Anti-shipping Strike Operations During Operation Overlord
Buffaloes versus Destroyers
No. 404 Squadron (RCAF) in the Davidstow Moor Strike Wing

by Terry Higgins,
CAHS Creative Director, Website Administrator, & CAHS Journal Managing Editor
posted June 2024
Beaufighter TF.X NE198, as 2•R of No 404 Squadron, participating in an aerial display, firing rocket projectiles (R/P) during a practice sortie off Cornwall on 20 May 1944. This aircraft was flown by Flying Officers (F/Os) Wallace and Temple on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and Pilot Officers (P/Os) French and Hathaway on the next day's evening mission. Both of these actions are described in the text below.  (Imperial War Museum photo CH 13183 via the author’s collection)
When one thinks of the Allied air assets involved in Operation Overlord (6 June – 30 August 1944) or D-Day (6 June 1944) in particular, it is entirely fitting that the many stories covering the exploits of the fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons, medium bombers, and waves of transport planes come to mind. By comparison, the equally determined invasion-support efforts mounted by the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-shipping (A/S) strike squadrons of Coastal Command are less well known.
    Originally published in a special D-Day edition of the British magazine Flypast some years ago and since updated by the author, the following summarizes the activities of one of the strike squadrons, No. 404 "Buffalo" Squadron, RCAF, during the Overlord period. At the time, the squadron was part of a Coastal Command A/S strike wing together with No. 144 Squadron (RAF). Given the fact that the squadrons within any given strike wing often operated as a single unit the RAF squadron is also often referred to in this narrative. These unified force operations were frequently referred to as "Wing Efforts" in a number of squadron operational record books (ORBs).
 
    The ORB of No. 404 Squadron as well as the hand-written daily diary (essentially the "first draft" of the ORB) aand similar records from the other squadrons and the larger organizational entities involved supplied the primary resources for this narrative.
After nearly seven months of operations as the Wick Strike Wing, 18 Group, Coastal Command, based in northern Scotland, the Beaufighters of Nos. 144 (RAF) and 404 (RCAF) Squadrons were ordered south to 19 Group in early May 1944, where they became the Davidstow Moor (D-M) Strike Wing. Interestingly, throughout the history of the wartime strike wings, their establishment remained practically unchanged, but the practice of renaming them with the eponym of any airfield to which they were relocated gave the appearance of a new establishment.
 
While in Scotland, the Wing’s primary targets had been German-controlled merchant ships and their Kriegsmarine escorts operating in Norwegian coastal waters; traffic that supported Germany’s war industry by hauling Swedish and Norwegian industrial raw materials south to German-controlled ports. This shipping was also a vital logistics asset for the sustaining of the German presence in occupied Norway. In continued operation from early 1943, the Wick Wing became expert in A/S strike tactics, with both squadrons often flying missions as a coordinated single unit against the German convoys. After the move to 19 Group in the south of England, their priority targets became Kriegsmarine warships that might sortie into the English Channel from naval bases in occupied France (German merchant shipping, on the other hand, was by this stage of the war no longer a strategic target in the south). For the coming Allied invasion of the continent to succeed, Coastal's strike aircraft needed to neutralize the enemy's surface combat forces while the Command's ASW squadrons hunted the U-boats. For the D-M Strike Wing, the change in primary target from merchantmen to warships did not require any fundamental shift in tactics.
Beaufighter NE339 (2•U) at Wick, Scotland, when the squadron was practising low-level bomb-dropping (not dive-bombing as has been sometimes reported in the popular press) as a potential part of their A/S repertoire, circa early 1944. The tactic was practically abandoned in favour of rockets by the time of the move to Davidstow Moor, Cornwall, in early May. When flown by F/O Dwornik and P/O Porter on D-Day, NE339 would have retained all markings in this photo, with AEAF "invasion" stripes added to the wings and rear fuselage. (DND photo PL-41005)

