The Battle of Britain (41 page)

HAROLD DERRICK ATKINSON
was on 213 Sqn at the outbreak of war. He shot down two Bf 109s and an He 111 with two unconfirmed and three shared in France during May 1940, for which he was given a DFC. In August he destroyed an He 111, two Bf 109s, and three Bf 110s to bring his score to nine confirmed, three shared, two unconfirmed and two damaged. He was shot down and killed near Portland on August 25.

DOUGLAS ROBERT STEWART BADER
went from St Edward's School, Oxford, to the RAF College, Cranwell, in 1928, graduated two years later and was posted to 23 Sqn. In 1931 he lost both legs when he crashed doing aerobatics and was invalided out of the Service in 1933. He was readmitted for flying duties in 1939 and on February 7, 1940 joined 19 Sqn, which was equipped with Spitfires. He was soon promoted to flight lieutenant and transferred to 222 Sqn as a flight commander. On June 1 he shot down a Bf 109. He was promoted again in July and given 242 Sqn to command. On July 11 he destroyed a Do 17 and another on August 21. He sent down two Bf 110s nine days later, two Bf 110s on September 7 and a Do 17 on the 9th. (On December 13 his DSO was gazetted.) On September 15 he got a Do 17, a Ju88 and a Do 17 on the 18th. On September 27 he was credited with one confirmed and one probable Bf 109.

Early in 1941 he was awarded a DFC, promoted to wing commander and made leader of the Tangmere Wing of three Spitfire squadrons. In the course of several sweeps over France he shot down three 109s and shared another, in June, and five more with two shared and four probables during July. On August 9, after bringing down a 109 with another probable, he was shot down, baled out, and taken prisoner. His total score was 20, with four shared.

JAMES MICHAEL BAZIN
went to France with 607 Sqn in 1939. He shot down two He 111s in May 1940 and nine more enemy aircraft in the Battle of Britain, to end with 10 and a DFC. Later he transferred to bombers, became a wing commander and got a DSO.

GEORGE HARMAN BENNIONS
joined the RAF before the war. In July 1940 he shot down two Bf 109s and in August a Bf 110. By October he had a score of 12 destroyed, five probables and five damaged, but lost an eye, earning the sobriquet of Cyclops! His final rank was squadron leader.

RONALD BERRY
nicknamed ‘Razz', joined the RAFVR in 1937, was posted as a sergeant to 603 Sqn in September 1939 and commissioned in June 1940. By the end of the Battle of Britain he was credited with six Bf 109s, a Do 17, four shared victories and six probables. His overall score for the war was 14 confirmed, 10 shared, nine probables and 17 damaged.

ADRIAN HOPE BOYD
was commissioned in the RAF in 1936 and in October 1939 was a flight lieutenant on 145 Sqn. In May 1940 he shot down two Ju 87s and two Bf 110s, and two 110s in June. With a DFC to his name he went on to destroy two Bf 110s, three 109s and a Ju 87 during the Battle of Britain. The end of the war found him a group captain with a bar to the DFC and a score of 15, plus three shared.

ROBERT FINLAY BOYD
was on 602 Sqn at the outbreak of war. He brought down two Ju 87s and three Bf 109s in August 1940. In September he got three 109s and a Do 17. By the end of October he had scored nine, with six shared. His final score was 14 destroyed, with seven shared and three probables.

PETER MALAM BROTHERS
joined 32 Sqn in 1936. In 1938 the squadron converted from Gauntlets to Hurricanes. He shot down a Bf 109 over Dunkirk on May 18, a Bf 110 on the 23rd, a 109 on July 19 and another the next day. He devised an original and most intelligent way of spoiling the aim of German fighter pilots who fired at him. The essence of accurate shooting was to calculate the right degree of deflection to allow. He reasoned that evading enemy bullets lay in making his track unpredictable. Accordingly, he trimmed his rudder so that instead of flying straight ahead he was always crabbing slightly to one side. This ruse he imparted to the members of his flight when he was given one to command. On August 16 he added a Bf 110 to his tally and on the 18th a Do 17 and a Bf 109. Soon after destroying yet one more 109 on the 24th, he was awarded a DFC. In September he was posted to 257 ‘Burma' Sqn as a flight lieutenant. His last scores in the Battle of Britain were a Do 17 and another shared, on September 15. His final score was 16 destroyed and his decorations DSO,
DFC and bar. His post-war service in the RAF earned him a CBE and culminated with reaching the eventual rank of air commodore.

MARK HENRY BROWN
joined the RAF in 1936. Known as ‘Hilly', in 1939 he went to France with No. 1 Sqn and by May 14, 1940, had destroyed five enemy aircraft, which made him the war's first Canadian ace. He was killed on November 12, 1941, when a wing commander with a DFC and bar and a score of 15 confirmed enemy aircraft destroyed and four shared.

