RAF 260 Squadron

Profile 00: Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk RAF 260Sqn HSB F/Sqt Dennis Coppings ET574 Libya 1942

Source: Flugzeug Classic 2012-08

Profile 00: Kittyhawk III FR350 of No 260 Sqn flown by Fig Off 'Eddie' Edwards, Castel Benito, Libya, January 1943. No 260 Sqn's leading pilot was 'Eddie' Edwards. who flew FR350 regularly during December 1942 and January 1943. On 30 December, during a patrol over Bir el Zidan, six Bf 109s were spotted. Flying this aircraft. Edwards dived and hit one from only 100 yards and it crashed. He hit a second before his guns jammed, and this was shared with another pilot. Edwards was again at the controls of FR350 on 2 January 1943 when he destroyed another Bf 109 for his tenth victory. Aside from serving with No 260 Sqn this aircraft also spent time with No 450 Sqn RAAF, No 1, 2 Sqn and No 5 Sqn SAAF, prior 10 being struck off charge on 8 March 1944.

P-40K FR350 (P-40E) F/L James F. 'Eddie'/'Stocky' Edwards 260 Squadron RAF LG110 1942 Near El Alamein.

Photo 01: F/L Edwards is seen in the cockpit of his HS-B (FR-350), the Kitty in the foreground. Note the aircraft which were just about to be bombed-up for a ground mission. (J.F. Edwards collection)

Photo's 02-03: These are numerous pictures taken by Public Relations Reporters (PRO) of 260 Squodrons Kittyhawk III's at El Chel (Gzina), Tripolitania, Libya in January 1943. Line up of the units Kitty's. At the time 260 was part of 239 Wing, RAF and were almost exclusively used for ground support duties, doing strafing and dive bombing. The boys of 260 became quite prominent in the task, getting fine results with no service losses. In the forground is the big nose of F/L Edwards personal Kitty III, B-HS of Flight Lieutenant Edwards. The pilot near the tail is Flying Officer Jeff Fallows, a fine New Zealand pilot. Fallows got a couple of Me-109's with 260 Sqn but was lost and made POW on 26th March 1943, at Mareth (Tunisia) during a ground support mission. He fired at a truck which blew up, damaging his aircraft, and then he made a forced landing. (Imperial War Museum and appeared in No 6 Book in Aiream Aviation Series)

Photo 05: F/L Edwards last victories over North Africa in April 1943 were two Me-109's on the 15th and a Me-323 six engined aircraft of Transport Geschwader 5 on the 22nd. A line up of 260 Squadrons Kittyhawks being bombed-up preparatory to a ground support sortie. It was another photo taken by PRO at El Chel (Gzina) in January 1943. (J.F. Edwards collection and appeared in Mag Wings Vol 5 No 6)

I represent a military Museum on Vancouver Island about an hours drive from where Stocky Edwards lives. We are setting up a display of Stocky Edwards and will feature several wartime pictures of him with the various Squadrons he flew with as well as the aircraft he flew post war. I came across the attached web page with a colour profile of his Kittyhawk III, would we be allowed to display this profile and make copies of it to sell as souvenirs of his connection to our museum and Vancouver Island. I've attached a picture of Stocky and myself that was taken at the Y2-K Spitfire restoration hangar a few years ago, we have been friends for the past 12 years, I spoke to him several times this week regarding a 260 Sqn P-40 that was located in the North African desert last month with his codes HS-B. It has been under the sand these past 7 decades and seems in fairly reasonable shape. Stocky was amused to think that it was found after all thee years and as are many wondering how it got to where it was found, Stocky never crashed in the desert so it still remains a mystery.
Thank you
Pat Murphy
Vancouver Island Military Museum Nanaimo B.C. Canada

Photo's 02-03: These are numerous pictures taken by Public Relations Reporters (PRO) of 260 Squodrons Kittyhawk III's at El Chel (Gzina), Tripolitania, Libya in January 1943. Line up of the units Kitty's. At the time 260 was part of 239 Wing, RAF and were almost exclusively used for ground support duties, doing strafing and dive bombing. The boys of 260 became quite prominent in the task, getting fine results with no service losses. In the forground is the big nose of F/L Edwards personal Kitty III, B-HS of Flight Lieutenant Edwards. The pilot near the tail is Flying Officer Jeff Fallows, a fine New Zealand pilot. Fallows got a couple of Me-109's with 260 Sqn but was lost and made POW on 26th March 1943, at Mareth (Tunisia) during a ground support mission. He fired at a truck which blew up, damaging his aircraft, and then he made a forced landing. (Imperial War Museum and appeared in No 6 Book in Aiream Aviation Series)

Profile 00: Kittyhawk IA ET788 of No 260 Sqn flown by Sgt Ron Cundy, Gasr el Arid, Libya, May 1942.Ron Cundy was another Australian to fly with the RAF and become an ace, and he flew this aircraft on a number of occa• sions during the early summer of 1942. His first combat came in July, and he was later promoted to flight commander with No 260. Cundy 'made ace' in November, taking his total 10 five and two shared kills. He left the unit soon afterwards and returned to serve in Australia. ETI88 ended its days with No 73 OTU, being struck off charge on 25 April 1944.

Profile 00: Kittyhawk III 42-45798 (FR829) of No 260 Sqn flown by Sqn Ldr A V Hanbury, Castel Benito, libya, January 1943 When he began lIying Kittyhawks with No 260 Sqn in the spring of 1942, 'Pedro' Hanbury had 4.5 victories in Hurricanes. In July 1942 he left the unit. having increased his tally to eight and two shared, but returned in November when the squadron was mainly flying fighter-bomber missions. In early 1943 Hanbury regularly flew HS-X. which still carried its US serial across the rudder - at this time FR829 was also HS-X, and they are thought to be the same aircraft. Hanbury remained with No 260 until April, taking his score to ten and two shared. He was lost over the Bay of Biscay on 3 June 1943 when the Hudson transpon he was a passenger in was shot down by a Ju-88C. This aircraft later saw service with No 260 Sqn before being struck off charge on 22 February 1945.

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