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

by Nick Thomas

  Shortly after his first solo his instructor put him into a competition, the aim of which was to test pilots agility by bursting balloons in flight with their propeller. Pete won and was always very proud of the tankard he was given as a prize.

  The months that followed saw Brothers fly a number of different types of aircraft, including the Avro Cadet 7-cylinder, Avro 616 Avian IVM (powered by the Genet Major) and the Desoutter I (powered by the Cirrus Hermes II). He was, however, initially prevented from gaining his Civil Pilot’s ‘A’ Licence due to the government unsportingly raising the threshold from sixteen to seventeen.

  Meanwhile, Brothers studied the all-embracing Air Regulations, which had to be learnt from cover to cover if he was to pass the written exam, without which he would not be able to qualify for his licence.

  In order to keep Brothers’ interest going whilst waiting to take his test, one of his instructors, George Yuill, taught him advanced aerobatics. George and his wife Molly became lifelong family friends. Brothers would later credit Yuill’s tutoring with saving his life during his early combats, ‘I was taught some tricks that the Air Force never dreamed up. My instructor, George Yuill, was a Sopwith Camel pilot from the First World War …’

  Brothers’ logbook reveals that another of his early instructors was V. H. ‘Val’ Baker, one half of the Martin Baker Company, which later developed a number of aviation products, most notably ejection seats.

  The trainers were all open cockpit aircraft, which often meant enduring temperatures ranging from -20°F to -40°F when flying at higher altitudes, ‘Often when we landed the oil had to be drained and heated to prevent it from solidifying.’

  Finally, having attained his seventeenth birthday, Brothers was able to put in for his flying test, which he duly passed, receiving his Aviator’s Certificate, Private Pilot’s Licence No. 7189, dated 22 October 1934, granted by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale and issued by The Royal Aero Club.

  With his pilot’s licence safely under his belt, Brothers was still too young to apply for a short service commission in the RAF and took the opportunity to spend part of the spring of 1935 on the Continent. This was a time when political tensions were beginning to build in Europe due to the rise of the Nazi Party. Brothers took up the story, ‘We had business in Germany, but Adolf Hitler’s government put a stop to payments going overseas; we could only spend the money within the country’s borders. My father decided that I should go over there and spend time with a Nuremburg family and their three sons.’

  Over the previous few years the political situation in Germany had changed for the worse. The National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDP) had risen from almost total obscurity and by January 1933 was the majority party in the German Parliament. But the Nazi Party’s extreme policies meant that Hitler was unable to form a coalition. He immediately called a second General Election, on the eve of which the Reichstag, the home of Germany’s Parliament, was destroyed by a fire supposedly started by a Dutchman called Marinus van der Lubbe, a Communist sympathizer. In reality the fire was part of a Nazi plot to implicate the Communist Party. Hitler ordered a raid on the Communist Party headquarters, his henchmen planting documents implicating its leaders in a coup. On the back of a wave of nationalism, Hitler gained sufficient seats in the second election. Consequently, the elderly Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburgh, the President of the Weimar Republic, was unable to prevent Hitler’s appointment as Reich Chancellor. Meanwhile, on 7 March, the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland was reoccupied and twenty-one days later Hitler created a one party state – the ‘Third Reich’ had been born.

  The leaders of the NSDP believed that the first step in the rise of the Germanspeaking people was the indoctrination of the masses. This would either be through exploiting patriotism and the fears of a defeated nation, or by brute force, ‘When you went to the cinema there were news reels in the middle showing Germans marching up and down, and the “Seig Heil!” and all that.’

  Despite these worrying developments it was still considered safe to travel, but when Brothers arrived in Germany he found that the three children of his host family were all involved in the national youth movements. Brothers recalled that Harald, the oldest, was, ‘A big, burly chap. At 6 am you’d hear him outside in the street, marching along in his black [Waffen SS] uniform leading a bunch of chaps with shovels on their shoulders for rifles.’

  The second eldest son, Kurt, was the same age as Brothers. Like Brothers, he had a passion for flying and it soon became apparent that Kurt was learning to fly powered aircraft; this at a time when, under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was restricted to military glider schools and civil aircraft, ‘As a pilot myself, I knew that Kurt did more than fly gliders. He would let things slip or would give me a knowing look when I was talking about my own experiences of pilot training.’

