The Luftwaffe attacks Britain.
On 4 July, during a Luftwaffe air raid on Portland, Able Seaman Jack Mantle, 20, continued firing his pom-pom gun from the starboard side of HMS Foylebank even after a bomb had shattered his leg and other wounds were sapping his life. He died at his gun post, shooting to the bitter end. His Victoria Cross undoubtedly inspired others to commit themselves to sacrifice in the future battle.
The Battle of Britain.
In August of 1940 the RAF's 644 fighters were pitted against 2,600 Luftwaffe planes. Among these pilots was Flight Lieutenant Eric Nicolson, 23, 249 Squadron. On 16 August, the day the Luftwaffe flew over 1,700 sorties, Nicolson, flying a Hurricane, was hit. Wounded in the eye and foot and his plane ablaze, Nicolson was on the verge of baling out when he spotted a Messerschmitt in his gun-sight. Lunging back into his seat, he pressed the blistering gun button. Screaming, "I'll teach you some manners, you Hun," he pursued the zig-zagging enemy at 400 mph into the sea.
As the dashboard melted, , Nicolson lurched out of the cockpit, somersaulted in the air and pulled the ripcord, parachuting to safety. "All I'm anxious about now is to get back flying and have another crack at the Germans", he told the Daily Telegraph, nursing an extra gun shot wound from a Home Guard Sergeant who mistook him for a German pilot.
Nicolson won the only Victoria Cross of the Battle, but it was blessed by Churchill's famous words of gratitude: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
Douglas Bader.
Douglas Bader, 29 in 1940, was a legend who won huge admiration - even among Germans. An outstanding sportsman, Bader joined the RAF in 1931 to be acknowledged as an exceptional pilot. Tragedy struck the following year. Bader lost both legs in an air crash. Undaunted, his extraordinary mobility on metal legs turned his defeat of tragedy into inspiration for, millions.
After persistent badgering of friends, in June 1940 Bader was appointed commander of 242 Squadron at Coltishall. His sheer flying skills, charm and force of character smothered the doubts of his startled pilots.
In the thrill of the Battle of Britain Bader loved stalking unseen Dorniers; darting out of clouds to pursue stray Messerschmitt 110s over Canterbury with long bursts and then witness them breaking up over the Channel; or, hearing the ground control announcing the location of "Bandit Angels", banking steeply to catch a gaggle of Messerschmitt 109s from below, picking them off like pheasants. Bloodthirsty, he infected his Squadron to kill the Hun, shooting down at least 22 enemy aircraft himself and helping his Squadron to eliminate another 50. "Coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb," he shouted gleefully as the Luftwaffe fled.
In the air, inbound high over France, with the prospect of a hard fight ahead, he developed a remarkable habit of making irrelevant comments. Four miles high over Le Touquet, he would remark: "That eighteenth green could do with a mowing, couldn't it?" Mouths twisted into reluctant grins behind oxygen masks at the absurdity of it, while the tension drained out of the pilots.
But in another reckless dogfight over France, Bader's Spitfire was shot down. He was saved by a parachute, but his metal legs were separated from his body. "Do you think you could look for my legs?" Bader asked his amazed captors.
With the chivalry of air aces the German fighter pilots invited Bader for tea at their base, and even Goering offered the RAF free passage to deliver a replacement leg to France. Instead, it was parachuted down during a bombing raid.
About to be transferred to a POW camp in Germany, Bader lowered himself on fifteen knotted sheets from his hospital window and escaped. While he hid in a Frenchman's house, baffled Germans scoured the countryside seeking a legless pilot. Recaptured, Bader delighted in baiting the Germans. After another attempted escape, he was dispatched to Colditz Castle. Inside his chess set he had concealed 1,000 Reichmarks, three compasses and seven maps. After his fourth abortive escape the Germans confiscated his legs every night.
After liberation in April 1945, he was feted as a hero and honoured.
In peacetime he worked for Shell and played excellent golf. His example inspired the disabled across the world to "Reach for the Sky". He died aged 72, on his way home from celebrating "Bomber" Harris's 90th birthday.
The Dortmund-Ems Canal.
The target on 12 August 1940 for Flight Lieutenant Roderick Learoyd was the Dortmund-Ems Canal, a vital waterway for coal and mineral supplies to Germany's industry, linking the Rhineland, the Ruhr and central Germany.
