Farewell to another Veteran

from the Daily Telegraph

Group Captain 'Flash' Pleasance, who has died aged 90, was the leader of six
medium bombers sent on a daylight attack against German forces which were
advancing on the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force on 27 May 1940;
the formation met murderous antiaircraft fire, and Pleasance's was the only
aircraft to survive the raid.

Undeterred he went ont to fly a number of solo reconnaisance
missions until June 7th 1940 when he took off at dawn to fly a low-level
recce to obtain information on where the Germans were crossing the Somme
between St Valery and Abbeville.
He found a column of transports, which he machine-gunned; then, seeing 30
German aircraft on an advanced airfield, shot them up too. He then attacked
three Stuka dive-bombers, but this attracted a number of German fighters. By
flying at tree-top height, he was able to shake them off, and, finding
another road column, he attacked it in the face of intense ground fire.

At this point, his luck ran out. He was wounded in the leg, and the Blenheim
was badly damaged. Pleasance made a skilful forced landing in a field, where
British troops helped him and his two crew members to destroy the aircraft.
He was taken to a field hospital at Rouen, before making his way to La
Rochelle, where he boarded a hospital ship for Portsmouth. Pleasance was
awarded an immediate DFC for "displaying great gallantry and a deep devotion
to duty".

After recovering from his injuries he joined no 25 Squadron flying
Beaufighter Night Fighters where he shot down 5 enemy aircraft
before being promoted to WIng Commander ops at HQ Tactical
Air Force at Bracknell.

Keith




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