Sixty-five and 111 Squadrons also returned to their bases at around 6 am. They had been but the first Spitfire squadrons above the raid, yet already other Spitfires were in the air now that it was getting light. The promised air umbrella was about to be opened and put above the armada of small ships off Dieppe.
Also, now that the light was improving, Army Co-operation Mustangs were flying out to reconnoitre the areas behind Dieppe to watch for, and to report on, any troop movements towards the harbour town.
Nos 26 and 239 Mustang Squadrons at Gatwick were the first to send out reconnaissance machines at 4.35 am. 26 sent out Flight Lieutenant G. N. Dawson (AG418) and Pilot Officer J. F. Kelly (AG462), while 239's Commanding Officer, Wing Commander P. L. Donkin and his number two, Pilot Officer G. C. D. Green (AG558 and AM 141) flew off at the same time. Donkin and Green flew their low tactical reconnaissance mission (Tac/R) over the roads between Le Treport, Evernay and Blangy. Green's Mustang was hit by a single bullet without causing any damage although both machines became separated and returned independently. They got back at 6 am, the two 26 Squadron aircraft landing back at 6.10.
My only memory apart from seeing no enemy movement was seeing in the semi-darkness what turned out to be a Boston. It was flying towards Dieppe from inland and very nearly became a casualty as it was not easy to recognise it in that light and it seemed to be going in the wrong direction for an RAF aircraft.
Wing Commander Peter Donkin, OC 239 Squadron
Meanwhile, 414 Canadian Squadron sent out a pair of Mustangs at 4.45 am, the Tac/R leader being Flight Lieutenant F. E. Clarke, his 'Weaver' (Number Two) being Flying Officer H. H. Hills. All Tac/R sorties were usually flown in pairs, the leader concentrat-ing on studying the ground while the Weaver kept a watch on the sky while flying a short distance away and above, his task to cover and protect his leader from surprise attack. Clarke and' Hills covered the area St Valery-Doudeville-Bacqueville, landing back at Gatwick at 6.20 am.
By this time other Mustangs were out. 26 Squadron sent out Flight Lieutenant Donald N. Kennedy (AG536) and Sergeant G. D. M. Cliff (AG584) at 5.15 but neither pilot was destined to return. Kennedy was killed and the 21-year-old Geoffrey Denys Maynard Cliff, from Essex, also lost his life. 239 sent out Flight Lieutenant E. K. Barnes (AG614) with Pilot Officer J. R. Cruick-shank (AG537) 35 minutes later to check on the roads west of Dieppe and onwards to St Valery. Barnes landed back at base at 6.15 having been attacked by four FW190s as he recrossed the French coast but he managed to get away. James Cruickshank was not so lucky. As he reached the French coast he was heard over the radio to comment briefly on the flak and failed to return. Whether hit by flak or attacked by the Focke Wulfs is not certain but he was later reported killed.
No 414 Squadron sent out a second pair of their Canadians at 5 pm, Flight Lieutenant J. A. Amos and Flying Officer R. C. Mac-Quoid (AM 160 and AG582), watching the roads in the area Blangy-Neufchatel-St Victor-Longueville. Both returned safely at 6.30. Fellow Canadians in 400 Squadron flew the first of their pilots out at 6 o'clock, Flying Officer W. H. Gordon being the Leader, Flying Officer F. Grant his Weaver. A second pair, Flying Officer Clarke and Pilot Officer J. A. Morton, left a few minutes later.
With the Mustangs risking much down low, the Spitfires were now over the ships off Dieppe. 71 and 124 Squadrons from Gravesend took off at 4.50 and 4.45 respectively led by Wing Commander R. M. B. D. Duke-Woolley DFCand bar (EP179). 71 Eagle Squadron was commanded and led by Squadron Leader C. G. Peterson DFC,124 by Squadron Leader T. Balmforth DFCl>(BR987). Peterson was one of the foremost Eagle pilots, American volunteers who flew with the RAF before America came into the war. They flew to Beachy Head where they joined the Spitfires of the Hornchurch Wing, 81, 122, 154 and 340 Squadrons. Hornchurch Wing was led by Wing Commander P. H. Hugo DFCl>and bar, in his personal Spitfire coded P—H. A very experienced fighter pilot, Hugo, a South African, had joined the pre-war RAF and in 1940 had flown in both France and the Battle of Britain. In early 1942 he commanded the Tangmere Wing prior to taking over Hornchurch. He had more than a dozen victories and was to end the war at least 22. He led his men off at 4.40 while it was still dark.
