The Aces

Edward 'Cobber' Kain DFC

The term 'Ace' in it's aerial context first came into usage during the earliest days of air combat, during the First World War when the French pilot Adolphe Pegaud was given the term 'l'as' (French for Ace) by the French press after he had shot down five German aircraft. Since then, the term has remained in use for any pilot who has achieved five or more victories. During the Great War, every side had it's Aces - Baron von Richthofen being the highest scoring with eighty victories, and arguably becoming the most well known fighter Ace of all time in the process before he was shot down and killed in 1918. On the Allied side, aces such as Frenchman Rene Fonck, the Canadian Billy Bishop and the British Ace Mick Mannock all became household names.

By the time of the Second World War, attitudes in the RAF towards Aces had changed somewhat. Whilst the Luftwaffe deliberately set out to create warrior-heroes in accordance with the knightly ethos encouraged by Dr Goebbels and his Nazi cronies, the RAF despite it's class consciousness then prevalent throughout the British armed forces, refused to officially recognise aces. Eventually, during the Battle of Britain, the RAF was reluctantly forced to co-operate with the media interest generated by the new generation of Aces amongst 'The Few.'

In this short piece, we shall concentrate on the RAF aces if for no other reason than one of space and even here we can only scratch the surface. The first RAF pilot in the Second World War to achieve five 'kills' was actually a New Zealander, Edward James Kain, known as 'Cobber' who scored his first victory as early as the 8th November 1939 over France and by March 1940 had acheived his fifth victory. During the Battle for France in May 1940, Kain achieved a further five victories and by 5th June 1940, he was the RAF's highest scoring fighter pilot with sixteen confirmed kills. The next day, he was informed that his squadron would be returning to England and on the 7th June, he left the airfield at Echemines to fly to Le Mans to collect personal belongings prior to flying across the Channel. As Kain took off, he undertook some low-level aerobatics to bid farewell to his squadron colleagues, misjudged a flick roll and ploughed his Hurricane into the ground. So it was that the RAF's first Ace met his end, not at the hands of the enemy but due to a flying accident.

Josef Frantisek DFM*

The Battle of Britain produced a glut of Aces, all of whom were seized upon by the British press. Some like Tuck, Malan (studied here in October 2010 http://blitzwalkers.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/different-adolph.html), Bader and Lacey quickly became household names and are still remembered to this day. Once again though, the first RAF pilot to achieve Ace status during the Battle of Britain was not British but on this occasion was a Czech flying as part of the Polish contingent of the RAF, Josef Frantisek. Frantisek had escaped to Poland during the German invasion of his homeland in 1938. When Poland was in turn attacked, Frantisek's squadron had been ordered to Romania and internment and extracating himself from the camp in which he was being held, Frantisek managed to reach France via North Africa in October 1939. Once in France, he elected to remain with the Poles and consumed by a fierce and understandable hatred for the Nazis, began what was in effect a private war against the Third Reich. 

Upon the fall of France, Frantisek reached England and became part of 303 (Polish) Squadron flying Hurricanes based at RAF Northolt. It has to be said that Frantisek was an extremely ill-disciplined pilot and the British squadron commander of 303 began to make arrangements to transfer him to a Czech squadron. Frantisek preferred to stay with his Polish colleagues and because of the desperate shortage of pilots, it was agreed to accommodate him as a 'guest' pilot flying a spare Hurricane. Once 303 Squadron took off, Frantisek would break formation and act alone pouncing on any unsuspecting Luftwaffe aircraft. Using these tactics, by early October 1940 Frantisek had accounted for seventeen German aircraft, in addition to those he shot down whilst attached to the French Armee de l'Air, which he claimed as a further eleven. However, like Kain, Frantisek's demise would come not at the hands of the Luftwaffe but as a result of a flying accident. On 8th October 1940, Frantisek's Hurricane crashed in Ewell, Surrey whilst on approach to land in circumstances that have never been fully explained. Some accounts state that he misjudged an aerobatic maneouvre whilst trying to impress his girlfriend, whilst others state that he simply made a critical error as a result of fatigue following what for him, had already been a long war.

Another New Zealand Ace was Brian Carbury and in common with one other pilot, the Pole Anton Glowacki, he became an Ace in one day, shooting down five German aircraft on 31st August 1940 on his way to a final score of fifteen and a half kills by the end of the year. Carbury was to survive the war but was to be dismissed from the RAF in disgrace in October 1941, having been found guilty at a Court-Marshal of having passed a large number of false cheques, at that time an offence punishable by prison sentence. So ended the career of another ace, albeit in bizarre circumstances.

