Hurricane Squadron Ace: The Story of Battle of Britain Ace, Air Commodore Peter Brothers, CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar

by Nick Thomas

  First published in Great Britain in 2014 by

  Pen & Sword Aviation

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  Copyright © Nick Thomas 2014

  ISBN: 978 1 78159 311 0

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  Contents

  Introduction

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1 Born to Fly

  Chapter 2 The Road to War

  Chapter 3 The So-Called Phoney War

  Chapter 4 Blitzkrieg to Dunkirk

  Chapter 5 The Fight Goes On

  Chapter 6 Target Britain

  Chapter 7 The Battle Heightens

  Chapter 8 One Day’s Battle: 18 August

  Chapter 9 No. 32 Squadron Keeping the Upper Hand

  Chapter 10 No. 257 Squadron

  Chapter 11 Leading the Aussies of No. 457 Squadron

  Chapter 12 A New Command: No. 602 Squadron

  Chapter 13 Wing Commander (Flying) Tangmere Wing

  Chapter 14 Wing Commander (Flying) Culmhead Wing

  Chapter 15 Post War Service and Honours

  Bibliography

  Introduction

  Peter Malam ‘Pete’ Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar

  Fascinated with flying from a very early age, Pete Brothers gained his pilot’s license at the age of seventeen, by which time he was already an accomplished pilot, highly proficient at aerobatics and fighter combat techniques.

  In 1936 Brothers enlisted into the RAF and following his flying training was posted to No. 32 Squadron, then heavily involved in the development of the Fighter Control system. Re-equipped with Hawker Hurricanes a little after the Munich Crisis, the squadron was to remain at the forefront of Home Defence.

  Commanding ‘B’ Flight, operating out of Biggin Hill, Brothers played a pivotal role in No. 32 Squadron’s campaign. His first ‘kills’ came on 18 and 23 May 1940, while the squadron was using French airfields by day, returning to the ‘Bump’ at nightfall. Pete later related how his initial combat had taught him to have his guns calibrated to converge at half the recommended distance, which meant that he would have to get in close to the enemy. More combats and victories came in July when the Luftwaffe turned their attention to the Channel Convoys and mainland Britain.

  The Battle of Britain was intense, demanding much from No. 32 Squadron’s pilots. Pete later related as to how he was kept going on a mixture of caffeine and Benzedrine; the downside of which was that when he did sleep it was so deep that on one occasion he did not even hear an air raid which had left a line of craters just outside the mess.

  Leading from the front and often flying three or four sorties a day, Brothers continued to notch up claims and was awarded a much deserved DFC, which recognized his abilities not only as a combat pilot and flight commander, but also as a highly capable tactician.

  When No. 32 Squadron was finally rested in late August, only a handful of the prewar pilots remained, and most of these had been shot down, made forced-landings or had taken to their parachute at least once.

  Brothers could not be afforded any rest and was immediately sent to take command of a flight of No. 257 Squadron’s Hurricanes following the loss of both flight commanders in a single operation. With ‘Bob’ Tuck, he helped keep the squadron in the thick of the combat at a crucial time, striking decisive blows against the Luftwaffe on 15 September (Brothers adding two more victories to his score) and against the Regia Aeronautica Italiana on 15 November 1940.

  With two back-to-back tours of operations under his belt, Brothers was briefly ‘rested’, becoming an instructor at No. 55 OTU. Promoted to Squadron Leader, Brothers formed and led No. 457 (RAAF) Squadron, blooding them on Circuses, Ramrods and Rodeos over enemy occupied Europe, before their withdrawal to defend Northern Australia from the threat of Imperial Japan.

  Taking over No. 602 Squadron from ‘Paddy’ Finucane, a hard act to follow, the charismatic Brothers quickly made his mark, demonstrating himself to be the equal of anyone in the air, whether it be leading a flight, squadron or wing. He led his squadron on four offensive sweeps during the ill-fated Dieppe Raid, once again demonstrating his supreme abilities as a tactician.

  Marked down for one of the most demanding roles of any fighter pilot, Brothers was appointed as Wing Commander (Flying), Tangmere. Flying in the vapour trails of none other than his friend Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, CBE, DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, FRAeS, DL, Pete excelled in the new role, even adding to his own personal tally. He was awarded a much deserved Bar to his DFC, gaining the admiration of his squadron commanders who included Squadron Leader Reginald Joseph Cowan ‘Reg’ Grant, DFC and Bar, DFM, and ‘Johnnie’ Johnson CB, CBE, DSO and two Bars, DFC and Bar, Légion d’Honneur (France), Officer of the Order of Leopold with Palms (Belgium), Legion of Merit (US), DFC (US), Air Medal (US).

  There could be no rest for Brothers and following a taxing posting as Chief Flying Instructor at No. 52 OTU he was transferred to No. 61 OTU, before a brief spell directing operations at No. 10 Group.