BRIAN JOHN GEORGE CARBURY,
a New Zealander, was on 603 Sqn in 1939. He destroyed seven Bf 109s in August 1940, five of them in one day. He shot down eight more during the next two months, which gained him a DFC and bar. He was shot down and taken prisoner in August 1941.

FRANK REGINALD CAREY
joined the RAF in 1927 as an apprentice before being sent to 43 Sqn, In 1935 he got his wings as a sergeant pilot and returned to the sqn. On January 3, 1940 he shared in downing an He 111 during a convoy patrol, and again on February 3 and March 28. He was commissioned, joined 3 Sqn in France during May and scored the squadron's first kills by shooting down three He 111s. By the end of that month he was credited with 13 kills and three unconfirmed. In July he rejoined 43 Squadron to command a flight. His further victories in the Battle of Britain were: a Bf 109 on July 19; a Ju 88 on August 13 and another on August 15; two Ju 87s on August 16 and another on August 18.

During the months since he got his commission he was decorated with the DFC and bar. He survived the war as a group captain with a second bar to his DFC. Loss of records makes his total score uncertain but it is estimated as at least 25 destroyed, seven of them Japanese, and three shared.

LESLIE REDFORD CLISBY
was born in Australia in 1914, joined the RAF and by the time war was declared he was a flying officer on No. 1 Sqn, which immediately went to France. On April 1, 1940, he opened his score with a Bf 110 to which he added a Bf 109 on April 2. Showing a reckless disregard for danger that was conspicuous even in the brave and dashing company of the other fighter pilots who flew in the Battle for France, he shot down two Do 17s on May 10 before being hit by a French anti-aircraft battery. On May 11 he destroyed two Bf 110s, while on the following day he accounted for three Hs 126s and three Bf 109s. On May 13 he shot down a Bf 110 and an He 111; the latter force-landed in a field, Clisby landed alongside and brought one of the crew down with a
rugby tackle. His final victories were two Bf 110s on May 15, after which he was shot down and killed.

WILFRED GREVILLE CLOUSTON
was a New Zealander. He joined the RAF in 1936 and by 1940 was a flight lieutenant on 19 Sqn. In the last eight days of May 1940 he shot down a Bf 109, a Do 17 and two Ju 87s. In June he added another 109 and got a DFC. Flying a Spitfire experimentally fitted with two 20mm cannon, he destroyed a 109, a 110, a Do 17 and a Ju 88 during August and September. In 1942, when a wing commander, he was captured by the Japanese. His total score then was nine and three shared.

ARTHUR VICTOR CLOWES,
a sergeant, went to France with No. 1 Sqn immediately the war began. He made his first kill, an He 111, on November 23, 1939. In March 1940 he bagged two Bf 110s. In May he got a 109 and a Ju 87, and a 109 in June. He was given a DFM. In August he shot down a Ju 88 and an He 111; and a Bf 110 in September. He was commissioned that month and awarded a DFC in May 1941. He later commanded three squadrons, eventually reached the rank of wing commander and won the DSO.

STANLEY DUDLEY PEARCE CONNORS
was a pre-war officer who, by 1940, was commanding a flight of 111 Sqn. He won the DFC on May 26 for shooting down three He 111s, two Ju 88s and a Bf 109. June brought him another 109 and July saw him destroy one more. His August kills were a 109, a 110, a Ju 88 and a Do 17. These earned a bar to his decoration. He was killed by British anti-aircraft fire on August 18.

NICHOLAS GRESHAM COOKE,
having joined the pre-war RAF, was a flight lieutenant on 264 (Defiant) Sqn by 1939. His air gunner was Corporal Albert Lippett. They opened their score on May 12 with an He 111, then shared another with two Defiants on the 27th. On May 29 they brought down a Bf 110 and two 109s on their first patrol; and, on their second, five Ju 87s, after which they shared two Ju 88s with two other Defiants. Cooke was given a DFC and Lippett a DFM, but they were killed in action on May 31, their score nine confirmed and three shared.

MICHAEL NICHOLSON CROSSLEY,
who was educated at Eton and the College of Aeronautical Engineering, joined the RAF in 1936, was posted to 32 Sqn and by September 3, 1939, was a flight commander. He opened his account
on May 19, 1940, with a Bf 109 destroyed, followed by a second the next day, with two more claims on the 23rd and a Ju 88 on the 26th. He was given a DFC, before shooting down two He 111s on June 8. In July he claimed a 109 and shared in a 110. In August, by when he was commanding the squadron, he got two 109s on the 12th, two Ju 88s and a Do 17 on the 15th, and a Bf 109, Bf 110 and Ju 88 on the 16th. Another Ju 88 and a Bf 109 followed on the 18th, and his final victories came on August 25 when he added a Do 17 and a Bf 109. He was shot down twice but survived the war with a score of 20 confirmed and two shared.

