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Aircraft Index |
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No.53 Sqn RAF
Founded : 15th May 1916
United in effort
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No.53 Sqn RAF
| Aces for : No.53 Sqn RAF | ||
| A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking the pilots name. | ||
| Name | Victories | Info |
| Peter Malam Brothers | 15.00 | The signature of Peter Malam Brothers features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available. |
| Aircraft for : No.53 Sqn RAF | |||
| A list of all aircraft known to have been flown by No.53 Sqn RAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | |||
| Squadron | Info | ||
Manufacturer : Bristol | 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. 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. | ||
Manufacturer : Douglas Production Began : 1941 Retired : 1970 | Dakota DOUGLAS DAKOTA, Transport aircraft with three crew and can carry 28 passengers. speed 230-mph, and a altitude of 23,200 feet. maximum range 2,100 miles. The Douglas Dakota served in all theatres of world war two, The Royal Air Force received its first Douglas Dakota's in April 1941, to 31 squadron which was serving in India. These were DC2, later DC3 and eventually C-47 Dakotas were supplied. The Douglas Dakota was developed from the civil airliner of the 1930's. The Royal Air Force received nearly 2,000 Dakotas, But many more than this served in the US Air Force and other allied countries. The last flight of a Douglas Dakota of the Royal Air Force was in 1970. You can still see Douglas Dakota's in operational and transport use across the world. | ||
Number Built : 18188 | Liberator Full profile not yet available. | ||
| Signatures for : No.53 Sqn RAF | |||||||||
| A list of all signatures from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | |||||||||
| Name | Info | ||||||||
  Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC* Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by or with the mounted signature of Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC*
| Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC* Learnt to fly at the age of 16 and joined the RAF two years later in 1936. He first saw action in 1940 when as a Flight Commander in 32 Squadron, based at Biggin Hill, he flew his Hurricane against the fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe. He recalls this as an intensely busy period, during which he shot down an Me109 - his first enemy aircraft; by the end of August that same year his tally of enemy aircraft shot down increased to eight. Awarded the DFC, he was transferred to 257 Squadron where he joined Bob-Stanford Tuck as a Flight Commander. Promoted in 1941 to Squadron Leader, Pete Brothers then took command of 457 Squadron RAAF, equipped with Spitfires. A year later when 457 Squadron returned to Australia, Pete took command of 602 Squadron. In the early autumn of 1942 he went on to become Wing Leader of the Tangmere Wing, succeeding his old friend, Douglas Bader. By the end of the war Pete Brothers had amassed 875 operational hours over a 44-month period. He was credited with having personally shot down 16 enemy aircraft and damaged many more. He later went on to command 57 Squadron during the Malaya campaign. Upon return to the UK Pete Brothers joined the V-Force, flying Valiant-4 jet bombers. He retired in 1973. Sadly, Pete Brothers died 18th December 2008.
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 Group Captain A K Gatward DSO, DFC, AE Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Group Captain A K Gatward DSO, DFC, AE
| Group Captain A K Gatward DSO, DFC, AE A pre-war RAFVR pilot, Gatward completed his first tour of operations in 1940-41 with 53 Squadron Bomber Command, flying Blenheims. His second tour was to take him into Coastal Command, on Beaufighters, and considerable fame. Gatward and his navigator, Sergeant George Fern, now of 236 Squadron, were selected for a special mission. Shortly before midday on 12th June 1942, they left Thorney Island and set course for Paris where their brief was to beat up the routine daily parade of German occupation troops along the Champs Elysees, dropping two French national flags at the same time. Achieving their objective and strafing the German Maritime HQ in Paris on the way out, they returned home without incident and shortly afterwards Gatward completed his second tour, receiving a DFC for his Paris sortie. In June 1943 he began a third tour as a Flight Commander of the famous No.404 Buffalo Squadron RCAF at Wick, again piloting Beaufighters. Afters 404s CO was lost in action, Gatward took over the Squadron, ending the war with a bar to his DFC and a DSO. He passed away in 1998. | ||||||||
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