After his 15 October patrol, Peter Moore disappeared from the 245 Squadron
Operations Record Book and inconsistencies between his RAF service record and
unit ORBs appear.
His RAF service record states that on 24 October 1940 he was posted to
Kenley Station, one of the key sector stations in 11 Group charged with the defence of London and the south east. But Peter’s arrival is not noted in the station ORB. Next, Peter’s
service record notes that he was posted to 253 Squadron, located at Kenley, on
2 December 1940. 253 Squadron’s operational record book, however, contradicts
these movements: it shows Peter flying his first operational sortie with the
squadron on 20 October when he took off at 10.40 a.m. for a solo interception
in Hurricane L1666, landing at 11.40. The ORB does not indicate what flight he
was in but subsequent records indicate that he was with B Flight.
I needed to resolve the discrepancy in Peter’s service record and 253
Squadron’s ORB, so I contacted the RAF record keepers. I was advised that, during
the Battle of Britain, pilots were frequently sent ‘hither and thither’ to fill
gaps caused by casualties or departures and these relief postings would only
last a few days. Naturally, I was told, during such a hectic period it would
have been difficult to keep up with the flow of information and
here-today-gone-tomorrow movements.
It is no wonder, then, that there are errors in Peter’s records.
As for his early appearance on 253 Squadron’s operational record it was
probably as simple as Peter was at Kenley, he was available and he was
opportunistically appropriated by a squadron that desperately needed pilots.
Indeed, Pilot Officer John Greenwood, who arrived at 253 Squadron on 30
October 1939, recalled that they were ‘a badly savaged
squadron’ so I am not surprised the freshly trained Peter was snapped up and
sent on ops almost as soon as he had dropped his bags in his sleeping quarters.
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