Officier-vlieger J. Blok

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Marbeth Wilson

I just find it so very sad when I think of FAA 1847 Squadron, which was formed 1/2/1944 with 4 British and 8 Dutch pilots. 6 of its members were lost, ie half of the squadron, in flying accidents between 27/3/1944 and 18/5/1944 ie in less than 2 months. Of the 6 pilots killed in this period, 5 of them were Dutch and all died in training accidents. Can anyone tell me if it was 'normal' for such a high percentage of any one squadron to be killed during training exercises?

Marbeth,

It was certainly not "normal" as this was a very high number of losses. Our family has wondered about this as well. One of the theories (named so as I cannot back it up with archive references) is that the pilots were put under high pressure training so the Squadron would be ready for the upcoming invasion. This led to the Squadron Commander and/or pilots taking unacceptable risks. As we have seen the result was disastrous. Word has it Commanding Officer L/C(A) H Colville-Stewart RNVR was relieved from his position, and 1847 Sqn was disbanded at Eglington in May 1944. The remainder of the squadron was absorbed into 1840 Squadron.

Hanno