Naval History by Country : ROYAL NAVY US NAVY GERMAN NAVY FRENCH NAVY MORE PAGES

ALWAYS GREAT OFFERS : 20% FURTHER PRICE REDUCTIONS ON HUNDREDS OF LIMITED EDITION ART PRINTS BUY ONE GET ONE HALF PRICE ON THOUSANDS OF PAINTINGS AND PRINTS FOR MORE OFFERS SIGN UP TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

Eric Henry Adams

Name : Eric Henry Adams Died : 2003 Service Number : 742165

completed his training on 23rd March 1940 and converted to Blenheims at the Coastal Command Landplane Pilots Pool at Silloth. joining236 Squadron at Filton in June 1940 serving with Fighter Command during the opening months of the Battle of Britain before returning to Coastal Command. on 19th November 1940, he was posted to Aldergrove,where it joined a flight of 235 Squadron to reform 272 Squadron. His first operational sortie with 272 on 1st December. Later in the month Adams was posted to 252 Squadron at Aldergrove. Early in 1941 Adams was in hospitalised for four months. and was taken off operational flying and in September 1941 went to Henlow as a test pilot for newly-assembled Hurricanes equipped with Packard-built Merlin engines. In mid-1943 Adams did a flying control course and was afterwards posted to N'dola, Northern Rhodesia, a staging post on the South Africa/Egypt route. He returned to the UK in October 1944 and became an aircraft controller at RAF Carnaby. Adams was released in April 1946 as a Warrant Officer.

Known Service Details :
Squadron	Rank	Start of Service	End of Service	Known Dates	Aircraft	Airframes	Notes
No.272 Sqn RAF		19th November 1940	unknown	01st December 1940			first operational sortie with 272 on 1st December. Later in the month Adams was posted to 252 Squadron, recently reformed at Aldergrove

Aircraft for : Eric Henry Adams
A list of all aircraft associated with Eric Henry Adams. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
Aircraft	Info
Blenheim Click the name above to see prints featuring Blenheim aircraft. Manufacturer : Bristol Production Began : 1935 Retired : 1956 Number Built : 4422	Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim, the most plentiful aircraft in the RAFs inventory when WWII began, was designed by Frank Barnwell, and when first flown in 1936 was unique with its all metal monoplane design incorporating a retractable undercarriage, wing flaps, metal props, and supercharged engines. A typical bomb load for a Blenheim was 1,000 pounds. In the early stages of the war Blenheims were used on many daylight bombing missions. On the day that war was declared on Germany, a Blenheim piloted by Flying Officer Andrew McPherson was the first British aircraft to cross the German coast and the following morning 15 Blenheims from three squadrons set off on one of the first bombing missions The Blenheim units operated throughout the battle, often taking heavy casualties, although they were never accorded the publicity of the fighter squadrons. The Blenheim units raided German occupied airfields throughout July to December 1940, both during daylight hours and at night. Although most of these raids were unproductive, there were some successes; on 1 August five out of 12 Blenheims sent to attack Haamstede and Evere (Brussels) were able to bomb, destroying or heavily damaging three Bf 109s of II./JG 27 and apparently killing a Staffelkapitän identified as Hauptmann Albrecht von Ankum-Frank. Two other 109s were claimed by Blenheim gunners. Another successful raid on Haamstede was made by a single Blenheim on 7 August which destroyed one 109 of 4./JG 54, heavily damaged another and caused lighter damage to four more. There were also some missions which produced an almost 100% casualty rate amongst the Blenheims. One such operation was mounted on 13 August 1940 against a Luftwaffe airfield near Aalborg in north-western Denmark by 12 aircraft of 82 Squadron. One Blenheim returned early (the pilot was later charged and due to appear before a court martial, but was killed on another operation); the other 11, which reached Denmark, were shot down, five by flak and six by Bf 109s. Blenheim-equipped units had been formed to carry out long-range strategic reconnaissance missions over Germany and German-occupied territories, as well as bombing operations. In this role, the Blenheims once again proved to be too slow and vulnerable against Luftwaffe fighters and they took constant casualties While great heroism was displayed by the air crews, tremendous losses were sustained during these missions. The Blenhiem was easy pickings at altitude for German Bf-109 fighters who quickly learned to attack from below. To protect the vulnerable bellies of the Blenheims many missions were shifted to low altitude, but this increased the aircrafts exposure to anti-aircraft fire. In the German night-bombing raid on London on 18 June 1940, Blenheims accounted for five German bombers, thus proving that they were better-suited for night fighting. In July, No. 600 Squadron, by then based at RAF Manston, had some of its Mk IFs equipped with AI Mk III radar. With this radar equipment, a Blenheim from the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) at RAF Ford achieved the first success on the night of 2–3 July 1940, accounting for a Dornier Do 17 bomber. More successes came, and before long the Blenheim proved itself invaluable as a night fighter. One Blenheim pilot, Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for an attack on Singora, Thailand, on 9 December 1941. Another bomber of No. 60 Squadron RAF was credited with shooting down Lt Col Tateo Katō's Nakajima Ki-43 fighter and badly damaging two others in a single engagement on 22 May 1942, over the Bay of Bengal. Katō's death was a severe blow to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.

Squadrons for : Eric Henry Adams
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Eric Henry Adams. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
Squadron	Info
No.236 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : August 1918 Fate : Disbanded 25th May 1945 Speculati nuntiate - Having watched, bring word Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.236 Sqn RAF	No.236 Sqn RAF Full profile not yet available.
No.272 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 25th July 1918 Fate : Disbanded 30th April 1945 On, on! Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.272 Sqn RAF	No.272 Sqn RAF Full profile not yet available.

Last edited : 22:04, December 16, 2017
Last editor : HMS

Return to Aviation Directory Search Home

Everything we obtain for this site is shown on the site, we do not have any more photos, crew lists or further information on any of the ships. COPYRIGHT NOTICE. ALL IMAGES DISPLAYED ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROTECTED BY  COPYRIGHT  LAW, AND ARE OWNED BY CRANSTON FINE ARTS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.  NO REPRODUCTION OR COPYING ALLOWED ON OTHER WEBSITES, BOOKS OR ARTICLES WITHOUT PRIOR AGREEMENT.