Talk:No. 258 Squadron RAF

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Military history: Aviation / British / European / World War II

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The article claims that no pilots from 258 Squadron survived to the Indonesian debacle in early 1942. So-so. According to Sgt. Terence Kelly in "Hurricane over the Jungle" (1977), some pilots -including the Squadron Leader- were able to escape and reach British-held territory. Four of them were flying Hurricanes when the Japanese launched an air attack on that island (and the 4 survived, when most of the Hurricanes were shot down). And some pilots, including Kelly, ended up prisoners of war.

According to Kelly, in late 1941 the 258 was made up of 8 British -including the Squadron Leader-, 5 New Zealanders, 4 Americans, 3 Canadians, 1 Rhodesian, & 1Australian. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.85.148.202 (talk) 18:00, 25 September 2013 (UTC)Reply

And 11 of them escaped from the Dutch East Indies, including Squadron Leader Thomson. 9 of evacuees, including the American Art Donahue, were part of K Squadron on Ceylon in March/April 1942,that became the new 258 ("http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11443053/Squadron-Leader-Doug-Nicholls-obituary.html"). The American Don Geffene was killed in action on Ceylon with No. 30 Squadron RAF in 1942. 5 out of the 22 original pilots, including Terence Kelly, were taken prisoner by the Japanese, because of the lack of planes and ships to escape from Sumatra and Java. The balance: killed. 6 pilots (1 nominated by Squadron Leader Thomson, 2 volunteers, and 3 drawn by lots)were left behind in Java in Feb. 1942 to (try to) form a new 605 Sq.: Dobbyn (NZ, KIA), Campbell (USA, POW), Lambert (UK, POW), Kelly (UK,POW), Healy (Australia, POW), and Vibert (NZ, spare pilot attached to 258 Sq., POW). The aforementioned Geffene didn't reach the Dutch East Indies because in Dec. 1941 landed by mistake in Algeciras, Spain, being interned. He escaped and, as mentioned, was killed in action in Ceylon in 1942. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.47.97.15 (talk) 10:13, 7 September 2017 (UTC)Reply

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