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Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon - Aircrew Details - Aviation Directory

Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon





Name : Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon
Born : 22nd January 1917
Service Number : 33308

Awards :
Distinguished Flying Cross

Flight Officer Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon of No 72 Squadron was wounded on the 7th of September 1940 following combat. He crash landed his Spitfire I (X4254) near Biggin Hill. Born January 22, 1917 in Broughty Ferry Dundee, "Jimmi" Elsdon at the Academy of the RAF in 1936 and received his promotion to the rank of officer in December 1937. Posted to 72 Squadron, was was witht he squadron when war broke out and participated in the first battles of the phoney war. During the Battle of Britain, his Spitfire was shot down by a Me 110 on 7 September. Injuring his knee and foot, As a reward of 8 wins that totals at this time (including 6 obtained after August 31), he received the DFC in early October. he returned flying in mid-July 1941 and was assigned to Squadron 257. On the 24th of July, he was again wounded slightly. On August 25th, he was promoted to commander of Squadron 136 that has just been set up to go to the middle east. While on route to its new destination, the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbour . The Squadron was ordered to Burma where he arrived in January 1942. The squadrons Hurricane were the first in combat in this sector. After the retreat from Burma to India, he was promoted Wing Commander Wing 165 in Dum Dum, September 8, 1942 before taking command of Wing 293 in October and 169 in February 1943 and then to 185. Finally, in October 1943 he returned to Wing 165 and led the offensive at the front of Arakan in late November. In July 1944, he was assigned to District General Far East in Calcutta before returning to Britain in September 1944. He then served in the Transport Command in April 1945 and became commander of the base Boreham. He received the OBE in January 1945 and continued serving in the RAF becoming Wing Commander in 1949 before retiring as a (acting) Group Captain in October 1959

COMBAT REPORTS

DFC Citation : "Since 31st August, 1940, this officer has destroyed six enemy aircraft, bringing his total to eight. On 4th September, 1940, when leading his squadron, his method of attack was successful in destroying nine enemy aircraft and probably three more. A few days later, he brought down the leading aircraft of a bomber formation. His record is outstanding and he has led his section and flight with distinction, showing complete disregard of danger and personal injury."

Known Service Details :

Squadron

Rank

Start of Service

End of Service

Known Dates

Aircraft

Airframes

Notes

No.72 Sqn RAF

Flight Officer

unknown

unknown

07th September 1940

Spitfire

X4254

No.257 Sqn RAF

Flight Lieutenant

unknown

unknown

24th July 1941

Hurricane

Z3489

No.136 Sqn RAF

Squadron Commander

August 1941

unknown

21st August 1942

Hurricane

Kawanishi H6K was an Imperial Japanese Navy flying boat in the Gulf of Bengal 21st August 1942

Photos Submitted Through Our Directory








Squadrons :
No.257 Sqn RAF
Pilots or Aircrew :
Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon
Historical Notes :
24-07-1941 - Hurricane flown by Flight Lieutenant T.A.F.Elsdon was involved in combat with Me109s before it crash-landed at Hawkinge.
Pilots or Aircrew :
Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon
Historical Notes :
07-09-1940 - Badly damaged in combat with Me109 over Thames Estuary and crash landed at Biggin Hill. Flying Officer Elsdon injured.

Known Individual Aircraft :

Type

Serial

Codes

First Flew

Squadron History

Aircrew History

History Notes

Engine

Factory

Hurricane IIb

Z3489

-

details

details

details

Spitfire Ia

X4254

21/08/1940

details

details

details

Merlin III

Eastleigh




Aircraft for : Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon
A list of all aircraft associated with Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
AircraftInfo

Hurricane



Click the name above to see prints featuring Hurricane aircraft.

Manufacturer : Hawker
Production Began : 1936
Number Built : 14533

Hurricane

Royal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built.

Spitfire



Click the name above to see prints featuring Spitfire aircraft.

Manufacturer : Supermarine
Production Began : 1936
Retired : 1948
Number Built : 20351

Spitfire

Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954.



Squadrons for : Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
SquadronInfo

No.136 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 1st April 1918
Fate : Disbanded 8th May 1946

Nihil fortius - Nothing is stronger

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.136 Sqn RAF

No.136 Sqn RAF

Full profile not yet available.

No.257 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 18th August 1918
Fate : Disbanded 31st December 1963
Burma

Thay myay gyee shin shwe hti - Death or glory

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.257 Sqn RAF

No.257 Sqn RAF

Full profile not yet available.

No.72 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 28th June 1917
Fate : Disbanded 12th November 1981
Basutoland

Swift

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.72 Sqn RAF

No.72 Sqn RAF

Full profile not yet available.




Last edited : 14:50, July 2, 2016
Last editor : HMS

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