After arriving at D-M on 11 May, the Wing settled into a routine of “making camp” and practice flying. The former involved coming to grips with a not-yet fully functioning airfield facility, and the latter the usual local familiarization flights to hone area navigation proficiency as well as R/P firing on the makeshift range at Quies Rock off the Cornish coast. Within the strike wing operational model, No. 404 Squadron initially specialized in the anti-flak (A/F) role, while the torpedo-armed No. 144 Squadron provided the offensive punch. Throughout most of 1943, the "Buffaloes" of 404 had gained flak suppression experience on the Beaufighter Mk.XIC (mark 11, coastal), a version normally armed with a forward-firing arsenal of four 20mm cannon and six .303 machine guns. By August of 1943, newer Beaufighter TF.X (torpedo fighter, mark 10) aircraft began to arrive. These fully replaced the XIC before the move south. Although torpedo use was emphasized in the new version’s RAF designation, the TF.X could be more correctly described as a "multi-role aircraft that was factory-provisioned for torpedo use." During its transition from Mk.XIC to TF.X, the Canadian squadron had begun training on R/P, and this would be the squadron's primary weapon through to V-E Day. After leaving the factory and being flown out to a Coastal-specialist maintenance unit (MU) or one of the Coastal Command aircraft pools, an individual TF.X would become either torpedo or R/P armed, but never both. The specialist MUs would install items specific to either primary weapons system – torpedo or R/P – according to the main armament specialty of any individual TF.X's eventual destination squadron. All aircraft received by No. 404 Squadron were exclusively R/P optimized.
LZ295 (2•Z) on 20 to 24 May 1944 at Davidstow Moor during an R/P "ops show" for an RAF photographer sent by Coastal Command HQ. Again, on D-Day, the aircraft would have appeared as seen here, but for the addition of AEAF stripes. It was flown by F/O Lorch and FS Huxtable on D-Day, F/Os Forestall and Robbie on the morning of the 7 June, F/O Taylor and P/O Paget that same evening, and F/Os Acker and Engelson on the 9 June action described in the narrative. (DND photo PL-41009)
Another feature of the Coastal-optimized Beaufighters was a quick-change kit that provided for the wing guns to be efficiently  removed so that long-range fuel tanks could be installed in their place. By the time most of the Command’s A/S strike wings were reequipped with the TF.X, both torpedo and R/P squadrons were making regular use of this feature. From late 1943 onwards, the .303s would only be reinstalled for a few specific mission profiles.

    The rockets on No. 404 Squadron's Beaus could be loaded with either armour-piercing (AP) or high-explosive (HE) heads. Early in the squadrons R/P experience, eight 60lb HE R/P were added to the four-cannon main armament. This made for a dramatic increase in the aircraft's A/F firepower. At that time, the Wing’s primary A/S strike weapon remained the Mk.XV torpedo carried by No. 144 Squadron’s ‘Torbeaus.’

    Interstingly, strike wing weapons and tactics had evolved somewhat by the time the Wing moved south. The Canadian squadron had begun using R/P tipped with the 25lb solid shot AP warhead; a combination which would soon become a primary A/S strike weapon. With it, hits scored below the waterline could puncture all but the heaviest hull plating to compromise the seaworthiness of most targets. Although the 60 lb HE R/P and torpedo were still used occasionally, the AP-tipped rocket would become a standard primary A/S strike weapon in all of the Command’s Beaufighter strike wings. With the expensive torpedo soon relegated to second place in the A/S strike business, Torbeau crews, such as those on No. 144 Squadron, added cannon-only anti-flak tactics to their repertoire. Thus able to switch strike and A/F roles between squadrons according to the preferred primary armament (dictated on a mission-to-mission basis), the operationally experienced Wing was, despite the chaotic relocation, soon back to high efficiency.
NE425 (2•G) was another of the D-Day participant aircraft captured by the official photographer during the 20-24 May "photo op" business. This aircraft was flown by the veteran crew of Flight Lieutenant (F/L) Christison and F/O Toon on D-Day. On the evening of 7 June its crew was F/Os Shulemson and Bassett, and F/O Ridge and FS McCartney on 9 June. (IWM photo CH 13180 via the author’s collection)

