Selection of those airmen whose RAF service careers are summarised in the following pages is based on their achievements during the Battle of Britain and its immediate prelude in May and June. With a few exceptions, the following pilots shot down at least ten enemy aircraft during the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. Thus many pilots who by the end of the war had shot down more enemy aircraft than these may have been omitted. The exceptions are five men who merit special mention: Air Marshal Sir Denis Crowley-Milling, DSO, DFC and bar; Air Vice Marshal J. E. Johnson, CB, CBE, DSO and two bars, DFC and bar, DL, who had a total of 38 victories and destroyed more German aircraft in combat than any other pilot, all of them fighters; Air Commodore P. M. Brothers, CBE, DSO, DFC and bar; Group Captain Sir Hugh Dundas, KBE, DSO and bar, DFC; and Wing Commander M. H. Brown, DFC and bar.
GEOFFREY ALLARD, known as ‘Sammy’, joined the RAF as an apprentice in 1929 and was a sergeant pilot on 85 Sqn when war broke out. The squadron was posted to France with the Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force. On May 10, 1940, Allard shot down an He 111. He made more kills before the squadron returned home later that month and was awarded the DFM. He destroyed an He 111 on July 8 and shared a Bf 110 with another member of the squadron on July 30. During the next month he brought down four Bf 109s and two He 111s. He also shared in the destruction of four Do 17s and was credited with two probables. For these he received a bar to the DFM, his commission and a DFC. He shot down a Do 17 and a Bf 109 on September 1, which made his total 11 plus three unconfirmed, two probables, and five shared. On March 13, 1941, Flt Lt Allard was killed in a flying accident.
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.
Al Deere was shot down over Dunkirk, baled out and returned to the squadron. During the Battle of Britain he made forced landings, collided with a 109, baled out more than once and was taking off from Hornchurch on August 31 when a bomb burst near his aircraft and hurled it upside down. His score at the end of the Battle was 13 and he had a DFC and bar. He later earned a DSO and ended the war as a wing commander with 17 victories. He retired as an air commodore and had an OBE to add to his decorations.
ROBERT FRANCIS THOMAS DOE of 234 Sqn destroyed his first enemy machine, a Bf 110, on August 15, 1940. He shot down his eleventh on September 7, including three 109s in one day. With a DFC to his name, he was posted to 238 Sqn, with whom he made three more kills and got a bar to his DFC before being wounded and shot down. At the end of the war he was a squadron leader with 14 confirmed victories and a DSO at the head of his medals.
EDWARD MORTLOCK DONALDSON, known in the Service as ‘Teddy’, was a Cranwell graduate. He first served on No. 1 Sqn and was in its aerobatic team. In 1937 he went to 72 as a flight commander, and in November 1939 took command of 151. Dick Smith, who joined 151 to command a flight in June 1940, says of him, ‘He was an altogether exceptional pilot: he could fly lower, do better aerobatics and shoot better than anyone I had met up to then.’ His first success came in May 1940 over France when he shot down two Ju 87s. By the beginning of August he had 5½ confirmed, then went on rest. He survived the war and retired as an air commodore, CB, CBE, DSO, AFC.
JOHN CHARLES DUNDAS joined 609 Sqn of the Auxiliary Air Force before the war. Between May 31, 1940, when he shot down an He 111 and shared a Do 17 over Dunkirk, and October 15, when he got a Bf 110 and had won a DFC, he destroyed at least 11 and four shared. On November 28, by which time he was a flight lieutenant, he shot down a Bf 109 flown by a leading German ace, Helmut Wick (56 victories), but the latter’s wing man shot him down and he was killed.
HUGH SPENCER LISLE DUNDAS, known as ‘Cocky’, and John’s younger brother, also served in the AAF, on 616 Sqn, whose Gauntlets were replaced by Spitfires soon after the outbreak of war. Based at Leconfield, during July and August he shared two confirmed and two probable victories. On the 19th the squadron moved to Kenley and three days later a Bf 109 shot him down. He went to hospital and his injuries kept him grounded for ten days. The squadron suffered such heavy casualties that on September 4 it was sent to Coltishall to reform.
