Having done research on my uncle Donald Bowen who died on 14 May near Sedan, France and published it another post I feel that it may be of help to others researching their family to list all the recorded Names of those that served in AASF Squadron at Ecury sur Coole.
There are names listed between September and June supporting, initially 16 Fairey Battle aircraft. It was a surprise to me the numbers involved, but then you have Pilots, Observers, Gunners, Armorers, the lads that fuel the planes, the mechanics, the electricians, the panel beaters, the cooks, the post office and the medics, fire crew etc.. It is hard to predict how many are on base at a specific time but it would be around the mark. The AIR records give clues because they list Leave Parties, guard rotas so you can build a picture.
But there are problems with the records, handwriting, bad typewriter fonts o,a,e being confused. The approach is simple you start in Sep 39 list every one on the duty rota errors included giving a date when they were first recorded then work backwards including the leave parties which gives the last date recorded.
Then you have common names e. Barker he was in the squadron for several months before appearing on the rota. But there are a lot more lads there that never served on the rota. The daily reports also contain named of Leave Parties, Inoculation, Dental appointments, participants in sports, instructions to return forms etc.
This creates a capsule in time of all involved in supporting the squadron. Where there is a question Mark? If you have images of them I can insert them here. E or Charles James? B or Philip? Retired as Sqn. Sadly passing away at the young age of G Sport French Infantry vs.
