Mendizabal, Rodolfo (Flying Officer)

Killed in Action 1943-August-10

Flying Officer Rodolfo Mendizabal RCAF

Birth Date: 1918-March-05

Born:

Parents: Son of A. Ranulfo and Mary W. Mendizabal, of Sarnia, Ontario.

Spouse:

Home: Sarnia, Ontario

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RCAF

Unit

5 Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Frangas Non Flectas Thou mayest break but shall not bend me

Base

Rank

Flying Officer

Position

Pilot

Service Numbers

J/15049

Home
Google MapSarnia, Ontario
Temporary Burial
Google MapAmarda Road Cemetery

Remains were later exhumed from this location and reburied

Final Burial
Google MapNew Cemetery
9 B 7

Flying Officer Mendizabal was flying with No. 5 Squadron in Indiawhen he was killed while carrying practice gun attacks on Vengeances at the AFTU. On breaking away downwards, he pulled out of a dive, his aircraft hit a sand bank in the subarnarekha river near the Madras Line Railway bridge. The aircraft exploded immediately.

Flying Officer Mendizabal had previously flown with No. 232 Squadron. The squadron had arrived in Singapore during the Japanese invasion and was immediately thrust into action, flying from Seletar airfield . Flying Officer Mendizabal was shot down on two occasions, in Hurricane BM903 on January 22, 1942, and 5 days later in Hurricane BG808. He was presumably then in the retreat of the squadron to Java .

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Grave Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave Finadagrave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Unit Desciption

5 Sqn Frangas Non Flectas ( x)

History of the Squadron during WWII (Aircraft: Audax, Mohawk IV, Hurricane IIc, IId, Thunderbolt I & II)

The Maple leaf in the badge reflects the squadron's close association with the Canadian Corps during WWI.

At the outbreak of war in September 1939, No. 5 Squadron were based in the North-West Frontier of India at Fort Sandeman (now Zhob, Pakistan), equipped with the Westland Wapiti biplane. The squadron became a light bomber unit when it converted to the Hawker Hart in June 1940. It became a fighter unit, equipped with obsolete Hawker Audaxes, in February 1941. In December 1941, the squadron relocated to RAF Dum Dum, Calcutta, and began to receive their first monoplane – the American-built Curtiss Mohawk Mk.IV. After the outbreak of hostilities with Japan, the squadron moved to RAF Dinjan, Assam, in May 1942, and was tasked with escorting Bristol Blenheim bombers over north west Burma (now Myanmar). Its first operational fighter sortie was flown in July 1942. In January 1943, the squadron began flying RHUBARB operations, on targets on the Imphal and Chindwin rivers, and these became an important part of the squadron’s activities. In June 1943 while the squadron was based at RAF Kharagpur, the Mohawks were replaced by Hawker Hurricane Mk.IId’s for ground attack missions, although they did not use them on vehicles until the following January. Later the squadron converted to Hurricane IIc’s and returned to more normal bomber escort and interdiction duties. In June of 1944, the squadron re-equipped with North American Thunderbolts, returning to operations in December. Duties were a mixture of escorts to Dakotas dropping supplies, RHUBARBS and dive bombing with wing-mounted 500 lb (227 kg) bombs. The last operations were bombing in support of the invasion of Rangoon. At the end of the hostilities, the squadron returned to India where it converted to Tempests and was disbanded in August 1947.

Maps for Movements of No. 5 Squadron 1941-45

MAP 1 Bases used by 5 Sqn RAF 1941-45 (right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab)