Kristen Alexander - Australias Few and the Battle of Britain

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First published in 2014 by NewSouth Publishing
University of New South Wales Press Ltd, University of
New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.

Reprinted in this format in 2015 by
PEN & SWORD AVIATION
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright Kristen Alexander 2014, 2015

ISBN: 978 1 47383 379 1
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47385 943 2
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47385 942 5

The right of Kristen Alexander to be identified as Author
of this work has been asserted by her in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Typeset by Josephine Pajor-Markus

Printed and bound in England
By CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of Aviation, Atlas,
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For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
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For my dear friend
Jill Sheppard

Contents

Map 1: Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, 1940. Diane Bricknell

Map 2: 11 Group during the Battle of Britain, 1940. Diane Bricknell

Authors note

There had been little time in the final months of writing Jack Davenport: Beaufighter Leader to read for pleasure, and I had saved up a pile of old favourites and new books for a literary splurge. Near the top was H.E. Batess lyrical and moving account of the Battle of Britain, A Moment in Time. It was as fresh as on my first reading but this time it provoked a new thought. When an Australian appeared, I wondered if Australian pilots had fought in the Battle or if Bates had exercised inclusive literary licence. I decided to find out.

I learned that 30 or so Australians had fought. Thirteen died during the Battle, another five before the end of the war. I spent hours looking at their photographs young men in uniform with clear eyes gazing at a camera that would forever preserve their images but obscure their characters, personalities, hopes and dreams. I decided to tell their story.

But who to choose? I planned a loose narrative structure and decided to select pilots whose stories best fit into that arc. The first to die. The last. Death or at least an untimely exit in each phase of the Battle. A survivor. But I also wanted a broad spread of backgrounds and experiences. State school, private school. Catholic, Protestant. RAAF trained, short service commission, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Married or affianced and single. The natural pilot. The one who struggled or failed to impress in training but later astounded.

Bill Millington, John Crossman, Ken Holland, Dick Glyde, Jack Kennedy, Stuart Walch, Des Sheen and Pat Hughes all met my loose criteria. They were as young as their fictional counterparts: their ages ranged from 20 to 26, with the youngest and eldest coincidentally sharing a birthday. The majority were born in 1917. Those men may have been young, but most possessed a maturity that belied their age and they rank among The Few. It is a privilege to tell of their part in Britains defence.

For the general narrative and framework of the Battle of Britain, I have drawn on the official account of the RAFs Air Historical Branch, which was first published in 1947 and republished in 2000. Daily casualty numbers differ depending on the source. I have deferred to those compiled by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster in The Narrow Margin. The Battle of Britain Historical Societys website has been a key resource for casualty lists.

For background biographical material, Kenneth G. Wynns Men of the Battle of Britain: A Biographical Directory of The Few has been invaluable, as has the assistance of Geoff Simpson, historical advisor to and trustee of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust and editor of the forthcoming third edition of Wynns biographical directory. Where possible, I have included the given names of the squadron friends, wartime associates and instructors of Australias Few. Unfortunately, squadron records and other sources did not always record given names, and our diarists often included only rank and surname.

Throughout, I have cited victory tallies. At the time, a destroyed had to be verified by someone who had seen the downed aircraft, such as another pilot or a person on the ground like a member of the observer corps or Home Guard. Even so, there is much debate about overall numbers, because often more than one pilot contributed to the destruction of an enemy aircraft. For squadron claims I have drawn on their operations record books. For individual scores, I have deferred to the forensic postwar work of Christopher Shores and Clive Williams in their Aces High and in the formers Those Other Eagles.

In the interests of consistency and readability, where appropriate, I have corrected spelling and improved punctuation in quoted extracts. For ease of reading, I have not used the 24-hour clock.

In recent years there has been some softening of how the men of the Battle of Britain are collectively referred to, but The Few is more appropriately capitalised within quote marks and I too have adopted this style.

Modern aviation literature refers to the German fighter types as the Bf109 and 110, but Allied pilots knew the aircraft as Mess-erschmitts and would call them Mes. Contemporary sources such as combat reports, operations record books and squadron diaries use the Me prefix. In deference to the pilots, I also use it.

The RAF was split into functional units called commands. Of these, key to Britains defence were Bomber Command, which controlled the bombing force; Coastal Command, which was dedicated to maritime defence and protection of supply lines; and Fighter Command, which was responsible for Britains fighter operations. Fighter Command was divided into a number of groups which had operational responsibilities for specific areas of the United Kingdom. 11 Group covered London and the south of England, 12 Group defended central England as well as central and north Wales, and 13 Group covered Englands north and Scotland. 10 Group, which formed on 1 June 1940, became operational on 8 July and assumed responsibility for southwest England and south Wales.

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