On February 26, 1941, 616 Sqn, on which Johnnie Johnson was also serving, joined Douglas Bader’s Tangmere Wing. F/O Dundas’s victories began to mount and on July 19 his DFC was gazetted. By then, still not 21 years of age, he was commanding a flight. Further promotions followed, until at 23 he was the youngest group captain in the RAF. He finished the war with four confirmed victories, and six shared victories, and a DSO and bar to add to his DFC.
ROY GILBERT DUTTON joined 111 Sqn in 1937. He destroyed a Ju 88 in March 1940. In May and June he shot down three 109s, two He 111s, a 110 and a Ju 87. In July he got an He 111. He was awarded a DFC on May 31 and a bar to it on 20 August. In the next months he claimed four more victories. He rose to wing commander by the end of the war.
WILLIAM LAWRENCE DYMOND began his operational career as a sergeant on 111 Sqn in 1940. He shot down two Do 17s and two He 111s in May, a Bf 109 in June, and three Do 17s, a 110, and an He 111 in August. He shared in destroying several other enemy machines and was awarded a DFM. His total came to 10 confirmed and one shared victory. He was killed in action on September 2, 1940.
JOHN ELLIS was commanding a flight of 610 Sqn in 1940 when he shot down a Bf 109 over Dunkirk on May 29 and a Bf 110 on the 31st. In July he brought down five 109s, which earned him a DFC. He took command of the squadron and destroyed three 109s and an He 111 in August. In 1941 a bar to his DFC was gazetted. His score was 12 confirmed and one shared. Later he led a wing in Malta and survived the war.
HENRY MICHAEL FERRISS, an officer on 111 Sqn, shot down three Bf 110s and a 109 over France in May 1940. He got two 109s on June 6, and his DFC came through. He downed another 109 on the 10th. On July 10 he added one more 109 to his tally. In August he shot down a Do 17, and shared in destroying several enemy aeroplanes. Later that month he crashed into one and was killed.
WILLIAM HENRY FRANKLIN was an RAF apprentice who rose to the rank of sergeant pilot, on 65 Sqn, before the war. His first combat was over Dunkirk on May 22 when he shared in damaging a Ju 88. He had a share in damaging one more hostile before shooting down a Bf 110 and a 109 on the 26th. He was promoted to flight sergeant and awarded the DFM, claimed several more victories and by the end of October, when he was commissioned, was believed to have a score of 13 and three shared. He was shot down and killed by a Ju 88 on December 12, 1940.
JOSEPH FRANTISEK was in the Czech Air Force when Germany invaded his country. He escaped and joined the Polish Air Force. When Poland fell he went to France and flew with the French Air Force. He next arrived in England and was posted to 303 Sqn. Between September 2 and 30 he shot down nine Bf 109s, two 110s, five He 111s and a Ju 88. On October 8 he was killed in a crash landing. He was the second most successful Czech fighter pilot of the war.
JOHN CONNELL FREEBORN joined 74 Sqn in 1938. Between May 21 and September 11, 1940 he destroyed four Bf 109s, two Bf 110s, two Do 17s and one Ju 88, for which he was given a DFC. He later commanded 118 Sqn, increased his score to 11 and two shared, and survived the war.
JOHN ALBERT AXEL GIBSON, a New Zealander, joined the RAF in 1938. In May 1940 he went to 501 Sqn in France, where he shot down a 109 and two He 111s. Between July and September he brought down three Ju 87s, three 109s, a Do 17 and a Ju 88. He was shot down no less than five times, and wounded on the final occasion.
IAN RICHARD GLEED, nicknamed ‘Widge’, was in 46 Sqn at the outbreak of war and was posted to command a flight in 266 later in 1939. In May 1940 he was transferred to 87 Sqn in France, where he destroyed two Bf 110s, a 109 and two Do 17s. After returning to England he got four more 110s, won a DFC and took command of the squadron. He later operated in North Africa as a Wing Leader and increased his score to 13 and three shared. He was shot down and killed in 1943.