The official caption for this photo is dated 5 June 1944, but it is most likely another of the 20-24 May series, due to the fact that there are no AEAF stripes present. Crewed by Squadron Leader (S/L) Schoales and F/L Jackson, NE355 was one of the first Buffalo squadron Beaus to take off for the evening’s festivities over the German 8th Destroyer Flotilla on D-Day. Christison and Toon later flew this aircraft during the 9 June action that finished off the Kriegsmarine destroyer Z32. (the author’s collection)

First Combat for the Davidstow Moor Strike Wing
With their local wringing out well along and the south coast weather offering a rare CAVU day, the Wing’s first 19 Group combat operation came on 19 May, with 404 commanding officer, W/C Ken Gatward, leading in Beaufighter NE425 (2•G). Following reports of “two destroyers [actually large torpedo boats in Kriegsmarine nomenclature] and four escorts” rounding the Brest peninsula and heading north, a strike was laid on. Airborne at 1900, nine R/P-armed aircraft of No. 404 Squadron and 13 A/F Beaufighters of 144 located and attacked the enemy vessels (E/V) T24 and Jaguar along with four minesweepers (armed with flak guns of various calibres, German minesweepers were often deployed as anti-aircraft escorts). The flak was fierce; 144 lost one of their number in the first wave, while 2•N of 404 completed its mission but, having sustained flak damage, limped back to a force-landing at RAF Predannack. Armed on this mission with the less effective 60lb HE rockets, the 404 contingent let their salvos loose on all vessels, and also opened up with cannon fire on the way in. Although R/P hits were claimed amidst the rocket smoke, flak bursts, and wild manoeuvring, postwar records reveal that only the cannon fire had found its mark. This may have been due to the squadron’s recent training having been conducted primarily with the new 25 lb AP rounds, which had a flatter trajectory. Aiming in the heat of battle as if these were loaded would have caused the bulkier 60 lb HE rounds to fall short. After surviving this attack (and having also sustained damage due to the detonation of a sea mine on this excursion) T24 made port for repairs, where it would later suffer again at the hands of the strike wings (see below).
Wing Commander Ken Gatward standing in the cockpit of Beaufighter TF.X LZ451, 2•M,  of No. 404 Squadron.  Note another Beaufighter in the background with invasion stripes on the upper wing surfaces, dating the photo as being taken sometime between 4 June (the day the squadron began applying stripes to its aircraft) and late August 1944.
(IWM photo MH 7660 via the author’s collection)
In lieu of operations through to the end of the month – aside from a fruitless search for “an enemy torpedo boat” led by F/O Sid Shulemson in NE355 (2•H) on 20 May – the daily routine of practice flying and standby readiness resumed. Night R/P tactics training, a dinghy drill “beach holiday” on the 29th, and the occasional rocket range sortie put on for the benefit of a visiting RAF photographer/writer crew provided some variation. A 30 May visit from the AOC, 19 Group, Air Vice-Marshal A.B. Elwood, accompanied by Air Commodore A.D. Gilmore of Headquarters, Coastal Command, may well have been the harbinger of a ‘big do’ on the horizon. Gilmore had been the Wick Station Commander in 1943 and, in his new role at CCHQ, an ardent supporter of anti-shipping strike operations.
Legendary No. 404 Squadron Beaufighter pilot F/O “Sid” Shulemson finished the war a squadron leader and Canada’s most highly decorated Jewish aircrew with a DSO and DFC. He was the leader of the 404 contingent of the Davidstow Moor Strike Wing on D-Day, flying NE916 (2-S). This photo is dated 24 May 1944. (the author’s collection)
By early June, the local weather, variously described as “very bad,” “bad,” “poor,” or “good but deteriorating,” was not at all ideal for operations requiring low-level formation flying. 4 June was logged as “weather very bad” with “no flying” and a short note about “white and black bands” being painted around the fuselage and wings of all aircraft. In conversation with the author, Leading Aircraftman Grant Mountain, an aircraft electrical technician on No. 404 Squadron, remembers the work parties using “all manner of paint brushes,” both “real and improvised,” to get the job done quickly. “Low cloud” was reported on the 5th with “all flying training cancelled for a standby for a maximum effort.”
Beaufighter TF.X LZ295 as it appeared during the Squadron’s early days at Davidstow Moor. As noted in the narrative, AEAF “invasion” stripes would have been applied (similar to those illustrated on LZ451 below) within the two days before D-Day.
(Terry Higgins © 2014)
Although a number of good photos of 404 Sqn Beaufighters that participated in D-Day operations are extant, pictures of them on D-Day, in D-Day markings (the “2” codes plus full AEAF stripes) are rare. Here, LZ451 2•M is fully armed awaiting its crew.  (Ed Lee photo via the author’s collection)
Another view of LZ451 in D-Day markings. This aircraft was flown by F/O Smith (pilot) and P/O Kessler on D-Day, F/O Rancourt and P/O Evans the next evening, and W/C Gatward and P/O McGrath during the 9 June action described in this narrative. Gatward would fly it frequently enough that it has often been considered to be "his" aircraft in the popular press. A wing commander's pennant applied to the nose, port side, near the cockpit, sealed the deal. (John Melson collection)
D-Day
The 404 Squadron Operations Record Book (ORB) entry for 6 June began with:
Weather good. Today is the day we have all been waiting for. In the past four months, the newspapers have been full of speculation as to when the second front would start. The squadron as a whole has been keyed up to the highest pitch in anticipation of sharing in the second front opening. Our hopes were realized to the fullest.
 
