A blog about a RAF Mosquito squadron
Dormant in the draft section since March 25, 2014.
No date, but I was able to find it in Eugene Gagnon’s 33 operations.
This is the information I had.
Operation No. 30
4/5 Apr
Mosquito PZ179
Take off 20h35
Landing 02h25
Intruder Patrol.
Target: Rechlin, Larz, Burg.
Bombs dropped on latter airfield and flash seen.
No activity seen at Rechlin/Larz.
This document gives us the call signs for each crew on an operation that took place on April 4/5, 1945.
Simple…
Courtesy Peter Harris
Modified from the original image…
Flying Officer Rayner was Flight Lieutenant John Derek Harris’ navigator.
More on Flight Lieutenant J.D. Harris courtesy Peter Harris.
Flying Officer Rayner…
Updated with a correction with the initials from a comment from his son Peter.
See comment section.
J.B. J.D. Harris was sitting next to Hugh Boland all this time on this old picture taken on July 1945.
In 2010 this is all I had about 23 Squadron.
Then I got this from Peter Smith who got it from Tom Cushing.
A much clearer picture.
And a much closer look at Hugh Boland’s pilot.
I wonder what Hugh was looking at?
Updated 29 August 2023 with this…
Flying Officer Rayner was Flight Lieutenant John Derek Harris’ navigator.
We can see how many operations they flew together and where.
Updated 28 August 2023
This is another artifact. A simple envelope.
Every artifact that was saved by Dean Cahill has its own story like Hugh Boland’s report card. Dean Cahill was cleaning up a store room during a weekend and he saved all the artifacts I posted last time. There are more to come because Peter Smith is still scanning all that Dean gave him.
Everything will be posted on this blog, and everything will be analysed.
Someday a relative of Flight Lieutenant J.D. Harris, or Hugh Boland, will find this blog like Dean Cahill did, and he or she will share what they know about Hugh Boland’s pilot.
We have little to go on right now, but we can wait.
RAF 23 Squadron 