No. 81 Squadron was led by Squadron Leader R. Berry DFC, an equally experienced pilot and Battle of Britain veteran. 122 Squadron was led by New Zealander Squadron Leader J. R. C. Kilian (BL812), who had gained valuable experience when flying with 485 NZ Squadron in 1941. Fellow New Zealander, Squadron Leader D. C. Carlson was at the head of 154 Squadron (BM476) while 340 Free French Squadron was commanded by Commandante Bernard Duperior, who had escaped from France in 1940 and later flown with 242 and 615 Squadrons. His was the first French fighter squadron operational with the RAF.
'We were routed all day via Beachy Head, and turning SSE for Dieppe immediately had the benefit of the lighter sky to the east as a reference. On this first sortie, and we were the first day fighters on the scene, the sea was a dark grey below and the invasion fleet not easy to detect. However, we swept up to the front at Dieppe and set up a patrol with the squadrons staggered upwards and to seaward, the leading squadron at around 2,500 feet with the Wing Leader peering owl-like around to see what, if anything, there was to see. Broadly speaking that was just about nothing. We patrolled and hoped that we were good for the morale of those below.
'It may help those who have seen war films, but have not flown piston-engined fighters (especially) to emphasize that the single-seater Spitfire pilot is a lonely man. Lift the flap of your flying helmet and the noise is a compound of air rushing past at triple-severe-gale-force-ten and open exhausts delivering twice the power of a Formula One Grand Prix racing car. So if you're wise you do not raise the flap of your flying helmet but snug it close to your ear so as to hear what your radio has to offer. Your mouth and nose are enclosed in a tight-fitting mask containing your microphone transmitter - and pulled tight to exclude the noise which you have just been advised not to listen to. Your shoulders brush the sides of the cockpit as you turn your body; the nose of the aircraft, like a vast bonnet, limits your forward vision, and your restless eyes are your only contact with the world outside. No noise of the battle below can penetrate, and if guns are firing you may see soundless puffs appear on the ground. If they appear in the air, it is you who are being shot at probably and if you see some red in the puff it is close and you are being shot at certainly. Since there is very little that you can do about that you do your best to ignore the prospect of an explosive brick coinciding with.you in space and measuring 3Vi inches across. One is quite enough to make a considerable mess of your aircraft, but then you personally occupy only a very small part of the sky. So you console yourself and think of other things.
'The main "other thing" to scare the pants off me happened about five minutes after we arrived. Nobody had let me know about the new LCR (landing craft, rocket) which was used at Dieppe for, I believe, the first time on a combined operation. This craft carried, reputedly, 960 mortar type missiles fired in sequence electrically and the whole salvo was discharged in less than a minute. I discovered that at least one such device was in use when the first fifty or so rockets passed through the squadron which I was leading. When I say through I do mean that some went over the top of my head and some passed under my personal tail, and the LCR miraculously did not score one Spitfire squadron — but only by virtue of one of these coincidental miracles that makes one sweat slightly in retrospect. All the rockets continued to their apogee and duly plunged to earth somewhere off to port and a quick check showed that we remained not merely intact but untouched. I managed some feeble jest about Mr Brock evidently having been enlisted in response to a (decorative) question from my Number Two enquiring about this phenomenon. "Who needs enemies when we've friends like that?" was another question which expressed our collective thoughts.'
Wing Commander Myles Duke-Woolley, Leader Deb den Wing
No 71 Eagle Squadron headed out towards Dieppe, Peterson leading, with Flight Lieutenant Gus Daymond (BM510) leading the second section, and Flying Officer T. J. 'Andy' Andrews the third. Andrews' number 3 was Pilot Officer Harold H. Strickland, who had celebrated his 39th birthday at the beginning of the month!
I became separated from the squadron of the first sortie because well after take off and climb into the darkness I noticed that my No 2 (Pilot Officer W B Morgan, from Honolulu) was not keeping up as well as usual, so I throttled back and could then see that his landing gear had not retracted fully. We had been briefed to maintain radio silence but I warned him with a two-word transmission, then accelerated in an effort to overtake 71 which by then had turned off their small blue navigation lights and disappeared. I flew at high speed towards Dieppe but could not find 71. I encountered four FW190s somewhere west of Dieppe in the half-light just before dawn. With my high speed I had a shot at a straggler then pulled into a steep, high climb, came down in a dive, but all the FW190s had disappeared.
