page_title: James Catanach
section_title: War service
hierarchical_section_title: James Catanach / War service
caption_attribution_description: English: Handley Page Hampden Mk I of No.455 Squadron RAAF, based at Leuchars in Scotland, May 1942. A Handley Page Hampden Mark I, AT137 'UB-T', of No 455 Squadron RAAF based at Leuchars, Fife, Scotland, in flight above clouds, May 1942.
context_page_description: James Catanach, known as "Jim" or Jimmy, was an Australian Handley Page Hampden bomber pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. Reportedly the youngest squadron leader bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force at the age of twenty he is notable for the part he took in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in March 1944 and as one of the men re-captured and subsequently shot by the Gestapo.
context_section_description: James Catanach was a salesman until he joined the Royal Australian Air Force on 18 August 1940, to learn to fly. Meanwhile, his brother enlisted in the Army. On completion of basic initial training at Somers and Narrandera Catanach was posted to Canada where he learned to fly and received his pilot’s wings in June 1941 being commissioned pilot officer. He was subsequently posted to Great Britain to fly with RAF Bomber Command. Initially flying with No. 144 Squadron RAF, he was transferred to No. 455 Squadron RAAF after completing nine missions.
  No. 455 Squadron RAAF formed at RAF Swinderby, in Lincolnshire and had received Handley Page Hampden bombers by the time the bulk of the Australian personnel arrived on 1 September 1941, having departed Australia by sea on 15 June. Initially assigned to No. 5 Group RAF, Bomber Command in a bomber role, its first operation took place while the squadron was still forming, when a single Hampden attacked Frankfurt at night on 29 August. In doing so, according to the Australian War Memorial, the squadron had the distinction of becoming the "first Australian squadron to bomb Germany". Following this, the squadron increased its operational tempo, undertaking several mine laying operations off the coast of occupied France, as well attacking industrial targets in Germany. These missions were flown by Jim Catanach.
  In February 1942, the squadron took part in an unsuccessful attack on the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, before being re-roled as a torpedo-bomber squadron and transferred to RAF Coastal Command on 26 April 1942; they subsequently deployed a detachment briefly to Vaenga (now Severomorsk) in the Soviet Union in September. Catanach had completed nine operations with RAF Bomber Command before the transfer.  The detachment was to operate in support of convoys bound for Russia, which were at the time suffering heavy losses. However, three of the 16 Hamptons were lost prior to arrival, one of them flown by Catanach. After completing one anti-shipping sweep with the Russians the remaining aircraft were handed over to the Soviet Air Forces with the RAAF crews instructing the Soviets on their operation. Following the completion of this task the squadron returned to RAF Sumburgh. In June 1942, Catanach was promoted squadron leader, becoming reputedly the youngest in the Royal Australian Air Force to hold that rank.
caption: A No. 455 Squadron RAAF Hampden, 1942
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