Date: 24/02/1944
Squadron Code: 'T'
Serial Number: Liberator GR.V FL980
Flight/Mission Details:

Base: Ballykelly
Take off time: ?
Op: A/S escort patrol

F/L AM Rhodes and crew failed to return from an anti-sub escort patrol west of Ireland. The following day Liberator.V FL956 "K" searched for the missing crew without success along with an Anson of 275 Sqn which flew 3 sorties along the Irish west coast also without success. The crew are remembered on the Runnymede Memorial.

Crew Details:

All lost:

Sgt RF Smith, Sgt AC Neville. Sgt DG Strachan, F/Lt FL Jenkin, F/Lt AM Rhodes, F/O IE Bolton, F/O NR Gamble, F/O JG Moxham

Memorial Page Links
 
 

 

Source: Amrit

During WWII, the RAF used three-letter codes to identify their aircraft from a distance. Two large letters were painted before the roundel, which signified the squadron to which the aircraft belonged, and another letter was painted after the roundel which indicated the individual aircraft. Aditionally, there was the individual serial number for each aircraft, which was painted in a much smaller size, usually somewhere at the rear of the aircraft: (more)

Codes used by RAF 59 Squadron:

PJ Sep 1938 - Sep 1939
TR Sep 1939 - Oct 1942
1 Aug 1943 - Jul 1944
WE Jul 1944 - Oct 1945
BY Oct 1945 - Jun 1946, Dec 1947 - Oct 1950