Pilot Officer Harold Strickland, 71 Eagle Squadron.
'Strick' recorded in his personal diary:
I saw the flashes of heavy gunfire to my left, which was towards the sun, which was still below the horizon. In all other directions it was very dark. About 8/10ths cloud covered the sky at 7,000 feet. As I proceeded towards the enemy I could see the outline of four aircraft patrolling about E — W, line astern, I closed toward them from out of the darkness and identified them as four FW190s. I attacked the No 4 with cannon and m.g. with about 45° deflection and saw my explosive shells strike the fuselage. He dived. The other three turned into me. I turned right, pulled into steep climbing turn and entered the cloud. Was counter-attacked three times upon leaving the cloud cover. Landed at Gravesend shortly after dawn.
Brewster Morgan also carried on alone to Dieppe and was attacked. His Spitfire developed a glycol leak but he got back to the English coast where he crash-landed at Friston. He came down near a Blenheim which was on fire with bombs exploding — this was Scott's Blenheim of 614 Squadron.
*
Meanwhile, the six squadrons, having reached their patrol area five miles off Dieppe at 5.23 am, relieved 65 and 111 Squadrons. Below and to the south the pilots could just make out the troops streaming ashore in the gloom. Guns flashed and shells exploded on the shoreline and smoke was everywhere. 124 Squadron could see assault and tank landing craft still arriving at Orange Beach while a ship of around 700 tons was on fire about five miles north-east of the harbour. (Probably the German ship encountered by the Commandos on their approach to Yellow Beach.) 124 also saw a Junkers 88 shot down into the sea by AA fire from a destroyer after dropping its bombs. There is little evidence that any enemy bombers were over the ships at this early time and from 9-10,000 feet, 124 Squadron had, in fact, seen Pilot Officer Woodland's Blenheim going into the sea. (It has been assumed that this Blenheim went down to flak but if 124 saw the action correctly one wonders if in fact the Navy's anti-aircraft fire hit the Blenheim. There were several reports of RAF aircraft being fired on by the ships during the day - an attitude of'shoot first and ask questions later!') Meantime, fire from German shore batteries was seen to be straddling the ships, whilst light flak was seen coming up from Camp de Cesar and heavy flak from the town itself.
Right below the Spitfires the pilots could see lines of tracer bursts passing to and from the darkened beaches. It was fascinating to watch and difficult to concentrate on keeping a careful lookout for enemy aircraft. However, 2 Group bomber's smoke soon began to blot out the colourful yet deadly tracer fire. In the gloom higher up it was difficult to make out the aeroplanes. Capitaine Rene Mouchotte of 340 Squadron was twice attacked by sections of Spitfires and then a FW190 passed quite close by him without the pilot taking the slightest bit of notice of him, if he saw the Spitfire at all.
The six Spitfire squadrons split up over the ships to give the maximum spread of cover, so that when eight FW190s suddenly appeared not all the squadrons saw or engaged them. 81 saw them but did not engage. They chased two FWs five miles inland but lost them. Berry's pilots also saw the Bostons laying smoke which appeared to obscure most of the town. A large explosion occurred and several buildings were seen to be on fire.
No 122 Squadron saw nothing while 124 saw only three 190s but the Germans kept well out of range. Flight Lieutenant A. F. (Shag) Eckford DFC, Sergeant E. Hansen (Norwegian)and Warrant Officer J. G. Buiron (Free French) of 154 Squadron fired at these 190s but no hits were claimed. Sous-Lieutenant Michael Boudier of 340 Squadron (BL262 GW-K) did claim hits, however, on one FW; Sous-Lieutenant Kerlan was hit and had to ditch his Spitfire (W3457 GW-K) in the sea but he was picked up safely.
After 30 minutes patrol time the Spitfires turned for home. As 81 turned for home at 5.50, they could still see the shore batteries firing.
The Spitfires began to land back at their bases at between 6.15 and 6.30.
