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Richard Cummings. Haine |
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Name : Richard Cummings. Haine Born : 1st October 1916 Died : 30th September 2008 Service Number : 43147 Air Victories : 3.00 Awards : Distinguished Flying Cross |
Haine learned to fly at the Cotswold Aero Club, Staverton, whilst still at school. He joined the RAF as an NCO pilot in 1935 and in September began his elementary flying training at the Bristol Flying School at Filton. In November Haine moved to 11 FTS, Shawbury and after completing the course he joined 25 Squadron at Hawkinge. He was in the squadron aerobatics team at the Hendon Air Display in 1937. The squadron converted to Blenheims in December 1938 and moved to Northolt in August 1939. Haine flew what could be the first defensive patrol of the war, in the early hours of 4 September 1939. On 28 December he flew one of the six Blenheims of 25 Squadron, which went with six from 601 to attack the German seaplane base at Borkum, the first fighter attack on Germany. Haine was commissioned in April 1940 and posted to 600 Squadron at Manston. On 10 May he flew one of the six Blenheims, which attacked Rotterdam airfield in daylight with only one returned to base. Haine claimed a Bf109 destroyed and two Ju52s damaged by his rear gunner before they were shot down and made a forced-landing in Holland. He and his gunner evaded capture and got back to England in the destroyer which were evacuating the Dutch Royal Family. For this action Haine was awarded the DFC (9.7.40). He was made an OBE (01.01.62) and retired from the RAF on the 1 October 1970 as a Group Captain. He died aged 91 |
COMBAT REPORTS |
On 28 December he flew one of the six Blenheims of 25 Squadron, which went with six from 601 to attack the German seaplane base at Borkum, the first fighter attack on Germany. Haine was commissioned in April 1940 and posted to 600 Squadron at Manston. On 10 May he flew one of the six Blenheims, which attacked Rotterdam airfield in daylight with only one returned to base. Haine claimed a Bf109 destroyed and two Ju52s damaged by his rear gunner before they were shot down and made a forced-landing in Holland. He and his gunner evaded capture and got back to England in the destroyer which were evacuating the Dutch Royal Family |
Known Service Details : | |||||||
Squadron | Rank | Start of Service | End of Service | Known Dates | Aircraft | Airframes | Notes |
PO | unknown | unknown | 10th May 1940 | On 10 May he flew one of the six Blenheims, which attacked Rotterdam airfield in daylight with only one returned to base. Haine claimed a Bf109 destroyed and two Ju52s damaged by his rear gunner before they were shot down and made a forced-landing in Holland. | |||
| Aircraft for : Richard Cummings. Haine | ||
| A list of all aircraft associated with Richard Cummings. Haine. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | ||
| Aircraft | Info | |
Blenheim 
Manufacturer : Bristol Production Began : 1935 Retired : 1956 Number Built : 4422 | Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim, the most plentiful aircraft in the RAFs inventory when WWII began, was designed by Frank Barnwell, and when first flown in 1936 was unique with its all metal monoplane design incorporating a retractable undercarriage, wing flaps, metal props, and supercharged engines. A typical bomb load for a Blenheim was 1,000 pounds. In the early stages of the war Blenheims were used on many daylight bombing missions. On the day that war was declared on Germany, a Blenheim piloted by Flying Officer Andrew McPherson was the first British aircraft to cross the German coast and the following morning 15 Blenheims from three squadrons set off on one of the first bombing missions The Blenheim units operated throughout the battle, often taking heavy casualties, although they were never accorded the publicity of the fighter squadrons. The Blenheim units raided German occupied airfields throughout July to December 1940, both during daylight hours and at night. Although most of these raids were unproductive, there were some successes; on 1 August five out of 12 Blenheims sent to attack Haamstede and Evere (Brussels) were able to bomb, destroying or heavily damaging three Bf 109s of II./JG 27 and apparently killing a Staffelkapitän identified as Hauptmann Albrecht von Ankum-Frank. Two other 109s were claimed by Blenheim gunners. Another successful raid on Haamstede was made by a single Blenheim on 7 August which destroyed one 109 of 4./JG 54, heavily damaged another and caused lighter damage to four more. There were also some missions which produced an almost 100% casualty rate amongst the Blenheims. One such operation was mounted on 13 August 1940 against a Luftwaffe airfield near Aalborg in north-western Denmark by 12 aircraft of 82 Squadron. One Blenheim returned early (the pilot was later charged and due to appear before a court martial, but was killed on another operation); the other 