The following table is derived from the Operational Record Book for140 Squadron, Royal Air Force. The operational sorties span the period November 1943 through May1945. A total of 1152 day operations and 663 night operations are recorded. The table is ordered by total number of operations. It would appear that five aircraft carried out at least as many operations, (69), as LR422 with 540 Squadron, described by Sharp & Bowyer, [C. Martin Sharp & Michael J.F. Bowyer, Mosquito, Faber & Faber Ltd., London, 1971], as the most effective photo reconnaissance Mosquito. Perhaps a comparison of flying hours would be interesting? [Note: Aircraft serials shown in bold crashed or were shot down].
|
Serial |
Mk |
Hours |
Ops |
|
MM251 |
IX |
234 |
106 |
|
MM305 |
XVI |
141 |
76 |
|
MM301 |
XVI |
167 |
73 |
|
MM304 |
XVI |
128 |
70 |
|
MM280 |
XVI |
148 |
69 |
|
MM302 |
XVI |
142 |
64 |
|
MM284 |
XVI |
155 |
61 |
|
MM278 |
XVI |
102 |
60 |
|
MM243 |
IX |
125 |
57 |
|
MM282 |
XVI |
103 |
57 |
|
MM249 |
IX |
111 |
53 |
|
MM250 |
IX |
104 |
51 |
|
MM281 |
XVI |
93 |
51 |
|
MM395 |
XVI |
113 |
51 |
|
MM279 |
XVI |
91 |
49 |
|
NS517 |
XVI |
96 |
47 |
|
NS562 |
XVI |
84 |
45 |
|
LR479 |
IX |
76 |
42 |
|
MM306 |
XVI |
93 |
42 |
|
MM349 |
XVI |
90 |
41 |
|
MM394 |
XVI |
94 |
41 |
|
MM274 |
XVI |
76 |
38 |
|
NS563 |
XVI |
74 |
38 |
|
NS507 |
XVI |
54 |
34 |
|
NS580 |
XVI |
57 |
34 |
|
NS506 |
XVI |
51 |
33 |
|
NS575 |
XVI |
61 |
32 |
|
MM312 |
XVI |
65 |
31 |
|
NS579 |
XVI |
50 |
30 |
|
MM275 |
XVI |
73 |
28 |
|
NS572 |
XVI |
48 |
28 |
|
NS578 |
XVI |
57 |
28 |
|
MM298 |
XVI |
51 |
27 |
|
NS576 |
XVI |
42 |
26 |
|
NS777 |
XVI |
64 |
26 |
|
NS523 |
XVI |
58 |
24 |
|
MM258 |
XVI |
31 |
22 |
|
NS567 |
XVI |
26 |
17 |
|
NS801 |
XVI |
47 |
17 |
|
MM356 |
XVI |
32 |
16 |
|
NS522 |
XVI |
27 |
12 |
|
NS574 |
XVI |
25 |
12 |
|
NS790 |
XVI |
28 |
12 |
|
NS564 |
XVI |
14 |
7 |
|
NS573 |
XVI |
20 |
7 |
|
NS746 |
XVI |
13 |
7 |
|
NS798 |
XVI |
14 |
7 |
|
MM359 |
XVI |
8 |
4 |
|
MM248 |
IX |
4 |
3 |
|
NS577 |
XVI |
3 |
2 |
|
MM271 |
XVI |
1 |
1 |
|
MM307 |
XVI |
1 |
1 |
|
NS529 |
XVI |
1 |
1 |
|
NS566 |
XVI |
1 |
1 |
|
RF984 |
XVI |
2 |
1 |
|
RF993 |
XVI |
1 |
1 |
Operational Analysis
| Aircraft | Aircrew | |
| Total | 56 | 130 |
| Sorties | 1815 | 3630 |
| Mean operational flying hours | 65.5 | 56.5 |
| Mean operations | 32.3 | 27.9 |
| Losses or Casualties | 7 | 15 |
| Overall Attrition Rate | 12.5% | 11.5% |
| Mean operational flying hours (losses or casualties) | 79.4 | 52.3 |
| Mean total ops. (losses or casualties) | 37.7 | 23.8 |
| Mean hours before loss or casualty (MTBF) | 524.3 | 489.3 |
| Mean operations before loss or casualty | 259.1 | 241.9 |
| Loss or Casualty per Sortie | 0.39% | 0.41% |
| Loss or Casualty per Night Sortie | 0.15% | 0.23% |
Notes:
Mean operational flying hours are total of all flying hours divided by the total of aircraft or crew. Aircrew hours (man hours) are double aircraft hours, the Mosquito having a crew of two.
Mean operations are total of all operations divided by the total of aircraft or crew.
Losses/Casualties are crashed aircraft or killed crew.
Overall Attrition Rates are total losses/casualties divided by total aircraft or crew.
Mean operational flying hours and total ops. (losses/casualties) are as Notes 1 & 2 but just using data for the set of lost aircraft and crew only. Results are not greatly different from those of the total population suggesting that aircraft age or crew experience had an insignificant effect.
Mean hours/operations before loss/casualty are total hours/operations divided by number of aircraft/crew casualties as appropriate.
Compare aircraft Loss per Sortie (0.39%) with Bomber Command's Mosquito operations (0.63%) or Lancaster operations (2.13%) [See Sharp & Bowyer above].
Monthly Operational Tempo and Aircrew Casualties
Timeline
7 April 1944, 140 Squadron transfers from Hartford Bridge to Northolt
6 June 1944, D-Day, Normandy Landings
26 August 1944, 140 Squadron Main Party departs Northolt en route to Balleroy, France
5 September 1944, 140 Squadron operations launched from Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-12, Balleroy, France
9 September 1944, 140 Squadron transfers to B-48, Amiens-Glisy, France
26 September 1944, 140 Squadron transfer to B-58, Melsbroek (Brussels), Belgium
November - December 1944, Poor weather conditions severely restrict flying
16 December 1944, Wehrmacht launch Operation Wacht am Rhein, Ardennes Offensive under cover of bad weather
1 January 1945, Luftwaffe Operation Bodenplatte, targets Melsbroek. Losses replaced from 34 WSU the following day
15 April 1945, 140 Squadron transfers to Eindhoven, Netherlands
7 May 1945, 140 Squadron flies last two operations for 34 Wing
8 May 1945, VE-Day
12 July 1945, 140 Squadron's ground crew, Servicing Echelon (SE) 6140 arrives at Acklington, Northumberland, UK
10 November 1945, 140 Squadron disbanded at Fersfield, Suffolk
140 Squadron RAF Roll of
Honour
34 Wing 2TAF
140 Squadron RAF Failed to Return
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140 Squadron RAF
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Page revised 6 December 2012