Bob Stanford-Tuck DSO DFC**

Just to prove that some of the RAF's Aces were British, let us take a look at two of Fighter Command's home-grown talents. Robert Stanford-Tuck was born in 1916 of Jewish parents in Catford, southeast London and after a brief career as an Officer Cadet in the Merchant Navy, joined the RAF in 1935. After completing his flying training, in which he was graded 'above average', Tuck was posted to 65 Squadron at Tangmere, at first flying Gloster Gladiator biplanes but a squadron which was lucky enough to be one of the first to convert to Spitfires in December 1938. Tuck was chosen from his squadron to go to RAF Duxford and receive one-on-one tuition from Jeffrey Quill, senior Test Pilot of Vickers (Supermarine) in order that he could acquaint his squadron colleagues with the then revolutionary new fighter. As one of the RAF's first fighter pilots to fly the Spitfire, he was posted in May 1940 to 92 Squadron at Croydon, later moving to Hornchurch, again flying Spitifires and flying his first combat patrol on 23rd May over Dunkirk, Tuck shot down three Bf109s and the following day became an Ace, when he downed two German bombers. In the ensuing combat during the Battle for France, his score rapidly mounted and he was awarded the DFC on 11th June. During the Battle of Britain, Tuck like all of his colleagues in Fighter Command, was in the thick of the action and it was during this period that "Tuck's Luck" - he had survived an early 'prang' whilst training - came to the fore once again. He was forced to bail out of his Spitfire on 18th August over Tunbridge Wells but survived this safely and a few days later, on the 25th had to nurse his crippled Spitfire back to Hornchurch following return fire from a Dornier Do17 bomber. On another occasion, he personally had been hit and upon removing the bullet in his thigh, the Squadron MO told tuck "A few inches higher and they'd have had to transfer you to the WAAFs!" Tuck's luck would never really desert him. 

In September 1940, Tuck was promoted to command 257 Sqaudron, then flying Hurricanes based at Martlesham Heath. At this time, 257 was a 'hard luck' squadron, formed only a short time previously and suffering from an influx of inexperienced pilots and frankly, not having been previously well led. Tuck turned this squadron around, weeded out one or two individuals who were not up to the task and by September 15th 1940, 257 formed part of the fighter force that routed the German daylight raiders and on that day incidentally, Tuck's two victories brought his own personal score to sixteen. In July 1941, Tuck was further promoted and given command of the Duxford Wing. By this time, Fighter Command was taking part in large fighter sweeps across occupied France known as "Rhubarbs" as part of the new policy instigated by the new head of the Command, Sholto Douglas known as "Leaning towards the Enemy." 

During this period, many fine men were killed or captured including fellow Aces 'Paddy' Finucane, Eric Lock and Douglas Bader and on 28th February 1942, Tuck's luck was to briefly desert him when he was shot down over Boulogne. Even then his luck did not abandon him completely; his Spitfire having been hit and gliding towards a forced landing, Tuck fired a final cannon burst at the anti-aircraft gun that had hit his Spitfire, killing all of the gun's crew. He feared a lynching, but as he was surrounded by angry Germans, their anger turned to laughter when they spotted that one of his final shots had split the barrel of the German gun like a banana being peeled! Tuck's time in captivity was an incredible odyssey in itself and would take too long to describe in detail here. Suffice to say that after several escape attempts, he managed to do so successfully on 1st February 1945 and having reached Russian lines, was denied access to the British authorities until he again escaped, this time from his 'liberators' and reached the British Embassy in Moscow, who arranged his repatriation in March 1945. Tuck's final tally of victories was twenty nine kills, two shared kills and six "probables."

