Pairs of eyes in the skies
No. 268 Squadron RAF had many firsts in its history, as discovered by Colin Ford when he wrote Adjidaumo, Tail in Air.

The front cover of Adjidaumo, Tail in Air was painted by David Marshall. It depicts a memorable reconnaisance photo taken in Northern France of a French fieldworker waving to RAF aircraft as they flew past at low level in April 1944. Flying the front aircraft was RAAF pilot FLGOFF Basil Rachinger.

A LITTLE-known part of British and Australian Air Force history has finally been told with the publication and launch of Adjidaumo, Tail in Air.

Named after the Squadron motto, the book records the history of No. 268 Squadron, Royal Air Force, from 1940-46.

268SQN reformed as an Army Cooperation Squadron in October 1940 and was equipped with Lysander aircraft, which had proven slow and vulnerable during the Battle of France.

Within 18 months, the Squadron was operating the best low-level fighter reconnaissance aircraft in RAF service at the time, the Mustang Mk I, and had drawn aircrew from across the Commonwealth, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

268SQN had many achievements and firsts in its history, including conducting the first long-range fighter escort on a long-range bombing sortie into the Netherlands, which was outside the normal range of fighter aircraft at the time.

It conducted the first offensive fighter sweep into western Germany by RAF fighter aircraft based in the UK in late 1942.

It gathered low-level photographic reconnaissance of V1 flying bomb sites in the Pas de Calais and of the Normandy invasion beaches.

And it captured some of the first images on D-Day, to see the Allied forces going ashore, directing naval gunfire from the Royal Navy, US Navy and Free French Forces onto the German defensive positions. One RAAF pilot flew two sorties on D-Day alongside his Allied counterparts.

The crews sought out with their eyes and later with cameras what the enemy sought to conceal or protect. Unlike other RAF squadrons, they primarily flew in pairs, occasionally as a flight of four, rarely in greater numbers.

And yet when they met the Luftwaffe, it was usually two against six, or eight, or on a couple of instances, two against 20. And all done at very low level, the literal ground height.

In one recorded instance, a Squadron pilot returned with anti-aircraft damage that could only have been from an enemy gunner firing down on him from above.

Being a fighter reconnaissance squadron, they didn’t just rely on their cameras, but also had the opportunity to shoot-up targets of opportunity, and in 1942-43, contributed significantly to making the professions of steam engine driver and fireman the most dangerous in Occupied Europe.

What started as plans to write a simple 268SQN history grew into a large and often overwhelming project for author Colin Ford.

While searching for parts of his family history, he came across limited details on 268SQN. Interested, he began looking for information and people to learn more.

He tracked down a surviving member of the RAAF, then Flying Officer Basil Rachinger (who retired as group captain), who had served with 268SQN from 1943-44.

Five RAAF members served with the Squadron during World War II, of which only two survived the war.

Two died while flying on operations and one was killed in training accident. One of the survivors was shot down in early 1943 and saw out WWII as a prisoner of war.

The initial contact with FLGOFF Rachinger led Mr Ford to a wide network of ex-Squadron personnel scattered around the world. Many ex-Squadron personnel, aircrew and ground crew contributed their time and memories, and gave Mr Ford access to their pilot’s log books and diaries, personal photographs and other mementos for use in the book.

Many of the photographs have never been published, and others have been previously published but never before correctly captioned, identifying people, places, dates and aircraft.

Adjidaumo, Tail in Air is being sent to RAAF Museum Point Cook and RAAF Historical Section. For more information, contact Colin Ford at cbford@cyberone.com.au.

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