A strike was laid on after three German destroyers were sighted leaving the Gironde estuary in occupied France and heading north at speed. These warships were, of course, under orders to disrupt the invasion forces. The D-M Strike Wing element of 14 aircraft from No. 404 Squadron armed with 25lb AP tipped rockets, and 17 from 144 in the A/F role, took off at 1820-1845. The crews were wound up tight for action, having endured several cancelled orders to launch earlier in the day. Twenty minutes after takeoff, a fighter escort of ten Mosquito FB.VIs (from No. 248 Squadron, Coastal Command, out of Portreath) joined the force in the air as they headed for the French coast. Seasoned strike leader W/C David Lumsden, CO of No. 144 Squadron, led the Wing, with F/O Shulemson leading the 404 element. After making landfall at Ushant and setting course southeast, the crews observed a variety of other targets along the way. One, comprising four minesweepers and a pair of trawler auxiliary types, would have made a viable target on any other day. However, Lumsden had been explicitly briefed to attack the destroyer force, so these were left behind. A bit further south, three more minesweepers were sighted, and because this did resemble the assigned target, an attack was initiated. However, it was quickly called off once the strike leader determined this was not the desired trio.
 
Continuing on, the formation happened upon a surfaced U-boat, which crash-dived before an attack could be made. Fifteen minutes later, at 2030, three larger vessels were sighted sailing north at 15 knots, southwest of Belle Ilse. After some momentary confusion with the strike leader thinking this was another case of the wrong targets, Shulemson, recognizing that these were indeed the destroyers, came up on the radio with “it is the target, attack, attack.”
S/L “Bobby” Schoales (cockpit) and his Nav-W, F/L Ron Jackson. This seasoned crew flew NE355 (2•H) on D-Day and continued on the Squadron through to the close of wartime operations in May 1945. Note the strike camera mounted in the nose. This was a service field modification produced by Coastal Command, accommodating either a British Williamson F24 or Kodak K24 camera set up for fast frame advance when the rockets or cannon were fired.   (DND PL-40763)
Fresh off of Ops: F/Os Wallace and Temple pause for the cameraman in front of a well-used Beaufighter . They flew TF.X NE198 (2•R) on the evening of the D-Day, and NE341 (2•J) a little more than 24 hours later. The nose of this aircraft is also of the strike camera modified variety but there were not always enough cameras to go around and not all aircraft on a given mission would be tasked as "camera ships."    (DND PL-40760)
The deadly ballet unfolded quickly. The Mosquitoes climbed to fighter-cover altitude as Lumsden brought the Beaufighters around west of the target, climbing to 1,000 feet to attack out of the low evening sun. The rocket-armed strike force split into three sections; Shulemson in the centre leading five aircraft with his sub-leaders F/L A.H. Hodson (in NE341 / 2•O) leading a four-aircraft element to port and F/O P. Dwornik (NE339 / 2•U) with four to starboard. Diving in close on the heels of the A/F elements from No. 144 Squadron, the three A/S elements each took on a destroyer. The up-sun tactic seemed to work well, for even though they were spotted a full minute before the dive, the attack was well-developed before the flak started to come up.
 