'Johnnie' Johnson CB CBE DSO** DFC*

Even this impressive tally was not the highest achieved by a Fighter Command pilot. James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson was born in Loughborough in 1915 and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in September 1939. An old rugby injury which had broken his collar bone and which had not been re-set correctly precluded his active participation in the Battle of Britain. However, following a successful operation to correct this, Johnson returned to operational flying with 616 Squadron at Tangmere flying under Wing Commander Douglas Bader. Johnson learned much of his early trade under Bader and on 26th June 1941, he was to score his first victory when he shot down a Bf109 over Gravelines. Johnson took part in the sweep on 9th August 1941 when Bader was shot down and captured and despite the loss of his Wing Leader, Johnson added to his personal score. Later promoted to command 610 Squadron at RAF Coltishall, Norfolk which continued on sweeps over occupied France, Johnson continued to add to his score, despite still flying the Spitfire Mk V, which was being outclassed by the new German Fw190s then coming into service. Promoted again in early 1943, this time to Wing Commander, Johnson was given command of 144 (Canadian) Wing at Kenley, which was equipped with the new Spitfire Mk IX, which was able to once again re-establish British mastery over the Luftwaffe's fighters. Johnson's score soon mounted and by August 1943, he claimed his twenty first victory. By this time, apart from fighter sweeps, the Wing was regularly escorting USAAF bombers on their daylight missions to targets in occupied France. In September 1943, Johnson was rested from Ops but was restored to flying duties in March 1944 in time for the run-up to Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. Back with the Canadians of 144 Wing, Johnson again scored regularly and by 23rd August 1944, Johnson equalled and then overtook 'Sailor' Malan's tally of thirty two victories. As Johnson modestly pointed out himself "Malan had fought with great distinction when the odds were against him. He had matched his handful of Spitfires against greatly superior numbers of Luftwaffe fighters and bombers." As Johnson also pointed out, his combat was mostly fought on the offensive, with either a squadron, a wing, or sometimes two wings behind him. Johnson's last victory of the war came on 27th September 1944 over Nijmegen, when his squadron bounced a formation of Bf109s. Johnson survived the war to finish with thirty four individual victories as well as seven shared victories, which was the highest achieved by any of the Western Allies. Postwar, he served in the Korean War flying F-86 Sabre jet fighters on exchange with the USAF and remained in the RAF until 1966, retiring with the rank of Air Vice Marshal.

There are many more aces to discuss and hopefully we shall return to the subject again in a future edition but whether one of the Aces, or one of the vast majority of non-scoring pilots, whatever nationality, the fighter pilot was, and remains a breed apart.

Published Sources:

Fly For Your Life: The Story of Bob Stanford-Tuck - Larry Forester, Cerberus 2002

The Most Dangerous Enemy - Stephen Bungay, Aurum Press 2000

The Narrow Margin - Derek Wood with Derek Dempster, Tri-Service Press 1990

Wing Leader - 'Johnnie' Johnson - Chatto & Windus Limited 1956

 

The Kiwi Connection

HMNZS Achilles

The country of New Zealand has been and remains to this day a good friend to this country, a friendship truly forged during two World Wars when the Kiwis stood shoulder to shoulder with their British cousins. Personally speaking, I count myself lucky to have made many friends from this wonderful country, largely due to my cricketing connections as well as my former involvement in the British shipping industry. I have yet to meet a New Zealander that I didn't like and trust.

During the First World War, New Zealand fought staunchly alongside Great Britain and this tradition was to continue during the following conflict. Indeed, when war was declared on 3rd September 1939, New Zealand's declaration followed immediately, with Prime Minister Michael Savage proclaiming "It is with gratitude that we range ourselves without fear beside Britain. Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand." 

As always, in a blog of this nature, it is impossible to detail every last piece of New Zealand involvement in the Second World War, but instead we shall concentrate on some of the more outstanding individuals whose contributions were perhaps more noteworthy than most.

On the outbreak of war in 1939, the Royal New Zealand Navy did not exist in name; at that time it was merely the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy and did not become a stand-alone force until 1st October 1941, when it was finally recognised that the Navy was sufficiently large enough and self sufficient to warrant becoming a navy in it's own right. Despite this, the New Zealanders were involved at an early stage of the war at sea, when the cruiser HMNZS Achilles formed part of Commodore (later Rear Admiral) Henry Harwood's South Atlantic Squadron which harried and pursued the German Pocket Battleship Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate and which resulted in the German raider scuttling herself in the Plate Estuary in December 1939. It was the first British victory of the War, setting the tone for the remainder of the war at sea and giving a victory which in Churchill's words "in a cold winter, warmed the very cockles of the British heart." The New Zealand Navy steadily grew in size during the Second World War, fighting in many theatres from the South Atlantic, to the Mediterranean and against the Japanese in the Pacific with great distinction. By the end of the War, the Royal New Zealand Navy had some sixty vessels in commission.