COLIN FALKLAND GRAY, who was on 54 Sqn when the war started, became New Zealand’s top-scoring fighter pilot. He shared in bringing down several enemy aircraft. His individual successes began with a Bf 109 on May 5, 1940, and two Bf 109s in July. In August he got six Bf 109s, two of them on one sortie, and two 110s, again on the same operation. In September he destroyed three Bf 109s, a 110 and an He 111. By then he had a DFC and bar. He became a wing commander, survived the war with a score of 27 confirmed and two shared, and retired as a group captain.
HERBERT JAMES LAMPRIERE HALLOWES joined the RAF as an apprentice, qualified for his wings and promotion to sergeant, and joined 43 Sqn in 1940. His first action was on February 3, 1940 when he shared an He 111 with two others. On April 8 he shot an He 111 down. Over the French coast on June 1 he claimed three Bf 109s and a 110. Six days later in a fight with a 109 his engine was hit and as he was about to bale out his adversary fired at him again. He regained his seat and shot it down. On August 8 he sent down two Bf 109s. He had several more successes until, by the end of the Battle of Britain, he was credited with 16 victories. He was awarded the DFM and bar on September 6. He went on to command 222 Sqn, 165 Sqn, then 154 Sqn. His final score was 17 confirmed and two shared.
FREDERICK WILLIAM HIGGINSON, always known as ‘Taffy’, joined the RAF as a Halton apprentice at the age of 15. He was posted to 7 (Bomber) Sqn three years later as a fitter and volunteered to be an air gunner, which was then a part-time occupation in conjunction with an airman’s basic skilled trade. He next qualified as a sergeant pilot and went to 56 Sqn, by which time he had made a name for himself at boxing and rugger. On the declaration of war the Air Minister, Kingsley Wood, visited North Weald, where 56 was stationed. He informed the pilots that when the fighting started their life expectancy would be three weeks! The response to this was laughter and a loud request from one of them that, in view of this, they should be allowed to put Service petrol in their cars.
On May 16, 1940, by which time Taffy Higginson was a flight sergeant, he was one of six pilots from his squadron detached to France to form a composite squadron with a flight of No. 43. The following day he destroyed a Do 17 and an He 111. The next day he shot down a Bf 110. Only he and one other member of his flight survived to return to England on the 20th. On July 15 he was awarded a DFM. During the Battle of Britain he shot down four Do 17s, three 110s, and one 109, and damaged two others. One of the Do 17s crashed on Romney Marsh and he repeatedly flew over it taking photographs with his camera gun. But his engine had been damaged and seized up. He landed forcibly and in his anxiety to quit the resulting conflagration he tripped and fell into a cowpat, thereby revealing an unsuspected hazard of the fighter pilot’s trade.
Shot down in France in 1941, when his score stood at 12, he made an outstanding evasion of capture, was caught on the Spanish frontier, escaped and eventually got home, to rise to wing commander, acquire a DFC and eventually survive the war.
HAROLD NORMAN HOWES, a sergeant on 85 Sqn, which went to France in September 1939, shot down four Do 17s in one sortie on May 20, 1940. On returning to England he shot down two Bf 110s and shared a Do 17 in August and another on September 1. Posted to 605 Sqn, he bagged a Do 17 on September 15 and three 109s in October and November. His score was 11 and one shared. He was killed in a flying accident on December 22.
PATERSON CLARENCE HUGHES was an Australian. He joined the RAF before the war, served on 64 Sqn, then joined 234 in October 1939. After sharing two Ju 88s in July, he shot down a Bf 110 and shared another on August 15. On the 16th he got two Bf 109s, two again on the 18th and two on the 26th. He was awarded a DFC, then destroyed three 110s on September 4, two 109s on the 5th and a 109 on the 6th. On the 7th he blew up a Do 17, but was so close that fragments damaged his own aircraft and he crashed to his death, credited with 14 kills and three shared.