  When pressed, Kurt would, of course, deny the existence of the Luftwaffe, saying, ‘Oh yes, we haven’t got an air force; ha ha!’

  Brothers’ suspicions were well founded and he later discovered that on completion of his pilot’s training course Kurt went on to fly bombers, ‘He died while flying on a raid over the Russian Front.’

  At this time – officially – Germany had only a small air force called the Deutscher Luftsportverband (German Air Sports Union), also known as the DLV. The fliers were headed by the Great War fighter ace, Ernst Udet. The new Luftwaffe only officially came into being on 9 March 1935, and was commanded by Herman Goering, Hitler’s great ally, and could boast a strength of over 1,875 aircraft and 20,000 officers and men, with conscription following a week later, accelerating its growth further.

  The youngest of the siblings was Walther who was an imposing 6ft 8 in, ‘I remember asking him what he would do when the war came. He replied that he was going to be on U-boats and I recall that I said something about him banging his head a lot.’

  Even as the guest of a German family, Brothers nevertheless found himself under pressure to acknowledge the Nazi regime. One incident occurred when he witnessed a group of uniformed youths on the march, ‘As the soldiers paraded past, everyone seemed overtaken by a misguided loyalty toward Hitler and the Nazi Party, giving a highly vocal “Seig Heil!” and the outstretched arm salute.’

  Amid the heavy rhythmic stomping of jackboots and the shouts of allegiance, Brothers suddenly became aware that he was being glared at. Standing out from the crowd in his flannels and a blazer, and with his hands firmly in his pockets, he had attracted the unwanted attention of two SS officers armed with Lugers and their ‘ceremonial’ daggers, ‘They stood over me, rocking back on their heels, thumbs dug into their belts in a macho pose. I felt obliged to make the salute, otherwise I would have been beaten up by these thugs.’

  Despite this unpleasant encounter, Brothers got on well with the family and Walther later travelled to England with him as a part of the exchange visit, staying for a fortnight at ‘Westfield’. Not long afterwards events in Germany took a further ominous twist when the Nuremberg Laws released waves of pure hatred and heralded the open persecution of the Jews.

  On 22 May 1935, in response to the advent of Germany’s remilitarization, the British Government voted to treble the number of front-line military aircraft available to defend UK soil. This added up to an increase of 1,500 aircraft of all types, with the number of Home Defence squadrons being increased from fifty-two to seventy-five. The government’s declared aim was to bring the RAF’s total first-line strength to 128 squadrons within five years.

  This rapid increase amongst all ranks, including pilots, meant a new approach to the process of pilot training. Previously, new pilots were given five months instruction on a basic aircraft before converting to an advanced type. Under the new syllabus, initial training was at a civilian run Elementary & Reserve Flying Training School (E&RFTS).

  Brothers’ time in Germany only stiffened his resolve to join the RAF. In reply to his exploratory note, Brothers received an ‘enormous and rather compl
icated application form, along with a covering letter.’ With the help of his parents, Brothers completed the paperwork, which he duly returned, ‘My mother didn’t object to my trying to join the Royal Air Force, because she reckoned I was a weakling boy who’d never pass the medical.’ At length, with his headmaster’s reference scrutinized, Brothers was invited to attend an Air Ministry selection board at Adastral House, Kingsway, London.

  Reporting at the appointed hour, Brothers was directed to the third floor, Room 21. Here he underwent an initial medical, checking for any frailties that would have automatically precluded selection for pilot training.

  The second stage of the process involved an interview board consisting of five inquisitors in civilian dress. Their job was to delve into Brothers’ ‘history’, asking a number of direct and intimidating questions, searching for any flaws in his application, while at the same time assessing his character.

  All seemed to go well and, after an anxious few weeks waiting on news, Brothers learned of his acceptance as a candidate for a short service commission in the General Duties Branch of the RAF – his journey had begun.