The whole of this first sortie was, in practical terms, a waste of time but a necessary show of force nonetheless. It must have heartened the Canadians below to see 48 friendly aircraft moving up and down but from my point of view we did nothing but provide some small cheer of that order. It was too dark below to decipher what was happening in any detail. We could not have attacked any ground targets in support of the landing even if we could have seen, because air to ground support techniques simply did not then exist as they came to be developed by 1944. We carried no bombs, and if we had we could not have dropped them accurately with no previous training. So we patrolled and waited and patrolled and the day gradually lightened from the east. More and more craft became visible on and near the beach, moving so slowly and of course silently and towing white strips of disturbed water behind each one. No enemy aircraft were reported by radar and we sighted none ourselves. I think we must have been over the area for about forty minutes when the relieving Wing approached, led by Brian Kingcome, and we exchanged pleasantries. Wing Leaders in those days usually used their own Christian or nick-names and on establishing contact I recall Brian's question, 'Duke, what on earth are you doing up so early?' It seemed very appropriate at the time and after assuring him that we were 'savaged, dear boy, by friend if not by foe', we returned to Beachy Head, base and breakfast.
Wing Commander Myles Duke-Woolley, Leader Debden Wing
Already the relieving Spitfires were over the ships. The Polish fighter pilots from Northolt and Heston, 302, 306, 308 and 317 Squadrons, had all been airborne shortly before 5 am. Again the units split up over the cover area. 302 Squadron led by Flight Lieutenant Stanislaw Lapka (EN865) patrolled for their allotted 30 minutes but saw nothing. Squadron Leader Walerian Zak, holder of the Polish Virtuti Militari, leading 308 Squadron arrived over Dieppe at five minutes to five o'clock, patrolling at between 8,000 and 9,000 feet but only saw one enemy aircraft in the distance.
Squadron Leader Stanislaw Skalski DFC VM, veteran pilot from the first air battles over his native Poland in September 1939, was by this date an extremely effective fighter pilot and air leader. He led his 317 Squadron from Northolt but made no contact with the enemy but the enemy made contact with them. A single FW190 came screaming down on 317 Squadron, the pilot selecting the Spitfire flown by Flying Officer M. Cholewka. The German scored a telling burst on the Spitfire which broke away from the squadron and went down. Cholewka was himself hit and badly wounded, his right arm being smashed and also his right leg was shot through. However, in spite of this he regained control of his machine and made a landing at Manston in between bouts of unconsciousness. He was immediately admitted to hospital and when his Spitfire was cleaned up, pieces of bone were found in the cockpit.
No 306 Squadron was led by Squadron Leader Tadeusz Czer-winski and included Group Captain Stefan Pawlikowski among its twelve pilots. Pawlikowski was without doubt the oldest flyer at Dieppe, having flown in France in 1918, and later with the Polish Air Force in the mid-war years. In 1939 he commanded the Polish Pursuit Brigade. 306 patrolled over Dieppe for its half hour but without incident.
On the return flight Sergeant S. Czachla got into difficulties. He began to run short of fuel even though his fuel gauge showed a 20-gallon reading. It became obvious that he would not make Northolt so as his engine began to die he tried to force-land on a roadway but the road ended suddenly and houses appeared at the end of it. Czachla pulled up his flaps and banked steeply to the left but didn't make it. His starboard wing hit the roof and upper wall of No 205 Malvern Avenue, South Harrow. The Spitfire lost a wheel and ricocheted across the road. One of its wings ripped along the front bedroom windows of 244, 246, 248, 250 and 252 Malvern Avenue, before he crash-landed in the front garden of No. 252.Czachla received a slight injury to the left side of his head plus some bruises which kept him in hospital until the 22nd, but was otherwise unhurt. A lady occupant of one of the houses was also slightly injured.
Meanwhile, 402, 602 and 611 Squadrons had left to patrol over the ships, 402 and 611 taking off at around 5.15, 602 taking off from Biggin Hill at 5.50.
The Canadians of 402 led by Squadron Leader N. H. Bretz (BS200) made rendezvous over Beachy Head, arriving over Dieppe at 5.50 at a height of 10,000 feet. 602 joined 611, the latter only numbering 11 aircraft. 602 at high cover was led by Squadron Leader P. M. Brothers DFC(EN904), 611 by Squadron Leader D. H. Watkins, DFC(BR631), both Battle of Britain pilots. As they flew out over Beachy Head the sun was just appearing over France although it was still quite dark. Below them they could see a long line of barges (sic) stretching back twenty miles from Dieppe. On the enemy held coast, bursting shells and red fire glows lit up the beaches and coastline. The squadron patrolled in loose fours from between 1,500 to 5,000 feet, two to four miles off Dieppe. Heavy and light flak was lacing the air low down between the shore and the landing craft. As the squadron diarist later wrote of this deadly yet colourful scene, ' . . . which might be described as beautiful.'
