Pitchfork - Air Men Behind the Medals

By the same author

Men Behind the Medals

The Buccaneers

Men Behind the Medals A New Selection

Shot Down and on the Run

Shot Down and in the Drink

Royal Air Force Day by Day

The RAFs First Jet Squadron

The Battle of Britain Story

The Sowerys

Buccaneer Boys

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
Pen & Sword Aviation
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork 2015

ISBN: 978 1 47382 815 5
PDF ISBN: 978 1 47387 429 9
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47387 428 2
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47387 427 5

The right of Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Contents

Foreword

By Air Marshal Sir Robert Wright, KBE, AFC

O n the 28 June 2012, performing my final duty as Controller of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, I was privileged to host Her Majesty the Queen at the unveiling of the Bomber Command Memorial in Piccadilly, London. Under the watchful eye of over 8,000 Bomber Command veterans from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, we paid tribute to the 55,573 Bomber Command airmen who did not return from operations in the Second World War. Most of their stories will never be told.

It was a moving ceremony, a tribute and a time for reflection on the bravery of all those we were remembering, and to the veterans attending who were proudly displaying their many medals, but whose service and courage is invariably cloaked in the shadows of modesty.

In this third volume of Air Commodore Graham Pitchforks widely acclaimed series entitled Men Behind the Medals, he once again presents a superbly researched book that reveals to us, and for posterity, more vivid illustrations of the exploits and gallantry of a young and modest generation that, as before in our history, willingly took up arms to protect our democracy. The setting for this book is astonishing; a world war covering all aspects of air warfare that took place across the globe from the Pacific to the Atlantic, from Europe to the Far East, and embracing a wide spectrum of the armed services. All this set against a backdrop of determination, heroism and devoted service of the highest order.

The exploits that are brought alive in Air Men Behind The Medalscover a period of just five years, yet in another five years very few of our veterans will be here to tell us their stories. In a year in which we commemorate the 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War, we will all be familiar with the exhortation in Laurence Binyons poem An Ode of Remembrance that, W will Remember Them. Air Commodore Graham Pitchforks excellent book, and the two before it in the series, will play an important part in supporting that commitment. We should, never ignore history less we are forced to relive it and these stories serve as an example to the successors of those veterans attending the ceremony in Piccadilly, and as a tribute and record of the sacrifices of all Air Men Behind The Medals.

Cheltenham
Rob Wright
May 2015

Acknowledgements

W riting this book could not have been completed without a great deal of help from many people. Their patience, support, expert advice and friendship have allowed me to complete this volume, and I am extremely grateful for their help and thank all of them. I would particularly like to thank my friend of many years, Air Marshal Sir Robert Wright, for his support, and for his generous and eloquent Foreword. As a former RAF leader and Controller of the RAF Benevolent Fund, few are better qualified to appreciate the exploits of the men whose stories appear in this book.

The Director of the Air Historical Branch, Sebastian Cox, and his excellent staff have given me a great deal of help, none more so than Graham Day and Lee Barton. The staffs of the National Archives have been most helpful. I have been able to access the records held at the RAF College Cranwell, RAF Regiment Museum, Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, the History Room of RAF Linton-on-Ouse and at the Air Landing Wing History Room at RAF Brize Norton. Nigel Price, the editor of Flypast magazine, has given a great deal of help, and I am grateful to him for his continued support of my series Men Behind the Medals in his excellent magazine. I am delighted that he has agreed to continue with the series after the publication of this book. Group Captain Chris Morris, OBE and Wing Commander Jim Routledge have, once again, given their expert advice. Debbie Alexander and Tim Pierse at RAF Cranwell, Ian Carter, Norman Franks, Mike King, Glen Moreman, Christopher Shores and Chris Thomas have given me valuable assistance, and I thank them.

Photographs are a key component of this book and I want to thank my old friends Peter Green and Andy Thomas for the loan of photographs, and for their advice and help on many aspects. Many others helped with photographs, and I hope they will accept the individual acknowledgements as my thanks for their help.

I want to thank Air Marshal Sir Freddie Sowrey, KCB, CBE, AFC, Wing Commander Wayne Loxton and Squadron Leader Nick Tucker, and I am particularly grateful to Countess Fortescue, Mrs Di Aspinall, Mrs Miranda Freer, Ms Genevieve Holmes, Mrs Diana Kennedy, Mrs Sue Rawcliffe, Mrs Laurie Symington and Mrs Caroline Willey, for allowing me access to their late husbands or fathers logbooks, papers and photograph albums. I am equally grateful to David Bray, Andrew Cassells, Mike Pearson and Ian Mackenzie, who gave me access to their late fathers logbooks and photographs.

I reserve a very special thank you to former aircrew who have given valuable advice, and to some of the Air Men who appear in this book. Sadly, the majority are no longer with us. I want to single out the following who gave valuable information and advice and who could not have been more helpful and kind; Bryan Colston, DFC; John Cruikshank, VC; David Ellis, DFC; the late Guy Fazan, DFC; Lou Hall, DFC; Noel Langdon, DSC and the late Bob Willis, MBE, DFC.

Finally, I want to thank the staff of Pen and Sword Publishing for all their support and Ken Patterson for his expert editing.

Preface

F or many years I have been able to discover the deeds of men who were forced to face the greatest dangers. I was fortunate to serve with some during the early years of my career in the Royal Air Force and, in more recent years, during my work with the Daily Telegraph and as the Archivist of the Aircrew Association. It has been a privilege to research the actions of a generation of remarkable people and then to record the details for others to share and be equally stimulated.