PHILIP ALGERNON HUNTER of 264 (Defiant) Squadron was one of the most admired, respected and loved squadron commanders of the war. He and his air gunner, Leading Aircraftman Frederick Harry King, shared a record reading: shot down a Ju 88 on May 12; a Bf 109 and a shared He 111 over Dunkirk on the 27th; two Bf 109s on May 28; a 109, a Ju 87 plus a Bf 110 or Ju 88 on the 29th. Hunter now had a DSO and King a DFM. On May 31 they got a Bf 109 and an He 111 and shared an He 111. They were shot down and killed on August 24 with a total of nine and one shared.
JAMES EDGAR JOHNSON, always known as ‘Johnnie’, became the RAF’s top-scoring ace by the end of the war. He learned to fly in the RAFVR and joined 19 Sqn in late August 1940. The squadron was too busy to break in new pilots, so three days later he was posted to 616 Sqn, which had just been taken out of the front line for a rest and would have time to train novices. The consequences of an old injury to his shoulder necessitated an operation and by the time he was fully fit the Battle of Britain was over. He therefore was not in a position to shoot down his first enemy aircraft until 1941. All his victims were single-engine fighters, the most difficult of targets, except for one Bf 110 that he shared with three other pilots. His own aircraft was hit only once, by a single cannon shell. He ended the war as a group captain, commanding a Spitfire Wing in France and Germany.
EDGAR JAMES KAIN, a New Zealander nicknamed ‘Cobber’, was the first RAF ace of the war. Having joined 73 Sqn before the war he found himself in France in September 1939. His successes were meteoric. He shot down his first enemy aircraft, a Do 17, on November 8, 1939. On the 23rd he destroyed another at the great height of 27,000ft (8,300m). His third kill came in March 1940, a Bf 109 that damaged his Hurricane in return so badly that he had to bale out. On March 26 he scored over a Bf 109 that set his aircraft on fire, but he did not bale out until he had also shot down its companion 109. These successes won him a DFC. He amassed 16 confirmed victories before being killed in a flying accident in June 1940.
JAMES ROBERT KAYLL joined 604 Sqn, Auxiliary Air Force, in 1934 and accompanied it to France in September 1939, but was transferred to command 615 Sqn in March 1940. In May that year he shot down two Bf 110s, and an He 111. He claimed six additional kills and before returning to Britain at the end of May he had been given a DSO and a DFC. In addition to sharing sundry victories he individually shot down two Bf 109s, an He 111 and a Do 17 in the Battle of Britain. In July 1941, when leading the Hornchurch Wing, he was shot down and captured.
JOHN IGNATIUS KILMARTIN joined the RAF before the war and went to France with No. 1 Sqn on the outbreak. As early as November 23, 1939, he shared in the destruction of a Do 17, and bagged a Bf 109 and a Ju 88 in April 1940. In May and June he destroyed six Bf 110s and three 109s. After a spell on instructing he became a flight commander on 43 Sqn and shot down a Bf 110 and a 109 in September 1940. His DFC was awarded the following month. He went on to become a wing commander and survive the war,
JAMES HARRY LACEY joined the RAFVR in 1937 and by the outbreak of war was an instructor at the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club. He was posted to 501 Sqn, which went to France on May 10, 1940. On the 13th he shot down a Bf 109 and an He 111 on the same sortie, and a Bf 110 on his next, for which he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. On May 27 in one combat he destroyed two He 111s and was mentioned in despatches.
The squadron left France on June 18. On July 20 he shot down a Bf 109 and was given a DFM. During August he was credited with a Ju 87 confirmed and one probable (same combat), a Do 17 and Do 215 damaged, a Ju 88 destroyed, two Bf 109s destroyed and one damaged, and one Bf 110 probably destroyed. On September 2 he shot down a Bf 109 on one sortie and another 109 and a Do 17 on his next. On the 5th he got two more 109s in the same fight. On the 7th he went on leave.
