Pitchfork - Men Behind the Medals

First published in Great Britain in 1998 by Leo Coop
Reprinted in this format in 2003 by
LEO COOPER
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street, Barnsley,
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

ISBN 1 84415 007 0

Copyright Graham Pitchfork, 1998, 2003

A CIP record of this book is available from the British Library

Printed in England by
CPI UK

by Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom
KCB, CBE, DSO, DFC & two bars, AFC, RAF (Retd).

Approximately 150,000 men were trained to fly in various categories in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. A few names have become household legends, but the vast majority are largely unknown outside their squadrons and circle of family and friends.

In this book Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork has focused on a number of relatively unknown aircrew personalities of that war and carried out extensive research into their service, decorations and campaign medals. His research has revealed fascinating stories of cool, calm reaction to adversity and tales of great gallantry and devotion to duty. The aircrew concerned never shrank from carrying out their allotted tasks regardless of their personal safety and were typical of the squadron members of the Second World War. They were the bedrock of the wartime Royal Air Force, but are largely unknown.

The lack of navigational facilities and the consequential danger imposed by poor weather conditions often created particularly hazardous operational sorties in the early years, but the stories reveal the enormous changes in the operational capability as the war developed.

The wide cross-section of the Royal Air Force covered by these fascinating stories involve all aircrew categories, all major aircraft roles, and all theatres of war. They will particularly appeal to those who are interested in the exploits of typical aircrew who fought in that war and the decorations and awards which they received.

It is worth reminding readers of the average age of aircrew mentioned in this book in order to put their performance into perspective. 20, 21, 22 years of age would be very typical with more action packed into those early years than in a normal lifetime. As the author so clearly highlights, when the challenge came they were not found wanting.

Rickmansworth
May 1997 IVOR BROOM

To write a book about people, particularly those with an abundance of courage, is immensely fascinating and satisfying. Indeed, it is an honour. Of course, to know your subjects well enough to write about them involves discovering those who knew them, worked with them, loved them and flew with them. This huge, and essential task has been particularly rewarding and it has been an enormous privilege to meet them and to establish new friendships which have developed over the last three years. To the very many who have patiently offered me their help, support and their friendship, I owe a deep debt of gratitude and I thank them all most sincerely. There are too many to mention individually but I feel compelled to single out a number.

First I want to thank Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom for so kindly agreeing to writing the Foreword to this book. No one could be better qualified to write of courageous airmen and I feel privileged that he agreed to contribute.

The Director of the Air Historical Branch, Sebastian Cox, and his excellent and friendly staff have given me a great deal of help and I am particularly grateful to Graham Day for his unfailing and expert advice and assistance. Mrs Jean Buckberry at the RAF College Cranwell Library, the staff of the Central Flying School and the members of the Halton Aircraft Apprentices Association have given me invaluable help. Bob Coppock of the Naval Historical Branch has introduced me to the fascination of foreign naval documents and has been a great help. When I have been unable to trace documents in the Public Record Office, Dave Morris has come to my rescue and provided me with some crucial information and John Foreman gave me a great deal of help with Luftwaffe claims and losses. Wing Commander Jim Routledge gave his expert advice for which I am very grateful. Special mention must be made of Group Captain Chris Morris who has proof-read every chapter as it came off the production line. His constructive comments, skill in the use of the English language and advice have been invaluable. That he has carried out these duties in conjunction with being in command of one of the largest and busiest RAF flying stations makes my admiration even greater.

It was my RAF colleague and friend Ken Delve, the Editor of Flypast, who encouraged me to write a series of articles about The Men Behind the Medals which he published in his excellent magazine. He and his staff have given me a great deal of help and he has allowed me to use his extensive library and collection of photographs. I am grateful to Ken for agreeing to continue the series after the publication of this book. I also want to thank Duncan Cubitt who took the photographs of the medals which appear in full colour in the Flypast articles.

Photographs are an essential aspect of a book relating history. Without the help of my good friends Andy Thomas and Peter Green this book would be incomplete. Squadron Leader Peter Singleton of the Air Historical Branch and Chris Ashworth have also given me a great deal of assistance and I thank them all most sincerely. Many others helped with individual photographs and these are acknowledged in the pages that follow and I trust that they will accept this as my thanks for their help.

I want to reserve a special thankyou to the many wartime aircrew and the members of numerous Squadron Associations who have given me so much help. I had the privilege of meeting many of them and listening to their accounts which they related in such modest terms. I was thrilled to receive letters from Canada, Australia, Kenya and Zimbabwe; they were of immense help and serve to illustrate only too well the prodigious contribution made by the aircrew who came from the Commonwealth. All these men shared the experiences of those whose exploits are recorded in this book. Indeed, they could just as easily have been the subjects.

A number of my friends have given me a great deal of support over the past three years. In particular, I thank my close friend Air Chief Marshal Sir Sandy Wilson and his wife Mary. To Derek Read, David Bancroft, Ian Tavender and David Haller I offer a sincere thankyou. They all gave me unfailing encouragement and advice and boosted my morale during the difficult periods.

Finally, I have a special thankyou for my family. Had my dear wife been well enough to help, she would have given me all the inspiration and support needed. It fell to my three children and my brother to sustain me and without their love, support and encouragement, this project could not have been completed.

Preface

The stories that make up this book relate the flying exploits of twenty-one men who were decorated for their gallantry in the air during the Second World War. The selection has been chosen in an attempt to cover a wide cross-section of the roles of the Royal Air Force during that war and I have also attempted to include as many theatres of operation as possible. With the exception of the Victoria Cross, all the British gallantry medals awarded for flying are included and I have endeavoured to give recognition to all the main aircrew categories. To encompass all these aspects in so few stories has proved to be a complex task but I hope that I have achieved the right balance and, in doing so, have created a series of stories that highlight the wide variety of flying activities undertaken by the Royal Air Force, in addition to paying tribute to the courage of the men who flew on operations.

With just twenty-one stories, inevitably there are a few omissions. I would like to have given deserved recognition to the gallant aircrew who flew with the Air-Sea Rescue squadrons, those who supported the Special Operations Executive and to those who flew in smaller, but equally important, roles.