DENIS CROWLEY-MILLING,
known to his comrades as ‘Crow', joined the RAFVR in 1937 when he left Malvern College. In 1940 he went to 607 Sqn as a pilot officer when it was part of the Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force and saw action in France. On his return to England he was posted to 242 Sqn, under Douglas Bader's command. He shot down his first enemy aircraft, an He 111, on August 30. His Hurricane was hit on September 6 and he had to make a forced landing. On the 7th he shot down a Bf 110 and a Bf 109 on the 15th.

On February 8, 1941, he shared a Do 17. In April his DFC was gazetted and he was posted to command a flight in 610 Sqn. He shared a Bf 109 on June 21 and was credited with a probable 109 on the 25th. He took over command of the squadron, was shot down, evaded capture and returned to England in 1942 after a long sojourn in a Spanish concentration camp. He returned to his squadron, now commanded by Sqn Ldr J. E. Johnson, as B Flight's commander and took part in the air operations covering the Commando raid on Dieppe on August 19, during which he probably destroyed a 109. In September he was awarded a bar to his DFC. He went on to command a Typhoon squadron, No. 181, and to lead No. 121 Typhoon Wing. In December 1943 he received a DSO and finished the war with four confirmed victories, one shared and two probables. He continued his career to attain the rank of air marshal and was given a knighthood.

CHRISTOPHER FREDERICK CURRANT,
known as ‘Bunny', was a sergeant on 46 Sqn from 1937 until he joined 151 in 1939. When commissioned in March 1940 he was posted to 605. He shot down two He 111s in August, two Bf 109s, a 110, an He 111 and two Do 17s in September, and was given a DFC. In October he got a 109 and another in December. This was his last confirmed victory, although as a squadron commander he saw a great deal of action through to D-Day. His wartime total was 10 confirmed, five shared, two probables and 12 damaged.

MANFRED BECKETT CZERNIN
was born in Berlin of an English mother and an Austrian father. Educated at Oundle, he was a pre-war bomber pilot who joined 85 Squadron in France in May 1940, scoring five confirmed victories before returning to 17 Squadron in England. The rest of his victories were scored with this unit: 13 and five shared, two unconfirmed, three probables and five damaged.

WILLIAM DENNIS DAVID
was serving with 87 Sqn when the war started and went at once to France. He destroyed a Do 17 and an He 111 on May 10, then went on to bag a Ju 87, two He 111s, a Do 17, a Bf 109 and a Bf 110, plus five unconfirmed kills by the end of the month. In August he bagged two Ju 88s, two Bf 109s, and a Ju 87. In September he got an He 111. In October he moved to 213 Sqn and destroyed a Ju 88. He ended the war as a group captain.

ALAN CHRISTOPHER DEERE,
born in New Zealand, underwent probably the most hectic experiences and the narrowest escapes from death or injury of all the pilots who fought in the air battles of May to October 1940. Having joined the RAF in 1937 and qualified for his wings, he was posted to No. 54 Sqn which re-equipped with Spitfires in 1939. He made his first sortie over France on May 15, 1940.

On May 23 when both 54 and 74 (Tiger) Sqns, based at Hornchurch, were covering the withdrawal of the BEF from Dunkirk, Fit Lt James Anthony ‘Prof' Leathart of 54 Sqn, saw Sqn Ldr Drogo White, who commanded 74, forced-land at Calais Merck aerodrome, No. 54 Sqn had a new Miles Master advanced trainer, which could attain 226mph (364km/h), so Leathart obtained the station commander's permission to fly it over the Channel, covered by two of his flight, Alan Deere and Johnny Allen, and try to fetch White home. On landing in France Leathart could not see White so took off.

At about 1,000ft (300m) he saw tracer flitting past the Master and landed again. Allen had seen the enemy – ‘about a dozen' – and warned Deere on the radio while he himself engaged them. He shot one down and probably two more. The Master was not on the Spitfires' frequency, so the only warning Deere had been able to give his squadron commander was to dive on him. Allen called to say he was surrounded. Deere shot down the 109 that had attacked Leathart, climbed up to join Allen and bagged another 109. He probably destroyed a third. Leathart, meanwhile, had jumped into a ditch, where he found Drogo White, who had not seen him land. Allen's aircraft had been holed and both he and Deere had used all their ammunition, so they went back to base. With German troops
on the road near the airfield, Leathart and White started the Master by cranking it manually and also got home unscathed.