42 Squadron RAF were soon to be on the move again. Another group photograph in Greg’s collection was taken sometime around now. The setting is an airfield with an RE8 behind the group, and a church spire in the distant background. This time it looks like a personal snapshot. Quite possibly the photographer was Greg. And the location was – probably – Saultain.
Group Photograph, Probably at Saultain
Who Were They?
It’s hard to say precisely who they were. But the field can be narrowed substantially. By virtue of Greg’s allegiance, the odds are that they’re from 42 Squadron and more likely than not B Flight. Judging by the flying kit at least three of them are pilots or observers. In fact, they’re probably all officers – there’s a certain insouciance that suggests that! But that’s about as far as we get. Unfortunately, the headgear and the blurry quality of the image conspire to make it hard to match the faces with those on the better quality photographs of B Flight officers in these earlier posts:
Sunday 25 August 1918 – Did Not Fly – 42 Sqn B Flight Photos
Where Were They?
Probably at Saultain. The evidence is a little slender. In fact it principally rests on the slenderness of the spire of the church in the background. The spire can just be seen emerging above the second man from the right in the photo.
We know from the thick coats and mackintoshes of those not in flying kit that this was a winter photo. That means it was most likely to be taken at:
- Aulnoy (to where the squadron moved on 25 November 1918);
- Saultain (11 December 1918);
- Abscon (to where the squadron would soon move).
It is the spires that help us choose between these locations. Aulnoy church has a tower without a spire. Saultain church has a spire that looks fairly like the one in the photo. And Abscon church, although completely rebuilt in recent years, used to have a spire that was not so slender. That will be visible in some photos still to come.
So, by a nose – and by a church with a slender spire – Saultain wins the competition for the most likely location of the photograph.