  Chapter 2

  The Road to War

  Brothers reported for the two month long ab initio flying course at No. 4 E&RFTS, Brough, Hull, on 27 January 1936, ‘My father’s birthday – very appropriate!’ Later the same day he made his first flight, under instruction from Flying Officer McNeill, in a Blackburn B2 (G-ACER). Brothers’ logbook recorded the flight, which lasted twenty minutes. Against the entry he wrote the words ‘local flying’ and ‘passenger flying’.

  Brothers made two further flights in the side-by-side trainer on 30 January. These involved climbs, gliding and gentle turns, and quickly progressed to climbing turns. With around 110 flying hours as a civilian pilot Brothers was already an accomplished flier by any standard, ‘… they realized that I could fly already and could do aerobatics …’

  By 4 February Brothers had already moved on to practicing advanced forced landings, slow rolls and inverted flying, and was deemed ready to fly solo, which he did, staging not the usual simple circuit and landing, but ten minutes of authorized steep turns and spins.

  Three weeks into the course and Brothers had completed 45 minutes on dual, 2 hours 5 minutes solo. As pilot, Brothers made two higher altitude flights on 11 and 12 February, reaching 10,000ft, without any adverse effects. Two days later, however, he experienced his first bit of bad luck when strong winds caused him to take out a wooden fence on landing. No blame was attached to Brothers and his training continued apace.

  Brothers’ logbook records that on 25 February he had a fifteen minute test flight at RAF Hendon, with No. 24 Squadron’s Flight Lieutenant Hargroves. The next assessment came on the 7 March with Chief Flying Instructor, Flight Lieutenant Arthur Loton (Later Wing Commander A.G. Loton, AFC, London Gazette, 7 January 1938), when he performed loops, rolls, spins and stall turns. A further air test came a little under a fortnight later, when he flew in the company of Flight Lieutenant Rowe.

  During his time at Brough, Brothers officially graduated to advanced forced landings, steep turns, spins, loops, vertical turns and various other aerobatics. Meanwhile, he had demonstrated his aptitude at navigation, with cross-country and instrument flying, as well as the usual circuits and landings.

  By the time Brothers passed out of his course on 22 March, he had completed 15 hours 20 minutes dual and 25 hours 40 minutes solo, with a further 5 hours on instrument flying. His logbook was endorsed with an overall assessment of his proficiency as a pilot, which was noted as ‘above average’ with ‘no areas of flying that gave concern’. But officially he remained, in the eyes of the RAF, a civilian ‘pupil pilot’ in uniform and on probation.

  On the following day, however, Brothers was granted a short-service commission (London Gazette, 7 April 1936). This could be extended by mutual agreement for a further five years to a medium-service commission, or even converted to a permanent commission. At the end of his service he would be placed on the Reserve list, being liable to immediate call-up in the event of war, ‘As a pilot officer, I earned the then princely sum of fourteen shillings a day, minus mess bills of six shillings, which covered food, laundry, accommodation and the provision of a batman – this excluded bar bills!’

  Promotion to the rank of flying officer usually came after eighteen months service, while further advancement depended on passing promotion exams; a practice which was suspended in wartime.

  Having passed through E&RFTS, Brothers began the mandatory two weeks disciplinary training, ‘I reported to Uxbridge and was sent off to get fitted with a uniform and taught to march.’

  Brothers was unimpressed at the RAF’s insistence on its pilots learning basic drill, including ‘square-bashing’, ‘I was an acting pilot officer, on probation, marching up and down with a rifle.’

  Brothers recalled that he was not always the model student, his indiscipline having to be addressed by his warrant officer instructor, ‘Will you stop talking Mr Brothers, Sir, when you are marching!’

  During the many lectures, and on the drill ground, Brothers’ thoughts were firmly fixed on his goal, ‘I didn’t join the Air Force to carry bloody rifles around; I joined to fly! What are we doing here wasting our time?’

  Much as Brothers might have felt that his time at Uxbridge was an unnecessary diversion, he remembered the impact of an address by the Great War ace, Squadron Leader James Ira Thomas ‘Taffy’ Jones, DSO, MC, DFC and Bar, MM. Despite his thirty-seven victories and string of awards, the Welshman suffered from nerves and spoke with a stutter, ‘There’s g-g-g-g-going to be a f-f-f-f-f****ing war and you ch-ch-ch-chaps are going to be in it. Never f-f-f-f-forget that when you get into your f-f-f-f-first combat, you will find you’re f-f-f-f****ing f-f-f-frightened! And never forget that the ch-ch-ch-chap in the other c-c-c-cockpit is twice as f-f-f-f****ing frightened as you!’