When he rejoined the squadron on the 13th it was at Kenley and the weather was cloudy. The Operations Room telephoned 501’s dispersal hut to ask for a volunteer to intercept a Heinkel that was scudding about in the London area. The message warned that, as the whole of the south-east was cloud-covered, the volunteer would probably not be able to land and he would have to bale out. Ginger Lacey took the job on. At 14,000ft (4,270m) over solid cloud he was steering courses given on the radio by the Ops Room controller until, after a long stalk, he says, ‘I saw it, slipping through the cloud tops, making for the coast. I didn’t know where I was, because I hadn’t seen the ground since taking off. I dived on him and got in one quick burst which killed his rear gunner.’ The Heinkel dropped into cloud and Lacey throttled back and followed. The bomber broke cloud and Lacey saw the dead gunner being pulled away. Someone else manned the gun and fired at him. A gaping hole appeared in the bottom of Lacey’s cockpit. His entire radiator had been shot away and his Hurricane was burning. He fired all his ammunition at the Heinkel before baling out. He came out of cloud in time to see it crash. When he returned to Kenley he learned that this aircraft had bombed Buckingham Palace.
By the end of October he had 18 victories, which made him one of the highest-scoring pilots in the Battle of Britain, to add to his five in France. He won a bar to the DFM, was commissioned, then went on to command a squadron and achieve a total score of 28 confirmed. He continued serving after the war.
ALBERT GERALD LEWIS was a South African who joined the RAF before the war and went to France with 504 Sqn on May 10, 1940. He is credited with nine enemy aircraft before returning to England and shooting down another nine in the Battle, to win a DFC and bar.
REGINALD THOMAS LLEWELLYN, a pre-war member of the RAF, opened his score as a sergeant on 213 Sqn, with two Bf 109s, and an He 111 on May 29, 1940. He shot down three Ju 88s, four Bf 110s and a Bf 109 in August, and two 110s and a Do 17 in September. He was given a DFM and a commission, and survived the war.
ERIC STANLEY LOCK was in the RAFVR. In May 1940 he joined 41 Sqn. On August 15 he destroyed a Bf 110. During the rest of the Battle of Britain he claimed two He 111s, two Ju 88s, a Do 17, an Hs 126, a Bf 110 and 13 Bf 109s, and was decorated with the DFC and bar. He was killed in action in 1941, his final score 26.
AENEAS RANALD DONALD MACDONNELL was commanding 64 Sqn when he shot down two Ju 87s and a Bf 109 in July 1940. He ended the Battle of Britain with a DFC and a score of 9½ confirmed, mainly Bf 109s, and three unconfirmed.
ADOLPH GYSBERT MALAN, a South African, acquired his nickname, ‘Sailor’, because after leaving school he became a cadet on the training ship General Botha. Instead of the merchant marine, he joined the RAF in 1935 and became a flight commander on 74 ‘Tiger’ Sqn in 1938. He opened his account over Dunkirk with three confirmed victories, then on the night of 18/19 June, in conditions of bright moonlight, he shot down two He 111s. During the Battle of Britain, he bagged four Bf 109s, a Do 17 and a Ju 88, and added a further three Bf 109s before the end of the year. As the Biggin Hill Wing Leader in 1941, he shot down another 13 Bf 109s, ending with a total score of 27 confirmed with another seven shared, three unconfirmed, three probables and 16 damaged.
ANDREW McDOWALL belonged to 602 Sqn, Auxiliary Air Force, before the war. On July 24, 1940, flying a Spitfire at night, he shot down an He 111. In August he destroyed a Bf 109 and an He 111. In September he claimed a Bf 109, a Bf 110 and a Ju 88; then in October and November he added four 109s and a Ju 88 to his score of 11 and two shared. He scored no further victories, but rose to command the first Meteor jet fighter squadron.
ARCHIE ASHMORE McKELLAR was a pilot officer on 602 Sqn, AAF when the war began. Before the Battle of Britain he shared in the destruction of two He 111s. In August 1940 he was a flight lieutenant on 605 Sqn and claimed an He 111 destroyed and three probables on the 15th. On September 9 he fired at an He 111 that exploded and destroyed the bomber on each side of it. On the same sortie he shot down a Bf 109. Another feat attributed to him was the shooting down of five Bf 109s on October 7, four of them in ten minutes. When he was killed on November 1, 1940 in a presumed fight with a Bf 109, he was considered to have 20 victories (17 confirmed, three shared) to justify his DFC and bar.