  Brothers’ final combat role during the war was as Wing Commander (Flying) Culmhead Wing, making low-level strafes in support of the D-Day landings. Air-to-air combat became rare due to Fighter Command’s dominance of the sky over Europe. Ground strikes were, however, every bit as dangerous, with pilots lost to ground fire and routinely flying at under 1,000ft over the combat zone, when there would be no opportunity to deploy a parachute if they got into trouble.

  Brothers made his last claim, an Fw 190, on 7 August 1944. His role as a Wing Leader was rewarded with the award of the DSO, being credited with sixteen ‘kills’, one probably destroyed, one unconfirmed and three damaged.

  Brothers’ record was virtually unsurpassed. Having completed four tours, two as Wing Leader, he had flown 875 hours on operations and, despite a couple of forced-landings, never had to abandon an aircraft.

 
; Following a brief spell in the Colonial Service, Brothers rejoined the RAF and commanded No. 57 Squadron during the Malayan Emergency, before attending Staff College and being taken on at the headquarters of Fighter Command, appointed as Wing Commander (Flying) Marham, flying the Valiant V-bomber. Further promotion took him to roles at the SHAPE headquarters in Paris. As Air Commodore, Brothers commanded the headquarters of the Military Air Traffic Operations, before being appointed as the RAF’s Director of Public Relations during the height of the Cold War. Brothers’ peacetime service was acknowledged when he was appointed as a Companion of the British Empire (CBE).

  On retiring from the RAF, Brothers founded his own company, Peter Brothers Consultants.

  Brothers became an advocate for former members of Fighter Command, in particular the men who won the Battle of Britain, many of whom had paid the ultimate price. Appointed deputy chairman of the Battle of Britain Association in 1993, he became chairman ten years later. These roles brought him into the company of Her Majesty the Queen Mother, and later with His Royal Highness Prince Charles, as Patrons of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. But there was no side to Brothers and he was comfortable talking to anyone who had something sensible to say, no matter their status. He was always interested in what others were doing, or what their job entailed and chatted to all on an equal basis.

  Brothers was a stalwart of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, campaigning for what became the Thames Embankment Monument and later he turned his attention to help save RAF Bentley Priory.

  President of his local Air Crew Association in Hungerford, Berkshire, Brothers was also invited to act as patron of the Spitfire Association of Australia, a reflection of the esteem in which a ‘Pom’ was held by the Aussies, in remembrance of his service commanding No. 457 Squadron.

  Brothers was described by friend and fellow aviator, Wing Commander Percy Belgrave ‘Laddie’ Lucas, CBE, DSO and Bar, DFC (DFC, London Gazette, 17 July 1942; DSO, London Gazette, 14 January 1944; Bar to the DSO, London Gazette, 2 October 1945; CBE 1981), as ‘one of those distinctive Fighter Command characters, full of bonhomie, humour and decorations, who made light of the serious things, no matter what his innermost thoughts.’

  Thus was the career of a dedicated, patriotic and charismatic officer. Brothers’ courage and ability are a matter of record. What records can never reveal is the man himself; above all, family man, loving father, and the type of man whom, once met, became a friend. Those who knew him universally agreed how he could always lift the spirits of those around him with his charm and ready wit. As a friend he was fiercely loyal. He was a man with a zest for life and camaraderie, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, whose chuckle would presage some prank or story, of which he had many.

  In spite of his predilection to storytelling, his innate modesty prevented him from telling war stories unless they were humorous, or were against himself. His modesty is the most likely reason why his family could never persuade him to write his memoirs. His modesty, and the fact that he found many of the memories of lost friends too painful to revisit. On his own achievements he was always reticent. The telling of Pete’s story is long overdue.

  In life he had few equals, in death he has become an aviation legend.

  Pete Brothers died on 18 December 2008.

  Acknowledgements

  I am very much indebted to Pete’s daughters, Wendy Wallington and Hilary Cairns, for their interest and support throughout the writing of the late Air Commodore’s biography. They have supplied not only background information but went to great effort to transcribe details from both Pete’s civilian and RAF logbooks.

  Thanks to Wendy and Hilary’s kindness in making their late father’s photographic archive available, few photographs have had to be sourced elsewhere, although a small number have been drawn from the author’s collection.

  Reference has been made to correspondence and informal interviews with the late Air Commodore, while further details have been drawn from correspondence with other Battle of Britain pilots including: Wing Commander D. H. Grice, MBE, DFC; Wing Commander T. F. Neil, DFC and Bar, AFC; Squadron Leader T. G. Pickering, AE and Wing Commander J. Rose, CMG, MBE, DFC.

  The Operational Record Books and Combat Reports for all of the squadrons mentioned have been referred to on microfilm at the Public Record Office, Kew. Meanwhile, casualty details have been drawn from the Commonwealth War Grave’s official web site.

  Chapter 1

  Born to Fly

  Peter Malam ‘Pete’ Brothers was born at Prestwich, Lancashire, on 30 September 1917, the son of John Malam Brothers and his wife Maud. The younger of two children, Brothers lost his sister, Iris Elaine Brothers (born 31 March 1915), to meningitis ten days shy of his fifth birthday. Consequently, Brothers had few firsthand memories of his sibling. His parents treasured two large colour photographs of Iris, which hung in ‘Westfield’, their family home in Prestwich Park, which they shared with Pete’s eccentric Aunty Matty, Maud’s sister, who was to prove a source of many stories.

