Outdoor group portrait of a crew from 270 Squadron RAF, possibly in Nigeria where they were ...

Outdoor group portrait of a crew from 270 Squadron RAF, possibly in Nigeria where they were based. Identified left to right: back row: Brown (possibly Warrant Officer Frederic Raymond Brown DFM RAF); 1009818 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Francis McPhee RAF; 132329 Flight Lieutenant John Eric Wood RAF; 409883 Flt Sgt Charles Albert Mark (Mark) Barber RAAF; 921409 Flt Sgt Eric Piggott Botting RAF; 143797 Flying Officer (FO) Reginald Robert Terance Crump RAF; 147513 FO Edward James Jay RAF; White. Front row: 411629 Pilot Officer (PO) Neil Proctor Chapman RAAF; Alexander; Wood, pilot; Brown (possibly Warrant Officer Frederic Raymond Brown DFM RAF). Brown, McPhee, Wood, Barber, Botting, Crump, Jay and Chapman were all lost on operations over the Bay of Biscay on 18 December 1943. Other names listed only as surnames cannot be verified and no further detail of these men is known. The Squadron saw service in the First World War and reformed at Jui in Gambia on 12 November 1942 as a general reconnaissance unit equipped with Catalinas. These were used for anti-submarine patrols along the West African coast. Its base moved to Apapa in Nigeria in July 1943 and the following December began to convert to Sunderland aircraft, although it was May 1944 before the last Catalina left. The squadron finally disbanded on 30 June 1945.