023-08-21Known Squadron Assignments: ;9
Used by No. 415 (TB) Squadron, RCAF, for training from Thorney Island, UK, from 3 September 1941. Coded "GX*Q". 2015-07-16Known Squadron Assignments: ;217
1940-December-24 KIA RAF Flying Officer Robert Aitken Robertson 2021-08-08Known Squadron Assignments: ;42
1941-October-16 KIA RCAF Flying Officer Arthur Evans Snell 2021-07-25Known Squadron Assignments: ;5
1941-November-04 KIFA RCAF Pilot Officer Clem Richard Bernard Weidenfeller 2021-07-10Known Squadron Assignments: ;149
Erected by Canadian Associated Aircraft at St. Hubert, Quebec. Taken on strength at No. 1 Wireless School, at Montreal. To Western Air Command on 2 September 1941, for use by No. 32 Operational Training Unit at RCAF Station Patricia Bay, BC. Coded "OP*A" and later "DK*R". Category C10 damage at 15:40 on 31 December 1941, at Patricia Bay. Swung while taxiing, ran into bank of earth after leaving runway, damage to starboard landing gear, wing, engine and propeller. Crashed at 12:00 on 2 January 1942, also at Patricia Bay. Assigned to Boeing Aircraft in Vancouver for repairs, 27 January to 11 May 1942. Back to No. 32 OTU when completed. To No. 149 (TB) Squadron at Patricia Bay on 8 October 1942. Destroyed in crash on take off on 2 December 1942. One fatality, Sgt. P.Bures, A Czech serving in the RCAF. 2016-02-09Known Squadron Assignments: ;5
1943-April-26 KIA RCAF Warrant Officer 2nd Class Eric Douglas Ralph Botten 2023-09-06Known Squadron Assignments: ;42
1941-November-29 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant Arthur Edmund Shaw 2021-08-01Known Squadron Assignments: ;32
1942-May-29 KIFA RCAF Flight Sergeant George Graham Hall 2023-03-21Known Squadron Assignments: ;5
1942-April-20 KIFA RCAF Pilot Officer Frederick Gifford Douglas Baker 2021-06-03Known Squadron Assignments: ;22
1941-December-12 KIA RCAF Flying Officer Allan Willson Troup 2024-01-25Known Squadron Assignments: ;217
1940-December-07 KIA RAF Pilot Officer Hugh Eric Mussenden 2023-10-11Known Squadron Assignments: ;42
1940-December-28 KIA RCAF Pilot Officer Lawrence Stanley Hill 2021-08-10Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1942-April-14 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant Norman Austin Payne 2021-08-18Known Squadron Assignments: ;1
1942-September-02 KIFA RCAF Flight Sergeant Tom Henry Grasswick 2021-09-29Known Squadron Assignments: ;32
With No. 32 Operational Training Unit at RCAF Station Patricia Bay, BC. Coded "OP*N". Written off in forced landing at Rodeo, New Mexico on 27 March 1942. Port engine failed, and then fell off. Aircraft was on a cross country training exercise. One fatality, Flight Lieutenant P.A. Kimpton, RAF. 2015-05-18Known Squadron Assignments: ;44
In March of 1942, the ever-growing needs of the RAF in the Middle East saw hundreds of replacement aircraft making the trip from Britain, many in the hands of No. 44 Group Ferry Service. There are some things we know about the final flight of Beaufort I (W64 7 4) by piecing infonmation together.
The crew of Thornton, Brinkworth (navigator), Sgt. Cyril Bohling, and Sgt. Andrew Brigstocke (both listed as wireless air gunners) took off from RAF Portreath, in southwest Cornwall, on the morning of March 18, headed south for Gibraltar. That meant transiting the dangerous skies over the Bay of Biscay.
They were nominally listed as member of No. 86 (Coastal Command) squadron, but the Operational Record Book for that month shows neither the aircraft nor the crew, on strength, or the flight itself recorded.
Once W6474 cleared English air space, the crew were never seen again.
The patrol boat off Lisbon identified a Beaufort and enemy aircraft, but there is no confirmation it was the Thornton crew, though a letter sent to Brinkworth's mother does say the RAF believes it to be so.
source: SPROG, Author Malcolm Kelly
Known Squadron Assignments: ;5
1942-July-26 KIFA RCAF Pilot Officer Ralph Ballantyne Henry 2021-08-09Known Squadron Assignments: ;39
1942-January-04 Died RCAF Pilot Officer Frederick James William Saunders 2023-09-03Known Squadron Assignments: ;22
1941-June-13 KIA RCAF Pilot Officer Ralph Loudon Blackmore 2021-08-28Known Squadron Assignments: ;1
1941-June-30 KIA RCAF Pilot Officer John Keith Dingle Williams 2021-07-08