WILLIAM LIDSTONE McKNIGHT was a Canadian who joined the RAF in 1939 and 615 Sqn, in France, in May 1940. He shot down a Bf 109 before the squadron returned to England and he was posted to 242 Sqn. Between May 28 and October 18 his score read: five Bf 109s, six Bf 110s, two Do 17s, two Ju 87s, and an He 111. He had a DFC and bar, but was killed in action in January 1941.
DESMOND ANNESLEY PETER McMULLEN of 54 Sqn shot down a Bf 110 in May 1940, over Dunkirk. In July he bagged a Bf 109. In August he got three 109s. In September he claimed a Do 17 before being posted to 222 Sqn, with whom he destroyed two 109s that month. In October he got three more 109s. He also shared in numerous kills. Later in the war he commanded 65 Sqn and ended with 17 victories and five shared and a DFC and bar.
JAMES WINTER CARMICHAEL MORE, known as ‘Hank’, a pre-war member of the RAF, went to France in April 1940 to take command of 73 Sqn. During that month and May he destroyed a mixed bag of Bf 109s, Ju 87s and He 111s. He was given a DFC and after a short rest returned to the squadron but had no victories in the Battle of Britain and was killed later in the war.
GARETH LEOFRIC NOWELL, a sergeant on 87 Sqn in France, personally shot down or shared in destroying nine of the enemy in one week of May 1940. These included Bf 109s, Hs 126s and Do 17s. He shot down one more 109 and was rewarded with the DFM and bar, and was severely wounded on May 23. He lived to see the end of the war, by which time he had shot down two more enemy aircraft.
NEWELL ORTON, nicknamed ‘Fanny’, a flying officer on 73 Sqn, was one of the three more successful pilots in the Battle of France, with 15 victories, including many unconfirmed or probables, which brought him a DFC and bar. He was instructing during the Battle of Britain but shot down two Bf 109s when commanding 54 Sqn in 1941. In a fight in which he probably destroyed another Bf 109 on September 17, 1941, he was shot down and killed,
IAN BEDFORD NESBITT RUSSELL was an Australian who joined 609 Sqn in November 1939. In May 1940 he went to 609 and later to 607. He is credited with 10 victories in May. Details are confused by loss of records and his death in action on May 31, by when he had a DFC.
JOHN EVELYN SCOULAR joined the RAF pre-war and by the outbreak was a flight lieutenant on 73 Sqn, which at once went to France. He was credited with 12 victories during May 1940 and by the end of that month was one of the only two original pilots still with the squadron. He was awarded a DFC.
HARBOURNE MACKAY STEPHEN, who joined the RAFVR in 1937, was one of the most prominent performers in the air fighting of May to October 1940. He first joined 605 Sqn but was posted to 74 in May 1940. After sharing in the destruction of two Hs 126s and a Do 17, his first victory was a Bf 109 on May 27. During the Battle of Britain he was credited with shooting down three Bf 109s and a Ju 88, with two 109s and two 110s unconfirmed, two probables and four damaged. By the end of the year he was credited with nine victories and eight shared and had a DSO, DFC and bar. He later became a wing commander in India.
JAMES ERIC STORRAR of 145 Sqn opened his score with a Bf 110 on May 23, 1940, and a Do 17 next day, followed by two Bf 110s on the 27th and an He 111 on June 11. On July 27 he shot down a Bf 109, and two Ju 87s on August 8, and shared in three other claims. He survived the war to attain wing commander rank and a bar to his DFC.
EDWARD ROWLAND THORN was a sergeant pilot on 264 (Defiant) Sqn with Leading Aircraftman Barker as his air gunner. On May 28 they destroyed three Bf 109s and a Bf 110, two Ju 87s on the following day, and an He 111 on the 31st. For these feats they both got the DFM. Both were promoted to flight sergeant. On August 24 they got a Ju 88, on the 26th two Do 17s, and a Bf 109 that was shooting them down. They made a crash landing. They had one more success before being given bars to their decorations. Thorn went on to win a DSO and a DFC and bar and command 169 Sqn before being killed. Barker survived the war.