As far as land forces were concerned, the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was formed on the outbreak of war under the command of Major General Bernard Freyberg VC, British born but who had emigrated to New Zealand at the age of two when his family left for those shores. Freyberg had won his Victoria Cross during the First World War at The Somme whilst serving with Hood Battalion of the Royal Naval Division as battalion commander. During the capture of Beaucourt Village on 13 November 1916, after Freyberg's battalion had carried the initial attack through the enemy's front system of trenches, he rallied and re-formed his own much disorganised men and some others, and led them on a successful assault of the second objective, during which he suffered two wounds, but remained in command and held his ground throughout the rest of the day and following night. When re-inforced the next morning he attacked and captured a strongly fortified village, taking 500 prisoners. Though wounded twice more, the second time severely, Freyberg refused to leave the line until such time as he had issued final instructions for his men. 

Freyberg's bravery was not in doubt and he was an inspired choice to lead the Expeditionary Force during the Second World War. The New Zealanders fought with distinction during the North African campaign, as well as in the defeats in Greece and Crete but saw deserved success at long last at the Second Battle of El Alamein, when they were at the forefront of Montgomery's advance. They fought across North Africa before the final victory in May 1943, when they were withdrawn to refit before re-entering the fray for the Italian campaign, where they again fought with great courage and tenacity at Monte Cassino, finally reaching Trieste on 2nd May 1945. It was during the North African campaign that the name of another remarkable New Zealand came to the attention of the public - Captain Charles Hazlett Upham - the only man during the Second World War to win the Victoria Cross twice and only the third person ever to achieve this remarkable honour.

Captain Charles Upham VC

Charles Upham was born in Christchurch in 1908 and despite serving in the New Zealand Territorial Army as a Sergeant, insisted on joining the New Zealand Expeditionary Force as a private soldier. It was not until July 1940, by which time his unit was already in Egypt that he was cajoled into joining an Officer Cadet Training Unit. His first VC came during the Crete campaign, when he performed an extraordinary series of exploits during the eight days from 22nd-30th May 1941. It would take too long to explain the whole series of actions here but suffice to say, his performances involved fighting almost single handedly against nigh impossible odds, mounting attack after attack on enemy machine gun nests, routing these positions, rescuing cut-off Companies and guiding them to British lines, before returning to action despite his own wounds and repeating these actions time and again. His reaction on being awarded the VC was to state modestly "It's meant for the men." The Crete campaign, although ending in an Allied defeat, wreaked such heavy casualties amongst the German paratroops assaulting the island, that is became known as a Pyhrric Victory to the Germans, so much so that Hitler never again committed his Parachute Army in an airborne assault. Upham's second VC came a little over a year later at Ruweisat Ridge, on 14th-15th July 1942 during what proved to be the last advance of the Afrika Korps before the tide turned in the Allies favour later that year. During the German attack, Upham led his Company straight for the two nearest enemy strongpoints, destroying a tank in the process but himself receiving serious wounds from machine gun fire that broke his arm. Despite this, he continued to lead his men. He temporarily allowed himself to be taken to the Regimental Aid Post to have his wounds treated. However, he soon returned to lead his men but was again wounded and this time was unable to move. By the time his position was overrun, Upham's Company had been reduced to just six men. After being captured and having recovered from his wounds, he was to spend the rest of the war in the notorious Colditz Castle, having attempted to escape several times whilst being transported through Italy en route to Germany. His second VC was awarded at the end of the war upon his liberation and return to Britain. When the citation for this second award came before King George VI, such was the unusual nature of this potential award that the King queried it to Major General Howard Kippenberger, himself another illustrious New Zealander who had been seriously wounded in battle. Kippenberger immediately responded that in his opinion Upham had deserved his second Victoria Cross "several times over." The King needed no further persuasion and the award was made without further demur. Upham returned to New Zealand after the war and died in 1994. His funeral at Christchurch Cathedral was conducted with full military honours and over 5,000 people lined the streets in order to pay their respects to this remarkable man.

During the Battle of Britain, New Zealanders formed the largest single Commonwealth contingent, providing some 127 pilots during this struggle for Britain's very survival. Indeed, this was the second largest 'foreign' contribution, with only the Free Poles providing more pilots. The Kiwi Connection started almost at the very top, with Air Vice Marshall Keith (later Air Chief Marshall Sir Keith) Park leading 11 Group, RAF Fighter Command. Park fought such a successful battle that he was dubbed 'Defender of London' by no less than his enemies in the Luftwaffe. We have studied Keith Park in a previous post in this blog, so will not re-visit his story here, suffice to say that after the war, no less a luminary than Marshal of the Royal Air Force Baron Tedder stated of Park that "If any one man won the Battle of Britain, he did." Praise indeed from one illustrious airman to another. 