Some FW190s were still buzzing about, although as yet still not in any force. Like the Poles, 602 and 611 had brief skirmishes with them. Blue Section of 611 Squadron were bounced by a small gaggle of 190s who sent the Spitfire of Flight Sergeant Andre Paul Francois Vilboux, aged 21 from Rennes, (Free French)1 spinning towards the sea. Another 190 curved in behind Squadron Leader Watkins' Number Two, but Watkins saw the danger and quickly turned into the German fighter, firing a burst into it. The 190 dived away to crash-land west of Dieppe. As the brief scrap continued Flight Lieutenant W. V. Crawford-Compton DFC, a New Zealand pilot, destined to become one of the RAF's top scorers, and Flight Lieutenant Manak both damaged other Focke Wulfs before the German fighters broke off and dived away. 602's CO, Peter Brothers (EN904) also claimed a 190 damaged, Pilot Officer R. W. F. Sampson hitting another which was seen to go down smoking.
We were airborne at first light to patrol over the landing area. This we did at low level and watched with considerable interest the troops landing. A small number of enemy aircraft appeared on the scene but sheered off when they saw us and it seemed obvious that they were very disorganised and had been taken by surprise. After an hour and a half we were replaced and with-drew to refuel.
Squadron Leader Peter Brothers, OC 602 Squadron
During their patrol, 602 observed a large ship blow up whilst 611 saw a gun battery blow up. Ten minutes later they were relieved.
Shortly after 602 and 611 turned for home a lone Spitfire squadron was heading towards Dieppe, fast and low. 129 Squadron led by Squadron Leader Rhys Henry Thomas DFCwas racing in to strafe the Hess gun battery. This attack would be the prelude to the assault by Lord Lovat's 4th Commando who had landed at Vaster-ival (Orange Beach) and made their way to the gun positions soon after dawn. The Commandos were already sniping at the German gunners waiting for 129 to strike. The Spitfire pilots approached Varengeville-sur-Mer where the guns were situated, and where ninety minutes earlier their brother pilots Jones and Reeves had attacked the lighthouse. Thomas made landfall close to the same lighthouse, found the target through dense smoke from what appeared to be burning buildings and went in. Actually the initial battle between the Commandos and the Germans had started and a 2-inch mortar shell had ignited a stack of cordite behind the No 1 gun which caused a big fire. Then the Commandos fired a smoke bomb into the battery position.
Rhys Thomas led his men in at 6.20 am; the twelve Spitfires raked the target thoroughly and silenced several guns sending up defensive fire. Twelve FW190s appeared from the south as the Spitfire pulled away and a brief dog-fight ensued. Pilot Officer J. B. Shillitoe got in a quick burst at one and claimed he had damaged it. The fight ended and 129 went home with two of their aircraft carrying flak damage. Shillitoe believed his machine too had been hit and gingerly flew his Spitfire back across the Channel, concerned in case the damage forced him to ditch. In the event he reached Thorney Island safely and with some relief came into land.
However, he quite forgot to lower his undercarriage, but got away with his involuntary belly-landing without injury to himself. As for the Commandos, they completed their task, completely destroyed the Hess battery and with only light casualties got safely away again. Theirs was one of the few completely successful events of the Dieppe Raid.
At 4.45 the phone range from Ops and instructions were given that we were to take off with the rest of the Wing at 6 and go over to Dieppe and stay over the town for half an hour to protect our boats from dive-bombing, etc. The names went up on the board and I was not down so I sat back and relaxed.
Pilot Officer John Godfrey, 412 Squadron - from a letter home dated
20 August 1942.
Spitfires of the Tangmere Wing, 41 and 412 Squadrons, took off at fifteen minutes to six. Twelve of 41 and 12 Canadians of 412 were led by Tangmere's Wing Leader, P. R. (Johnnie) Walker DFC, with 41 flying as top cover. They flew out over Selsey Bill, arriving off Dieppe at 6.05. They patrolled over the ships at between 4,000 and 8,000 feet for 30 minutes. Their main task being to provide cover for a further bomb raid by 107 Squadron's Bostons, ordered out to attack the Hitler battery.
No 107 took off at 6.15, led by Wing Commander Lynn (again in Z2286) but by the time they reached Dieppe at 6.47, the Tangmere Wing had turned for home. The Spitfires had experienced heavy flak but it proved very inaccurate. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Hyde (BL777) and the others of his 41 Squadron saw some enemy fighters some way off but made no contact. Squadron Leader C. J. (Nobby) Fee DFCand his Canadians had a brief brush with six FWs although neither side inflicted any damage on the other. It had been almost impossible for the Canadians to keep together, the squadron splitting up into twos. As John Godfrey later described it from reports from his comrades, Tt was evidently the worst shambles since the Battle of Britain.'
