Details of Sortie or
Flight
This show was intended to
be a Ramrod against a noball target in enemy occupied France, but (weather) was against
us. S/L Norsworthy led the eight aircraft of the Squadron into the air with 500 lb. bombs
on the racks. The trip down to Beachy Head was made under very low cloud, which was
reported broken over the Channel. Suddenly, still overland near Beachy Head, the cloud
came down to meet the land.
The C.O. (S/L Norsworthy)
gave the order "climbing" and the closely packed formation nosed upwards into
the heavy cloud blanket. F/O MacDonald, flying as spare, had previously returned to base.
Of the seven aircraft which started into cloud together, only six broke cloud at 6,000
feet. F/O P.J. Elfner J22201 was never seen or heard from after the formation began the
climb in cloud. He was in position when the climb first began. Flying at 8,000 feet, S/L
Norsworthy requested a vector out into the Channel and received it from Control. All
aircraft in the formation jettisoned their bombs into the cloud blanket over the Channel
and set course for home on a homing. S/L Norsworthy spotted a hole in the cloud and he and
two other aircraft managed to get down through it, and came home on the deck. The
remaining three aircraft reached base on separate homings.
Mission abortive. One
aircraft and pilot missing. As this Squadron was not fully equipped with Typhoon aircraft,
Typhoon aircraft were loaned from other squadrons, therefore you will note that aircraft
letters are duplicated in column two.
Summary of Events: 11 April 1944
R.C.A.F. Funtingten, Essex, England
We were informed today that a tire had
been recovered from the wreckage of Typhoon off Beachy Head bearing the markings,
R.A.F. Ayr. It is now almost certain that Paul Elfner is lost to the Squadron. Words
cannot express our true feelings. At least he had been over France once!
Earlier Entries
Earlier entries in the
squadron's event summaries indicate Elfner was in hospital for a week in January 1944 with
a cold, carried out assault landing exercises in Scotland in February (landing with ground
troops from an invasion craft), and participated in a sweep over the German-occupied
Cherbourg peninsula in March 1944 with no fighters or enemy flak to be seen (due no doubt
to the 10/10 cloud cover over the continent) At the time of Elfner's death,
not a single round of ammunition or piece of ordnance had been directed by his squadron at
the enemy.