It took less than a minute for each wave to engage. Hodson’s element had scored numerous R/P hits on the leading destroyer, including one that holed the hull just above the waterline, flooding the rudder room, and another that punched through the port-side oil bunkers. Other hits destroyed a magazine of time fuses and most of the radio equipment in the wireless room.
 
The other two elements caused severe damage to the destroyer in the centre of the group, producing fires and a hemorrhage of oil out of her port side. With dead and wounded aboard, she started to lose speed as the strike aircraft left the scene. The third vessel avoided damage by manoeuvring into position close to the starboard side of this destroyer, causing Dwornik to redirect his element’s attack and thus contribute to the damage caused by Shulemson’s element.
Beaufighter TF.X serial number LZ451 as flown by W/C Gatward on 9 June 1944. This particular "Beau" was a solid performer through to early 1945. It became Gatward’s personal mount with his command pennant applied to the nose (as seen in the accompanying photo above).     (Terry Higgins © 2010)
Job Started
While the Coastal Command strike force made its way home, columns of smoke marked the end of the anti-invasion sortie for the three German destroyers off the French coast. They were Z32, Z24, and ZH1 (formerly the Dutch destroyer Gerard Callenburgh) – the 8. Zerstörerflottile (8th Destroyer Flotilla). As the sun began to set a few hours later, they made their way to Brest for repairs.
 
To keep the pressure up on such a pivotal day in the war, as many Beaufighters as possible were readied to continue the pressure on the Flotilla without delay. After careful inspection for battle damage, six aircraft each of 144 and 404 Squadrons were rearmed and refuelled under makeshift airfield lighting. This time, the No. 144 Squadron aircraft were armed with two 250 lb bombs under the wings and two 500 lb bombs under the fuselage; a focus on anti-flak tactics would not be needed for the night’s business. After taking off singly between 0027 and 0043 on 7 June, with fresh crews aboard, the Beaufighters would have to hunt and engage individually, a tactic necessitated by darkness. Although one 404 machine aborted and returned due to a lighting problem in the navigator’s station, five of the others – three of 404 Squadron with rockets and two 144 Squadron bombers – found the destroyers visually as a column of smoke interrupting the twilight near the entrance to Brest. Although some of the individual crews involved reported hits, German records do not reflect any additional damage. But flak was, of course, thrown up into the darkness, resulting in a shattered navigator’s cupola and a hole in the tailplane of Beaufighter NE426 (2•K) flown by F/O R.C. Ridge and Flight Sergeant S.P. McCartney of 404 Squadron.
 
All aircraft were back on the airfield by 0330. The enemy destroyers were moored in the harbour at Brest by 0500, where the taking off of the dead and wounded must have been an utterly sombre experience in the pre-dawn. At Davidstow Moor, emotions were at the other end of the spectrum. Refreshed by sleep, the crews of the initial strike had their pictures taken (although the official captions date the photographs “10 June”), as did the early morning strike crews later in the day. According to the ORB, “there were plenty of line shoots.”

That evening, not long after dark, twelve No. 404 Squadron Beaufighters, led by Shulemson in NE425 (2•G), headed back to the French coast, hoping to repeat the nocturnal fireworks of the early morning strike. On arrival, low cloud was creeping in, and some waddled around in it for a while before abandoning the effort. Others reached the coast in the environs of Ushant and Brest and saw various lights, a sailing vessel under full sail, but no hard targets. Everyone was safely back at D-M by 0230 on the morning of 8 June, with the weather deteriorating.
 
