Formed:
??
Disbanded: ??
Squadron was
based at:
RAF Digby :: Aug 1937
- 4 Sep 1939
Squadron code: TP
Aircraft operated:
Gloster Gladiator Mk I :: - Nov 1938
Hurricane MkI :: Nov 1938 -
On the outbreak of war, 73 Sqn departed rapidly from RAF Digby for France
on 4 Sep 1939 as part of the British Expeditionary Force. 73 Sqn was
virtually
wiped out during the evacuation from Saint Nazaire on 17 Jun 1940 aboard
HMS Lancastria.
"My own stay at Digby was
very short. I was shipped out of Tech Training the day after war broke
out, and went to Digby. The place was overcrowded
with chaps. I had a space on the floor in the snooker room. The aicraft
and advance ground crews were already in France.
After many jabs etc we went home for a few days leave. Home being near
Sheffield. On retrun everything was set up for France. If my memory serves
me right we entrained at Digby or very near by. Started early, remember
a stop at Nottingham then on to Southampton
- Colin Ratcliffe, 73 Sqn, recollecting in a letter to the Digy Museum
on 10 Nov 1997 from Harare, Zimbabwe.
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