ROBERT ROLAND STANFORD TUCK joined the RAF in 1935. After serving with 65 Sqn he joined 92 as a flight lieutenant on May 1, 1940. On the 23rd he shot down three Bf 110s over Dunkirk, and two Do 17s on the following day, which brought him a DFC. He destroyed a Ju 88 one night and another by day on August 13. On the 14th he got two more of the same. With a bar to his DFC, he was promoted to command 257 Sqn and opened his score with them by shooting down a 110 on September 15. He had four more victories during the Battle. In December he was awarded a DSO and in March 1941 a second bar to the DFC. In 1942 he was shot down over France and captured and escaped in 1945. He was credited with a total of 27 and two shared.
PERCIVAL STANLEY TURNER joined the RAF before the war and in 1940 went to 242 Sqn. In May he got four Bf 109s in the Dunkirk area. In June the squadron moved to France and he took out three more 109s before returning to England. His Battle of Britain record was two Do 17s. At the end of the Battle his total was nine, with three unconfirmed and one probable. A group captain by the end of the war, he had a DSO and a bar to his DFC.
GEORGE CECIL UNWIN was a sergeant on 19 Sqn when war was declared. By May 1940 he was a flight sergeant. He shot down an Hs 126 and a Bf 109 that month. In June he destroyed a Bf 110. In August and September he shot down six Bf 109s and three Bf 110s. His decorations were DFM and bar.
WITOLD URBANOWICZ was in the pre-war Polish Air Force. When Germany seized Poland he made his way to England, joined the RAF and was posted to 145 Sqn. In August he destroyed a Bf 109 and a Ju 88. Next he was posted to 303 Sqn. On September 6 he shot down a Bf 109, on the 7th a Do 17, on the 15th two Do 17s, an He 111 on the 26th, and two Ju 88s, a Do 17 and a Bf 109 on the 27th. Three Bf 109s and a Do 17 fell to his guns on September 30. This gave him the highest score by a Polish pilot flying with the RAF and earned a DFC. In April he became Leader of the Polish Wing. In 1944, when, at the age of 38 he was unable to continue on operations with the RAF, he transferred to the USAAF and shot down two Japanese Zero fighters.
JOHN WOLFERSTAN VILLA, known as ‘Pancho’ joined the RAF before the war and in 1940 was on 72 Sqn. He shot down a Bf 109 on September 1, 1940, a Bf 109 on the 2nd, and on the 15th two 109s and a Do 17. He got an He 111 on the 27th, was awarded a DFC, and added a 109 on the 28th and a Do 17 on October 11. Joining 92 Sqn to command a flight, he destroyed a 109 and a 110 before the Battle of Britain ended. He took command of 65 Sqn in August 1941 but was grounded in 1943 with sinus trouble, by which time his victories numbered 13 and four shared.
JOHN TERRANCE WEBSTER, having joined the RAF in 1938, was a flight commander on 41 Sqn by the time war broke out. He opened his score with a Bf 109 on May 31, and followed it with a Do 17 on June 1. By September 5 his score had risen to 11 and two shared, consisting of nine Bf 109s, the Do 17, and an He 111 at night. On this date he was killed in a mid-air collision with another Spitfire.
RONALD DEREK WIGHT, who was on 213 Sqn at the outset of war, was a flight lieutenant when the squadron went to France on May 1940. He shot down four enemy aeroplanes and shared in others before returning to England later that month. On the 27th he sent down two Bf 109s over Dunkirk, another two the following day and two more on the 31st. He was decorated with a DFC and his score was rated as 10½. In August he was killed when leading three Hurricanes against 60 Bf 110s.
PATRICK PHILIP WOODS-SCAWEN entered the RAF before the war, joined 85 Sqn and went to France in September 1939. On May 19, 1940 he got three Bf 109s. When he returned to England – with a DFC – his score stood at 6½. He bagged a Do 17 in July. In August he shot down a Bf 110 and, again in one day, three Bf 109s. In addition he had shared in many victories. On September 1 he was shot down and killed, without knowing that his younger brother Charles, a regular officer on 43 Sqn, had been killed in action the previous day.