By night, Learoyd led five Hampdens - slow technically limited bombers, perilously vulnerable to enemy fire - to attack the canal. In the ill-matched confrontation with German fighters and ack-ack fire, two Hampdens were immediately destroyed and two badly damaged.
Doggedly ignoring the burning dangers, Learoyd flew his Hampden through the glare of searchlights towards the target. As shrapnel repeatedly blasted the fuselage, he dropped his bombs precisely on to the target and miraculously landed his crippled plane back in England.
Although the canal was repaired within two weeks, Learoyd's success and survival was itself awe-inspiring and worthy of a Victoria Cross.
Four years later, on 1 January 1945, 617 Squadron inflicted heavier damage on the canal. During the raid, Flight Sergeant George Thompson, 25, from Perthshire, was the wireless operator on a Lancaster hit by two shells. As the fire raged in the two gun turrets, Thompson helped the two gunners to safety, and extinguished the flames with his bare hands. As the crippled aircraft crash landed, he survived, only to die of his injuries three weeks later. One of the two gunners lived to be grateful that Thompson's sacrifice was recognised by a Victoria Cross.
Sir Archibald McIndoe FRCS - The Guinea Pig Club.
As Flight Lieutenant Tom Gleave led the attack on a formation of Ju 88 bombers over the south coast, his Hurricane was hit. "A long spout of flame curled up from the starboard wing, up the cockpit and across my right shoulder. I had some crazy notion that if I rocked the aircraft the fire might go out. Instead the flames increased until the cockpit was like the centre of a blow-lamp nozzle." A great flash and explosion blew Gleave out of the cockpit. Pulling the parachute ripcord, he floated down. Fire had consumed his nose, shrivelling the nostrils into tiny holes between his eyes. His hands, arms and legs were burned so badly he could no longer use them.
Gleave's salvation was Dr Archibald McIndoe. Born in 1900 in New Zealand, McIndoe was a plastic surgeon who rebuilt the faces and bodies of mutilated fliers. In ward 3 of a brown wooden hut behind the Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital in East Grinstead, he and his team gave hope and a new life to Gleave and many others fried beyond recognition.
For Gleave, McIndoe built a new nose; for others, he rebuilt entire faces, ears, limbs and more. He also encouraged their mental rehabilitation, helping them to come to terms with their terrifying appearance. Wives, girlfriends and servicewomen were asked to meet the Guinea Pigs, as the men were known, at special dances. Although they recoiled in horror at first sight, the women were mindful of the men's plight. "I gritted my teeth," recalled ATS Vera Cole, "walked straight up to one of them and began to talk. Other girls followed my example. Soon their scarred hands and faces faded into the background."
Thanks to McIndoe, Gleave and the other courageous young men could rebuild their lives. McIndoe was knighted in 1947 - one of many honours he received before he died in 1960.
Bombing Cologne.
The task of damaging the image of German invincibility in the harsh days of 1942 rested upon Bomber Command. The young pilots and crew flying slow, vulnerable planes, kept alive the morale of the British people. Britains imagination was boosted on 30 May 1942 by the first '1,000 bomber raid' against Cologne - the biggest concentration of air power in history.
Flying Officer Leslie Manser, 20, was among the last of the 1,046 pilots to take off from airfields scattered across England. Flying a Manchester, an old, underpowered bomber, it was his fourteenth mission.
As they neared Cologne the city was already ablaze. At the right moment Manser began his approach towards the inferno. Suddenly a searchlight glared into the cockpit, swiftly followed by anti-aircraft shells which punctured the metal and tore the controls. Ignoring the growing mayhem, Manser continued his run, dropped his bombs and turned for home. More shells ripped through the fuselage as he struggled to lose the searchlights and douse the fires before the fuel exploded. He ordered the crew to hurl everything possible outside to lighten the load.
His struggle to fly home and avoid capture was soon lost. "Prepare to abandon aircraft", called Manser. As his four crew bailed out, Manser gripped the controls to prevent the aircraft spiralling out of control and killing everyone. Alone he landed on a ploughed field but seconds later an explosion ripped through the aircraft. Ablaze, he struggled out defiantly, dragged himself to a tree and died, knowing that he had saved the lives of his crew. He was one of 50,000 air crew of Bomber Command who lost their lives during the war. Manser was awarded the Victoria Cross.
The Desert Air War.
