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No.123 Sqn RAF |
Name : No.123 Sqn RAF Founded : 1st February 1918 Disbanded : 20th June 1945 Country : UK Fate : Disbanded 20th June 1945 More Details : East India Swift to strike |
Known Service Details : | |||||||
Pilot or Aircrew | Rank | Start of Service | End of Service | Known Dates | Aircraft | Airframes | Notes |
unknown | unknown |
Pilots and Aircrew for : No.123 Sqn RAF | ||
A list of all aircrew from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | ||
Name | Info | |
Lee, Kenneth N.T. Click the name above to see a profile of Lee, Kenneth N.T.
| Lee, Kenneth N.T. Kenneth Norman Thomson Lee was a Battle of Britain pilot who volunteered for the RAF in 1937. Kenneth Lee joined 111 Squadron at Northolt in March 1939. He was commissioned and went to 43 Squadron at Tangmere. Kenneth Lee flew Hurricanes during the Battles of France and Britain with No.501 Sqn, based at Filton and accumulated 7 victories, the first being when 501 Squadron went to France on May 10th 1940 and Kenneth Lee claimed a Bf 110 destroyed later that day. On the 12th he destroyed a Do 17 and a Bf109. The Squadron flew back from France on June 18th and re-assembled at Croydon on the 21st. On May 27th Kenneth Lee claimed an He111 destroyed and a Do17 on June 6th. While attacking a formation of He111s on June 10th Lee's Hurricane was hit by return fire from one of the He111s and exploded. He took to his parachute and landed at Le Mans. Kenneth Lee damaged a Ju 87 on July 29th and on August 12th destroyed another Ju87. While flying his Hurricane (P3059) Lee was shot down for a second time on the 18th when Oberleutnant Schopfel in an Me109 of JG26 shot him down over Canterbury. Kenneth Lee baled out, with a bullet wound in the leg and landed near Whitstable. In October, Lee rejoined 501 Sqn and on the 22nd October he was awarded the DFC. On November 29th Lee was posted to the Special Duties flight at Stormy Down and later transferred as Flight Commander to 52 OTU, at Crosby-On-Eden. In December 1941 Kenneth Lee became Flight Commander with 112 Squadron when he was posted to the Middle East and on the 18th of September 1942 Lee moved to 260 Squadron. On 10th November he destroyed an Mc202. He took control of 123 Squadron at Abadan, Persia in March 1943. In May, Lee with 123 Squadron went to the Western Desert and on July 27th 1943 Lee was shot down for the third time and captured on a dawn raid on Crete. He was taken prisoner of war to Stalag Luft 111 at Sagan and Belaria. Ken Lee left the RAF in late 1945 as a Squadron Leader. Sadly, Kenneth Lee passed away on 15th January 2008. |
Known Individual Aircraft of No.123 Sqn RAF : | ||||||||
Type | Serial | Codes | First Flew | Squadron History | Aircrew History | History Notes | Engine | Factory |
06/12/1941 | Merlin 45M | High Post |
Aircraft for : No.123 Sqn RAF | ||
A list of all aircraft associated with No.123 Sqn RAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | ||
Aircraft | Info | |
Spitfire
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. | |
Thunderbolt
Production Began : 1943 Number Built : 15683 | Thunderbolt Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars |
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