Beaufighters by Christmas was the prospect for the personnel of 235 Squadron. Formed just after the start of World War Two in the 'coastal fighter' role, 235 was equipped with Bristol Blenheim IVfs, on shipping protection tasks. As promised, at the end of December 1940 some Beaufighters arrived, but it proved to be a false dawn as they were soon withdrawn. It was not until December of the following year that 235 was eventually converted to the pugnacious Bristol. 'Home' for the unit had been bases in northern Scotland, as its main operating area was the northern reaches of the North Sea and the southern part of the Norwegian Sea. Under the command of Wg Cdr G H B Hutchinson, 235 moved to Chivenor in the summer of 1942 where, in October, Sgt Aubrey Hilliard — nicknamed 'Hilly' — joined the unit after his flying training. He flew his early operations from the north Devon base but, in January 1943, moved with 235 back to Scotland at Leuchars, on the east coast near St Andrews. Hilly and his colleagues mounted patrols over some very inhospitable seas and up along the rugged coastline of German-occupied Norway — sometimes as escort to Handley Page Hampden torpedo-bombers and other times on independent sweeps. Crews sometimes disappeared without trace: as much the victims of weather as to the Luftwaffe.
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