After El-Alamein, the British and Commonwealth armies in the desert war relied on the RAF to harass and destroy the enemy. Day and night RAF pilots flew from desert airfields, targeting enemy concentrations and moving vehicles. Twice during that war Rommel himself survived bombs and machine gun fire from diving fighters.
Among those fighting for air superiority was Wing Commander Hugh Malcolm, 25, from Dundee, whose light bomber of 18 Squadron destroyed tons of enemy supplies, positions and even challenged their air bases in Libya. Like so many pilots Malcolm knew that each mission completed shortened his odds for survival. He finally met his end on 4 December, overwhelmed by a swarm of enemy fighters. His posthumous Victoria Cross rewarded months of endurance of danger.
The Dambusters.
On the night of 16/17 May 1943 Wing Commander Guy Gibson, 25, was entrusted with the mission to destroy Germany's industrial heartland in the Ruhr. The target for the newly formed 616 Squadron was the Mohne Dam, which if breached would flood Germany's factories.
Hedge hopping across enemy territory, Gibson led nine Lancasters with special bouncing bombs, invented by Dr Barnes Wallis, towards the artificial lake.
With anti-aircraft fire bursting around his plane, Gibson's bomb dropped and exploded near the dam wall. The concrete held. Gibson guided the next bomber, even flying alongside in the runup to deliberately draw the enemy flak. The second Lancaster was hit; the third Lancaster's bomb dropped but again the dam held. The bomb from the fourth Lancaster hit the concrete wall and suddenly vast sprays of water could be seen from the air as the dam crumbled and the lake began to cascade down the valley.
Celebrated as an idol and hero after his return to Britain, and awarded the Victoria Cross, Gibson wanted to return to operations. On 19 September 1944, his Mosquito was hit during a raid over Germany and he was killed. His posthumously published memoir, "Enemy Coast Ahead" was bought by thousands of admirers.
The Nuremberg Raid.
The attack on Nuremberg was described as the greatest air battle in history. On 30/31 March 1944 Pilot Officer Cyril Barton was flying on a Halifax, one of 795 bombers despatched to destroy the town.
Seventy miles from the target, after a long flight in dangerously good visibility Barton and his armada were attacked by German fighters equipped with radar. Barton's Halifax was damaged and his crew, misunderstanding a signal, bailed out. Alone in the aircraft, Barton continued on to his target, dropped his bombs and navigated his 600 mile return to Britain. Crossing the English coast on one engine, his fuel running out and his plane heading towards a village, Barton swung the crippled bomber away from the village and died in the crash landing.
His Halifax was among 94 aircraft lost that night, costing over 500 dead or wounded and 159 POWs. The damage to Nuremberg was minimal and the Luftwaffe lost only 10 fighters. Barton's sacrifice won him the Victoria Cross, but the horrendous casualties suffered by Bomber Command prompted a radical reassessment of strategic bombing.
Vulch's Personal Heroes.
James Edgar 'Johnnie' Johnson.
Johnnie Johnson was the second highest scoring RAF fighter ace, but his record is unique among all the Allied fighter pilots in that all of his 34 kills were single engine fighters, and he was hit by enemy fire only once. He was an accomplished hunter, his speciality being the careful stalk, followed by the swift surprise bounce. A true Vulture, Johnson served his apprenticeship flying as wingman to the legendary Douglas Bader.
Marmaduke 'Pat' Pattle.
With 50 victories, the loss of his records mean that Pattle's score is approximate only, but there can be no doubt that he was the top scoring Allied pilot of World War II.
A gifted flyer and natural marksman he took infinite pains to improve his talents, doing exercises to improve his distance vision and sharpen his reflexes. His first 15 victories were in the antiquated Gloucester Gladiator, 9 more victories followed in a Hurricane, and then in 33 Squadron over 39 days he shot down no less than 26 enemy aircraft. The end came on 20 April, even though sick and exhausted, he went to the aid of a fellow pilot hard pressed by a Bf110 over Eleusis Bay. He was set upon by other 110s and killed. What he might have achieved over Europe in a Spitfire we will never know.
Others Worthy of Mention.
David McCampbell holds the Allied record of 9 victories in a single sortie.
Bob Hanson destroyed 20 Zeroes over Rabaul in 6 sorties.
Hans-Joachim Marseille is said to have needed an average of 15 rounds per victory.
Jim Lacy shot down a Hayabusa in Burma with 5 rounds.
Canadian Wally McLeod shot down 2 FW 190As with a total expenditure of 26 rounds.
Who was the best pilot…….....they all were.
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