11, which reached Denmark, were shot down, five by flak and six by Bf 109s. Blenheim-equipped units had been formed to carry out long-range strategic reconnaissance missions over Germany and German-occupied territories, as well as bombing operations. In this role, the Blenheims once again proved to be too slow and vulnerable against Luftwaffe fighters and they took constant casualties While great heroism was displayed by the air crews, tremendous losses were sustained during these missions. The Blenhiem was easy pickings at altitude for German Bf-109 fighters who quickly learned to attack from below. To protect the vulnerable bellies of the Blenheims many missions were shifted to low altitude, but this increased the aircrafts exposure to anti-aircraft fire. In the German night-bombing raid on London on 18 June 1940, Blenheims accounted for five German bombers, thus proving that they were better-suited for night fighting. In July, No. 600 Squadron, by then based at RAF Manston, had some of its Mk IFs equipped with AI Mk III radar. With this radar equipment, a Blenheim from the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) at RAF Ford achieved the first success on the night of 2–3 July 1940, accounting for a Dornier Do 17 bomber. More successes came, and before long the Blenheim proved itself invaluable as a night fighter. One Blenheim pilot, Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for an attack on Singora, Thailand, on 9 December 1941. Another bomber of No. 60 Squadron RAF was credited with shooting down Lt Col Tateo Katō's Nakajima Ki-43 fighter and badly damaging two others in a single engagement on 22 May 1942, over the Bay of Bengal. Katō's death was a severe blow to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. | |
| Squadrons for : Richard Cummings. Haine | ||
| A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Richard Cummings. Haine. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name. | ||
| Squadron | Info | |
No.25 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 25th September 1915 Feriens Tego - Striking I defend | No.25 Sqn RAF No. 25 Squadron was formed at Montrose in Scotland on 25 September 1915 from the personnel of No. 6 Reserve Squadron. Moving to France in February 1916, the Squadron took up fighter/reconnaissance patrols over the Western Front with two-seat FE2Bs. During 1917, the Squadron transferred to long-range reconnaissance and high-altitude bombing with newly received DH4s. After moving to Germany as part of the occupation forces, No. 25 Squadron returned to the UK and disbanded in January 1920. The squadron reformed the next day at RAF Hawkinge, flying Snipes, and went to Turkey in 1922/23 during the Chanak Crisis. After returning to the UK the unit stayed for a number of years at Hawkinge. The Snipes gave way to Grebes and later Siskins, while in December 1936 the squadron became the first unit to receive the Hawker Fury Mk II, having already flown the Fury Mk I since 1932. The Fury was replaced by the Hawker Demon when the squadron was given a night-fighter role. For night-flying training purposes the squadron also received Gloster Gladiators. No. 25(F) Squadron moved to RAF Northolt on 12 September 1938. During World War II it flew Blenheims on night patrols, which were replaced by Beaufighters and later Mosquitos. By the closing stages of the war, the squadron was almost entirely committed to bomber escort missions. After the war, the night-fighter Mosquitos remained on strength until 1951 when they were finally replaced by Vampires. A mix of two Meteor night-fighter variants replaced the Vampires in 1954 and remained with the Squadron until it was disbanded in June 1958. Barely a week later, on 1 July 1958, No. 153 Squadron at Waterbeach was renumbered No. 25 and the same mix of Meteors (NF12s and NF14s) was flown until all-weather Javelin fighters arrived in early 1959. In November 1962, the Squadron again disbanded, this time until October 1963, when the Squadron was reformed at North Coates as the first operational Bloodhound surface-to-air guided missile unit. In 1970, the Squadron moved to Bruggen with detached Flights based at Laarbruch and Wildenrath, remaining in Germany until 1983 when the unit returned to the UK with bases at Wyton, Barkston Heath and Wattisham. The Bloodhounds were withdrawn from service on 1 August 1989 and the Squadron reformed the same day at Leeming as a Tornado F3 squadron. During its time at Leeming, the squadron has had operational tours in the Gulf, providing air and groundcrews for the detachment of Tornado F3 based in Saudi Arabia on a rotational basis with other air defence squadrons. This ceased following the Operation Telic in 2003. | |
No.600 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 14th October 1925 Fate : Disbanded 10th March 1957 City of London (Auxiliary) Praeter Sescentos - More than six hundred | No.600 Sqn RAF Full profile not yet available. | |
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