RAF West Malling over the Channel. The three surviving aircraft were rescued only when the fight was joined by Hurricanes from No. 111 Squadron. The remainder of the unit returned north to RAF Prestwick on 25 July due to the ineffectiveness of the Defiant against single-seat fighters. No. 29 Squadron flying Bristol Beaufighters arrived for its first tour of duty on 27 April 1941. One of the Squadron's pilots, Guy Gibson VC, later officer commanding 617 Squadron on the Dambusters Raid, said of the station "Of all the airfields in Great Britain ... we have the most pleasant". A regular and long-standing inhabitant,
Johnnie Johnson (RAF officer) compare losses and air victory claims but acknowledges the lack of sources leave the possibility for error. A list of the 34 individual victories. Johnnie Johnson (RAF officer) Air Vice Marshal James Edgar Johnson, (9 March 1915 – 30 January 2001), nicknamed "Johnnie", was a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot and flying ace—defined as a pilot that has shot down five or more enemy aircraft in aerial combat—who flew and fought during the Second World War. Johnson grew up and was educated in the East Midlands, where he qualified as an engineer. He served as an Assistant Engineer at Ilkeston