When the Bostons appeared, they made their bombing run from 7,000 feet, from west to east but due to ground haze, smoke and the early sunlight they let their bombs (24 x 500 lb and 120 x 40 lb) go too late and mostly they overshot. The bombs fell on some camouflaged houses beyond the battery. Heavy flak came up and fortunately no enemy fighters were about. They landed back at Ford at 7.25 am.
No 222 Squadron and the American 307th Fighter Squadron, both from Biggin Hill took over from the Tangmere Wing. 222 was led by Squadron Leader R. W. (Bobbie) Oxspring DFCl>(BL267), former Battle of Britain pilot who had only taken over command of the squadron one week before. His unit made no contact with the enemy. The Americans on the other hand got into a fight with a bunch of Focke Wulfs, losing Lieutenant Ed Tovrea, who was taken prisoner, but they did claim one 190 as a probable. Tovrea, from Arizona where his father was a big name in the meat industry, found himself in Stalag Luft III POW camp after his capture. He later helped to dig the escape tunnel which was used in the Great Escape in March 1944.
Probably the most senior officer to fly this day was Group Captain Harry Broadhurst DSO DFC AFCUntil May 1942, 'Broadie' had been Station Commander of RAF Hornchurch and at 36 years of age was one of Fighter Command's most energetic fighters. Often leading the Hornchurch Wing during 1941—42 he had personally destroyed nearly a dozen enemy fighters before going to 11 Group Headquarters. He had been in on the planning of Dieppe and had some strong views on how the air battle should be fought.
I flew a Spit 9 on four sorties, having borrowed the aeroplane from my old station Hornchurch, - I was at that time Deputy SASO at 11 Group. There was a specific reason for me going on these patrols. During the planning I had strongly disagreed with the proposal to patrol the beach-head with stepped-up wings, emphasising that they would be too unmanoeuvrable against the sort of opposition the Germans would put up, ie: fighter bombers and small formations of escorted bombers. I was firmly in the doghouse for my outspoken opposition, and so I arranged to go on the first patrol to see for myself. In the event, whilst at 20,000 feet, I spotted small formations of FW190s coming in from the sun and diving straight down through the beehive and attacking the ships, and then going off back into France at low level.
Group Captain Harry Broadhurst, 11 Group HQ
In the borrowed Spitfire (BR370) Broadhurst took off from RAF Northolt at 6 o'clock and climbed steadily in the direction of Dieppe arriving at approximately 6.30 at 25,000 feet. The weather was clear and he could see the shipping anchorage just north of Dieppe taking shape and the Spitfire patrols above it. Dropping down to 20,000 feet, Broadhurst took in the whole panorama of the scene of action spread out below him. He could see FW190s coming out from France, mainly in pairs or in sections of four from the general direction of Le Treport at 15,000 feet. When they had gained a position up sun of the British patrols they would dive straight down towards the ships and beaches, some dropping bombs, some clashing with the Spitfires while others attempted to strafe the ships.
He watched for some time before reducing height to 15,000 feet towards Le Treport and found a pair of Focke Wulfs approaching. He picked on the number two 190 and shot it down into the sea. He then broke away and headed back to England and landed at Biggin Hill.
The Mustangs were still busy, 239 Squadron sending out Flying Officer P. A. L. Gompertz (AM 134) and Flying Officer W. T. McKeown (AM533) just after six o'clock. They were tasked to reconnoitre the roads from Fecamp to four miles east of Le Havre but saw nothing. Then McKeown radioed that he had been hit by anti-aircraft fire and failed to return.
Meanwhile, three Spitfires led by Pilot Officer R. M. Batten from 91 Squadron, the RAF's famous 'Jim Crow' Squadron commanded at this time Squadron Leader Jean Demozay DFC(Free French), went out low on a shipping reconnaissance, covering the area Ostend-Somme-Le Havre, looking for any signs of hostile shipping that might interfere with the landings, but the sea remained empty.
The sea may have been empty of German ships but soon the sky over Dieppe was to be full of their fighters.
1 Vilboux escaped to England in June 1940. Dieppe was his 32nd operational sortie. He was awarded a posthumous Croix de Guere.