Battle of Britain
At the end of August, 222 Squadron were transferred to RAF Hornchurch, in Essex, from where they were to take active part in the Battle of Britain.
RAF Hornchurch was an airfield in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now in the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The airfield was known as Sutton's Farm during the First World War, when it occupied 90 acres (360,000 m2) of the farm of the same name. It was used for the protection of London, being 14 miles (22.5 km) east north-east of Charing Cross.
In the next few weeks, Scott accumulated an impressive number of victories against the enemy.
2nd September - Dornier 17 - damaged
3rd September - A Dornier 17 and an Me.109 - both destroyed.
5th September - 2 probables, an Me.110 and an Me.109.
7th September - An Me.110 - destroyed.
9th September - Two Me.109s - damaged.
11th September - A Heinkel 111 and another (even after his cockpit hood was shattered by enemy fire), - both shared destroyed.
27th September - An Me.109 - destroyed.
Scott was only to verbally report his Me.109 kill at the end of the morning of the 27th, intending to hand his written report sheet in later.
He stowed the sheet in his boot and set off again in Spitfire P9364 in the afternoon.
By this time he had enough kills to be regarded as a Fighter Ace.
But that fateful afternoon, he was not to return.
He came into the gun-sights of another fighter ace.
It appears he became the 41st victim of Luftwaffe ace, Werner 'Vati' Molders.
Major Molders achieved 115 aerial victories during his career.
He was the highest-ranking German ace at the time of his death in an aircraft accident, later in the war.
I found his photo (below) on a Battle of Britain display at the RAF Museum at Hendon.
Scott's aircraft crashed at full speed into the Kent countryside.
A Maintenance Unit Inspector called to the scene, recovered a piece of metal bearing the serial number P9364.
But owing to the failure of the Air Ministry to link such compelling evidence with the disappearance of Scott, his parents were told his Spitfire had been lost in combat over the Channel.
He was officially - Missing.
His name was therefore inscribed on the Runnymede memorial, for those lost with no known grave*.
At this time, this appeared to be the end of his story.
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*You will also find his name on Panel 19 of the Battle of Britain London Monument. The monument is sited on the Victoria Embankment, (north bank of the Thames), about 200 metres from Westminster bridge. It is almost directly opposite the Millennium Wheel, (the huge London Eye Ferris wheel), which is on the south bank of the Thames.
We visited this monument on 29 July 2021. I took the photo of his name on Panel 19, this is shown below.
RAF Hornchurch was an airfield in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now in the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The airfield was known as Sutton's Farm during the First World War, when it occupied 90 acres (360,000 m2) of the farm of the same name. It was used for the protection of London, being 14 miles (22.5 km) east north-east of Charing Cross.
In the next few weeks, Scott accumulated an impressive number of victories against the enemy.
2nd September - Dornier 17 - damaged
3rd September - A Dornier 17 and an Me.109 - both destroyed.
5th September - 2 probables, an Me.110 and an Me.109.
7th September - An Me.110 - destroyed.
9th September - Two Me.109s - damaged.
11th September - A Heinkel 111 and another (even after his cockpit hood was shattered by enemy fire), - both shared destroyed.
27th September - An Me.109 - destroyed.
Scott was only to verbally report his Me.109 kill at the end of the morning of the 27th, intending to hand his written report sheet in later.
He stowed the sheet in his boot and set off again in Spitfire P9364 in the afternoon.
By this time he had enough kills to be regarded as a Fighter Ace.
But that fateful afternoon, he was not to return.
He came into the gun-sights of another fighter ace.
It appears he became the 41st victim of Luftwaffe ace, Werner 'Vati' Molders.
Major Molders achieved 115 aerial victories during his career.
He was the highest-ranking German ace at the time of his death in an aircraft accident, later in the war.
I found his photo (below) on a Battle of Britain display at the RAF Museum at Hendon.
Scott's aircraft crashed at full speed into the Kent countryside.
A Maintenance Unit Inspector called to the scene, recovered a piece of metal bearing the serial number P9364.
But owing to the failure of the Air Ministry to link such compelling evidence with the disappearance of Scott, his parents were told his Spitfire had been lost in combat over the Channel.
He was officially - Missing.
His name was therefore inscribed on the Runnymede memorial, for those lost with no known grave*.
At this time, this appeared to be the end of his story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
*You will also find his name on Panel 19 of the Battle of Britain London Monument. The monument is sited on the Victoria Embankment, (north bank of the Thames), about 200 metres from Westminster bridge. It is almost directly opposite the Millennium Wheel, (the huge London Eye Ferris wheel), which is on the south bank of the Thames.
We visited this monument on 29 July 2021. I took the photo of his name on Panel 19, this is shown below.