Alan Deere in 1941 by Cuthbert Orde

One of the 'few' during the Battle of Britain and one of the 127 New Zealanders to serve during the Battle was Alan 'Al' Deere. Al was born in Auckland in 1917 and had been one of the very first New Zealanders to join the RAF in 1937. He had passed out as a Flying Officer in early 1938 and was accepted on a short-service commission with the service. On the outbreak of war, he was serving with 54 Squadron, at that time still flying Gloster Gladiator biplanes. Having converted to Spitfires at the beginning of 1940, like most pilots he immediately fell in love with the pretty but lethal fighter and described it as "the most beautiful and easy aircraft to fly." In common with many Battle of Britain pilots, Deere first encountered the enemy over Dunkirk and during the French campaign. By 26th May 1940, Al had already shot down six German aircraft over France but two days later he was shot down for the first time during the war and after being knocked out whilst making a forced landing on a Belgian beach, was rescued by a British soldier and evacuated through Dunkirk (in common with some 338,000 others) and eventually returned to his base at Hornchurch some 19 hours after taking off. He was awarded the DFC in June 1940 for his actions during the French campaign. During the Battle of Britain, Deere was heavily engaged in the fighting, first in dogfights over the Channel defending Merchant Convoys and on 9th July, shortly after shooting down a Bf109, Al's Spitfire collided head-on with another Bf109 but he was able to nurse his fighter back to the Kent coast where he crashed. He was shot down three more times during the Battle of Britain, surviving each time and convincing himself that he had Nine Lives, which indeed became the eventual title of his autobiography. On one of these occasions he was shot down, he was taken to Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, the base of another celebrated New Zealander, the famous burns surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe. Although Deere was not seriously injured, McIndoe recognised that he was terribly tired and in need of rest and tried in vain to persuade Deere to stay in hospital for a few valuable days recuperation. Deere would have none of it and discharged himself the following morning. However, such had been the strain not only on Deere but on the whole of 54 Squadron, that on 3rd September 1940, they were withdrawn from 11 Group and sent to 13 Group based at Catterick in Yorkshire to recover from their exertions. Three days later, Al Deere was awarded a second DFC for his efforts in destroying eleven German aircraft and sharing in the destruction of two further aircraft. Whilst in Yorkshire training new pilots, Deere suffered a further collision and used up another of his nine lives and as a result of this was rested from active flying, first as a ground controller and then being sent on a lecture tour of America to teach American fighter pilots the tactics used in winning the Battle of Britain. Later in the War, Deere engineered a return to active flying as Biggin Hill's Wing Leader and later as leader of the Free French Fighter Wing on operations over the beaches on D-Day. After the war, Deere remained in the RAF, not retiring until 1967 as an Air Commodore, before which he had led the surviving Battle of Britain pilots' flypast at the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in January 1965. Al Deere passed away aged 77 on 21st September 1995 and following his funeral service, his ashes were scattered over the River Thames from a Spitfire of the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Les Munro (left) speaking to King George VI

There are many other New Zealanders that space does not permit more than a passing mention - Sir Howard Kippenberger, mentioned above - grievously wounded at Monte Cassino by a land mine, he recovered from losing both feet to mastermind the repatriation of the many New Zealanders liberated from German POW Camps. Les Munro, born in Gisborne in 1919, Les is still with us and is the last of the surviving Dambusters - the raid recounted here a few months ago which has entered British wartime folklore. Last but by no means least, the aforementioned Sir Archibald McIndoe, a civilian who became one of the pioneers of modern plastic surgery. McIndoe's burns unit at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead treated the terribly burned victims of the RAF during the Battle of Britain. He thought the World of "his boys" as he called his patients, and they in turn revered him, referring to him as "The Boss" or "The Maestro." 

To paraphrase Michael Savage, we have every reason to be grateful that New Zealand stood where we stood in the fight against tyranny.

Published Sources:

The Battle of The River Plate - Dudley Pope, Secker & Warburg 1987

Dambusters - Max Arthur, Virgin Books 2008

The Most Dangerous Enemy - Stephen Bungay, Aurum Press 2000

The Narrow Margin - Derek Wood with Derek Dempster, Tri-Service Press 1990

VCs of the Second World War - John Frayn Turner, Pen & Sword 2004