CHRIS GOSS OUTLINES 252 SQUADRON’S BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER OPERATIONS OVER SOUTHERN EUROPE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
The war as an operational Bristol Beaufighter unit began for 252 Squadron at RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland at the start of April 1941, under the command of Sqn Ldr Robert Yaxley MC. The squadron didn’t have to wait long for its first success flying the powerful twin-engined fighter-bomber. It came at 2.20pm on 16 April, when pilot Flt Lt Bill Riley and navigator W/O George Donaldson in T3237’PN-K’ shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 C-3 Condor flown by Oberleutnant Hermann Richterof 1 Staffel./Kampfgeschwader 40 off Blacksod Bay, north County Mayo; the six German crew were all reported missing.