Come daylight, the ORB says it all: “Weather very bad. Heavy fog with drifting rain for the best part of the day. In the afternoon, the weather cleared a little. There was a big panic on in the later afternoon when twelve crews were to take off for Thorney Island and work from there. This was later changed to Portreath, but the weather closed in before any [aircraft] could get off. Six crews were on standby until 2300 hours.”
Some of the No. 404 Squadron D-Day crews who attacked the three German Destroyers near Belle Isle on the French Biscay coast:
Rear, left to right: F/Os H. Wainman and J.D. Taylor, P/O S.C.D. Paget (RAF), F/O J. Stoddart (RAF)
Front, left to right: F/Os W.H. McCamus and P. Dwornik.
(DND PL-30034)
… Rear, left to right: F/O R.S. Angus, F/L R.A. Jackson
middle: S/L R.A. Schoales and F/O L.C. Boileau
below: P/Os S.F. Porter (RAF) and L.A. Kessler (RAF).
(DND PL-30035)
… Rear, left to right: F/O S.T. Faithfull (RAF), F/L W.R. Christison, and F/O F.H. Toon, (RAF); below: Lieut F.F. Guyott, (USA), and F/O C. Ridge.
(DND PL-30041)
The Battle of Ushant
Remarkably, the battered destroyers of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla were sufficiently repaired to sortie again on the evening of 8 June. With T24 (the Strike Wing’s foe of 19 May) now in company, the Flotilla was sighted by a No. 547 Squadron Liberator at 2227. Sailing for Cherbourg under orders to reinforce the German forces in the face of overwhelming odds, the unit’s intentions were also discovered by Ultra intercepts. The Allied 10th Destroyer Flotilla, which included four Royal Navy ships, two Polish ships and the Royal Canadian Navy HMCSs Haida and Huron, was ordered to intercept. At 0123 on 9 June, the German vessels were detected on radar and engaged 30 miles east of Ile de Batz. In the running battle, ships on both sides were damaged. At 0230, ZH1 had to be scuttled after having her bows blown off by a torpedo strike. The Canadian destroyers pursued Z24 (which was by then heavily damaged) and T24 until the Germans found themselves in a British minefield. Not followed, they escaped and left the area, eventually returning to Brest. The Canadian destroyers next encountered the already-damaged Z32 and opened fire. Multiple hits on the after-turbine room slowed her down, while others disabled her forward turret. With her starboard engine failing, the decision was taken to make for Ile de Batz, where she was beached at 0520. The immobile destroyer was subjected to another ten minutes of accurate gunfire before Haida and Huron finally withdrew.
 
Z32’s survivors were picked up by German flak ships later that morning. The D-M Strike Wing was then detailed to finish her off "beyond hope of future repair." Shortly after 2030 on 9 June, 24 Beaufighters – 12 from each squadron – formed up over the Cornish coast with an escort of 12 Spitfires and set course for Ile de Batz. The 404 Squadron cohort, led by W/C Gatward in LZ451 (2•M), were armed with the old 60lb HE rockets for maximum demolition effect, while those of 144 Squadron, appropriately led by Wg Cdr Lumsden, carried two 250 lb bombs each. Each squadron operated independently over the target, and once it was realized that no defence would be put up, the crews were also given permission to go at it as individuals. The operation, listed in the ORB as an “Anti-shipping Strike,” had turned into something of an armament practice camp. The target was completely and utterly destroyed.
Z32, on the run since the D-M Strike Wing foiled the 8th Destroyer Flotilla’s anti-invasion sortie on D-Day, is peppered again on June 9, after being mauled in the interim by British and Canadian, and Polish destroyers. The doomed ship is seen trailing smoke in these two strike camera images.
(DND, RCAF Directorate of History and Heritage file copies, PMR 65-94 and PMR 67-95)
The war is over for Z32, seen here beached at Ile de Batz, France, and still under fire.
(DND, RCAF DHH file copy, PMR 67-98)
Striking Results
The D-M Strike Wing had succeeded, albeit over a drawn-out series of engagements, in accomplishing its D-Day mission. In the bigger picture, the Kriegsmarine managed to sink only one Allied warship (the Norwegian destroyer Svenner) on D-Day. Having bee successfully intercepted, none of the German vessels dogged by the D-M Strike Wing's Beaufighter squadrons were involved in that or any other counter-invasion action. Naval warfare scholars agree that the Battle of Ushant had eliminated the last real Kriegsmarine threat to the Allied beachhead. The strike crews had done their part to help make it happen.
 
