Australians in the Battle of Britain. 4 August 1940

Ken Holland was having a ‘super morning’ at Sandford, swimming and sunbaking. But the brief holiday ended all too soon and after lunch he was heading back to Aston Down. When he arrived, there was no accommodation available so he had to sleep in the guard hut!

John Crossman’s accommodation at Sutton Bridge was also less than ideal. He was allocated a place in a wooden building that had no hot and cold facilities in the rooms. In his opinion, Sutton Bridge was an ‘awful hole’ and to make things worse, the food was bad.

Stuart Walch did not fly ops this day, and, along with the rest of 238 Squadron’s pilots, returned to Middle Wallop from Warmwell.

Pat Hughes had had little time to spend with his new bride. Almost as soon as they exchanged vows, he was temporarily assigned to 247 Squadron which had recently formed at Roborough, about 40 miles from St Eval. 247 had been declared operational on Pat’s wedding day and was allowed a fortnight in which to settle down and become familiar with its sector. Pat had been seconded there help set up the squadron.