  It was with fondness that Brothers recalled, ‘Taffy later became a Group Captain and was station commander up in Cheshire somewhere on a Spitfire conversion unit [No. 57 OTU at Hawarden in 1941]. He decided he’d fly a Spitfire … he took off and pulled the wheels up too soon and slid along his belly halfway down the runway. He got out and said, “This f-f-f-f****ing machine is b-b-b-broken! Get me another one!” Dear old Taffy.’

  On 4 April, Brothers was posted to RAF Thornaby-on-Tees as a part of No. 9 Flying Training School’s first intake. Here he was to undergo a six-month course of intermediate and advanced flying training. On arrival each pupil was handed twenty-plus textbooks covering navigation, meteorology and aircraft armament, along with the practical workings of the aero-engine and the cockpit controls, ‘There were written exams all along the way, and we were required to achieve an aggregate of sixty per cent for a pass.’

  There was a reissue of flying kit, with a new flying helmet, gauntlets, overalls and a Sidcot flying suit and flying boots, and, perhaps most importantly of all, a parachute.

  Brothers’ initial flights were on Bristol Bulldogs, which he described as, ‘great big powerful monsters by comparison with what you were used to.’

  While at Thornaby, Brothers saw an announcement posted on the Duty Board: ‘Flying Officer Grandy has been promoted to flight lieutenant and awarded a permanent commission in the air force.’ Brothers attended a party in the mess marking the occasion, ‘I’d never had a glass of beer [before] and I got well and truly pie-eyed.’ Grandy would later become Marshal of the Royal Air Force and Brothers would often tease him for introducing him to alcohol.

  Not unnaturally, Pete sailed through the flying practical, suitably impressing the visiting Central Flying School instructor and qualifying for his Certificate ‘B’ Licence on 26 June 1936. Then in mid-July, Brothers heard the news that he was most waiting for, he had been selected for fighter-pilot training and transferred onto flying the Gloster Gauntlet. This was at a time when many operational squadrons were still only equipped with the Bristol Bulldog, as Pete later explained, ‘They were s
aying, “We’re the operational squadron and yet these chaps have got the new ones!” Then that was changed. Those [training units] that had Gauntlets lost them pretty smartly and the squadrons got them.’

  Returning from a brief period of leave, Brothers and his fellow pupils began the next phase of their course, which included cross-country, blind flying, cloud and formation flying, night flying, altitude tests, gunnery practice, battle manoeuvres, interceptions and target practice. While not in the air, Brothers continued his studies, striving to maintain a good pass rate.

  All fighter pilots had to demonstrate proficiency at air-to-ground firing before being allowed to fire live rounds at a drogue: ‘Air-to-air firing involved firing at a drogue towed through the sky at a steady and constant speed and was designed to give the pilots their first experience of firing at a moving target and was an introduction to the rudiments of deflection firing.’

  By the time Brothers passed out of Thornaby he had completed 39 hours 40 mins dual and 79 hours and 50 minutes solo flying on the Hawker Hart, Audax, Tutor and Gauntlet. Much to his delight, he was assessed as having an ‘above average’ rating on Gauntlets, then the fastest fighter in service with the RAF.

  At the end of the course, Pete Brothers was back drilling on the parade ground in preparation for the all-important passing out ceremony.

  On 11 October 1936, Pilot Officer Brothers was posted to No. 32 Squadron, recently re-equipped with the Gloster Gauntlet II and flying out of Biggin Hill. Sitting on a plateau in the rolling Kentish hills and affectionately known as ‘Biggin on the Bump’, the station had, since January 1933, been commanded by Wing Commander E.O. Grenfell, MC, DFC, AFC, a First World War ace with eight ‘kills’. The airfield was slightly higher than its neighbours and often remained open when they were declared ‘fogbound’.