The escapees, Z24 and T24, also met their end under the guns of Coastal's strike wings later that summer. The surviving enemy vessels were – while trying in vain to remain effective – mauled by both naval forces and aircraft throughout that fateful summer (including Z24 by No. 404 Squadron again on 14 August).  Ultimately, the Canadian squadron was involved in taking them both permanently out of the fight on 24 August, just a few days after the close of Overlord. Late that afternoon, a “wing effort,” consisting of No. 404 Squadron and No. 236 Squadron (the R/P specialist squadron of the North Coates Strike Wing), snarled into Le Verdon-sur-Mer at low level in the face of intense flak. With both harbour and ships’ defences blazing away, many 25 lb AP rounds nonetheless found their marks. T24 was sunk with 18 of her crew. Z24  – the last German destroyer remaining in the south – also sustained lethal hits during the battle but did not sink immediately. Not long after the surviving Beaufighters either headed home or force-landed in France, she capsized and sank at the Le Verdon quayside.
Z24, initially engaged by the D-M Strike Wing on D-Day, and mauled again by rocket-firing Beaufighters on 14 August, is shown here being found and attacked again at Le Verdon, near the mouth of the Gironde River, on 24 August. T24 – the other vessel in the first photo – was sunk during this encounter while Z24 limped back to port, ending the war at the quayside.   (DND PL-61186 and the Author's collection)
 On 3 September, with their work in support of Operation Overlord complete, 144 and 404 moved back to Scotland and 18 Group – first as part of the growing Banff Strike Wing and then as two of the four Beaufighter Squadrons in the Dallachy Strike Wing – where they once again practiced their dangerous trade against German merchant shipping and their heavily armed escorts in Norwegian waters.   _TH
D-Day veterans LZ451 and NE425 continued operations against German surface forces in the south through to late August 1944. Although based at Strubby in Lincolnshire at the time, they are seen here on detachment back at Davidstow Moor on 21 August, just days before going into action against T24 and Z24 for the last time. Within the month after D-Day, the squadron’s original “EE” code letters replaced the “2” that adorned these aircraft in the year or so prior to D-Day.
(Library and Archives Canada PA-145680 via the Carl Vincent collection)
Another pair of D-Day veterans, NE355 and NE916 loaded with 25lb solid-shot tipped rockets back at Davidstow Moor on Detachment from Strubby on 21 August 1944. Both of these photos are often captioned as "Banff Strike Wing" images, but the two squadrons did not make the move back to Scotland until early September 1944.
 (DND PL-41049 via the Author’s collection)
The author's depiction of NE355, as pictured in the photo above, after the squadron codes had changed from "2" to "EE." A veteran Beaufighter flown by a number of decorated 404 Squadron aircrew, NE355 was one of the aircraft that force-landed in France after the final attack on Z24 and T24 on 24 August. It was being flown by F/L "Chris" Christison at the time, and he was happy to discover that he ended up in continental European territory already reclaimed by Allied forces. This particular action was the one for which Christison was awarded his first DFC. While he and his Nav-W, Toon, made it back to the squadron within a day, the effort to recover and repair the aircraft is a story in and of itself. NE355 finally caught up with 404 at Banff on 11 November, where it was recoded  as aircraft"Q" (but this was apparently only on paper, as the "EE•H" markings remained on the fuselage!).
    In this illustration, the letters “EE” have replaced the number “2” marking worn in its place earlier that spring and summer. The so-called "invasion stripes" (officially "Allied Expeditionary Air Forces distinctive markings"), applied just before D-Day, remained on the wings of all Beaufighters on strength until shortly after the Squadron rejoined 18 Group in Scotland, and a portion below the rear fuselage was all that remained of them by December, within a few months of another relocation from Banff to Dallachy.
  (Terry Higgins Illustration for SkyGrid Studio / Aviaeology Publishing © 2010)
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