  Brothers was educated at North Manchester School, a part of Manchester Grammar School, and despite never having been an enthusiastic pupil, he earned a good school’s certificate, which would ordinarily have been the gateway to a white-collar job.

  For the young Brothers there was, however, the opportunity to join the family business, Brothers Chemical Company Ltd. Their factory was situated in Trafford Park, regarded by many as the world’s first industrial estate. By this date John, ably assisted by his brother, Thomas Edward Brothers, had taken over the mantle from their father, William. The company manufactured, among other things, precipitate of chalk, principally used in toothpaste and to slow the burning time of cigarettes. Their customers included the Players Cigarette Company, manufacturers of Navy Cut, No. 6, John Player Special and Gold Leaf. The Brothers Chemical Company Ltd. was bombed out in 1940 during the Blitz. With Pete needed in the RAF and his father not well enough to begin from scratch, the company ceased trading.

  Brothers recalled that, ‘The factory also produced bicarbonate of soda, which was a raising agent. We sold to people like Peek Frean the biscuit company, manufacturers of Garibaldi and Bourbon biscuits.’

  The chemical processes used in the factory and research laboratory made them potentially dangerous places to work. Brothers explained that at around the time of his birth there had been an accident resulting in an explosion. Brothers’ father was caught in the blast, ‘It involved hydrochloric acid, some of which got in his eyes. He lost the sight in one and couldn’t see a lot out of the other.’

  As a result of his injuries Brothers’ father had to use special binocular attachments designed by the German company Zeiss, which were fitted to his spectacles. When it came to more complex operations such as driving, these aids were insufficient, ‘Father had a big lens which came down from the roof of the car. He could just about make out wider, horizontal light sources like another car or a building, but anything thin, like traffic lights or someone walking on foot, he just couldn’t see them.’

  This contraption helped him to keep driving for a while, but eventually Brothers’ father was called for an eye test, which he inevitably failed. After this Brothers’ mother chauffeured him about.

  While it was desirable for the youngster to enter the family firm and maybe one day take over the helm, Brothers’ father was aware that his real interest lay elsewhere, ‘Since I was about five or six I had been mad about flying. To me train sets were boring, they just went backwards and forwards. I did nothing but play with model airplanes and, like many boys of my age, collected related news cuttings and [cigarette] cards.

  ‘I used to have both British and enemy airplanes, and would imagine myself the pilot of one, getting onto the tail of the other, pretending to shoot it down in flames.’

  Brothers’ heroes were men such as Major Edward ‘Mick’ Mannock, VC, DSO and two Bars, MC and Bar, and Major John Thomas Byford McCudden, VC, DSO and Bar, MC and Bar, MM. ‘I’d read a
ll of the Biggles books: The Camels Are Coming [1932], The Cruise of the Condor [1933], Biggles of the Camel Squadron [1934] and Biggles Flies Again [1934]. I was absolutely enchanted by it. It was the only way to live.’

  Perhaps half hoping that he would get the flying bug out of his system, or maybe pursue it as a hobby, John Brothers gave his son lessons as a sixteenth birthday present. And so the excited youngster was driven to the nearby Lancashire Aero Club, where he had his first close up view of the aircraft that had for so long been the object of his dreams.

  The club was formed at Alexandra Park Aerodrome, just outside Manchester City Centre in around 1924 and was one of the first of its kind in the country. On the invitation of the Avro Aircraft Company, the club had moved to Woodford Aerodrome in the following year. It was here that Brothers made his first flight on 14 October 1933, when, under instruction from C.H. Wilson, he took off in G-EBQL, an Avro 594 Avian IIIA (powered by the Cirrus Mk III). Pete’s civilian pilot’s logbook recorded a twenty-five minute hop before landing back at the aerodrome.

  Brothers was hooked and persuaded his parents to allow him to become a member and to take regular lessons, ‘I learnt on Avro Avians and Cadets at Woodford.’

  A ‘natural’ pilot, Brothers made steady progress and was soon highly proficient at the controls. On 4 November 1933, with 6 hours and 20 minutes on dual instruction, the time came when he was deemed ready to fly solo.

  Sitting for the first time alone in his cockpit, Brothers opened the throttle, rapidly taking to the air, before climbing away and circling to the left. He remembered to widen the circuit a bit to allow for the shallower gliding angle, before throttling back, watching the speed, gliding towards touch down. Now at 200ft, he constantly checked his altitude; 100ft … 75ft … 50ft … 10ft … Levelling out and holding off, he gently eased back on the stick a second or two before feeling the wheels touch down. He was down safe.

  Brothers had successfully cleared the first major hurdle and could continue his lessons with a growing confidence. Meanwhile, his father was already coming around to the idea that Brothers might make it as a pilot, ‘After I had gone solo, I used to take my father flying.’