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

by Nick Thomas

  No. 615 Squadron’s Hurricanes climbed to operational altitude, almost immediately taking on the Bf 109s providing an escort for the Ju 88s of II./KG 76. They suffered a mauling, with Pilot Officer Petrus Hugo wounded for the second time in as many days, making a forced-landing. The South African born Petrus Hendrik Hugo would soon become one of the most highly decorated pilots of Fighter Command. Hugo was awarded the DFC (London Gazette, 23 August 1940), Bar to the DFC (London Gazette, 25 November 1941), the DSO (London Gazette, 29 May 1942), Second Bar to the DFC (London Gazette, 16 February 1943), the CdeG (France), and the DFC (US) (London Gazette, 14 November 1944).

  Sergeant Walley was killed at the controls of his Hurricane, while Flight Lieutenant ‘Elmer’ Gaunce bailed out with a slight eye injury. Sergeant (819018) Peter Kenneth Walley, AAF, was buried at Whyteleafe (St Luke) Churchyard, Row F, Grave 32A. Pilot Officer D. Looker landed his damaged Hurricane at Croydon, through a hail of anti-aircraft fire. The ‘kills’ were claimed by JG 3’s Oberleutnant Lother Keller and Leutnants Helmut Meckel and Landry. By drawing off the Bf 109s, however, No. 615 Squadron opened the way for other fighters – including No. 32 Squadron – to get at the bombers.

  No. 32 Squadron had been scrambled at 1255 hours, quickly followed by No. 610 Squadron. Once airborne they were vectored onto a large formation, then reported to be near Tonbridge Wells. The raid would hit Kenley first, nine Do 17s of 9./KG 76 coming in low.

  Next, about thirty Ju 88s of II./KG 76 came in to bomb, cratering the airfield. Around ten minutes after the Kenley and Croydon raids struck, Biggin Hill’s satellite at West Malling was also hit.

  Flying in a wide climbing turn, the Hurricanes met the enemy, approximately sixty Do 215s, Do 17s and Ju 88s, with their escort of forty Bf 110s and Bf 109s (stepped) in the rear, over Sevenoaks.

  As the two formations closed, Crossley placed the squadron in position for a head-on attack, as he later recalled: ‘We sighted them as we were coming from Biggin, and swung round in front of them. We didn’t have to work very hard to do it. We had plenty of time to line up.’

  In a series of strikes, Squadron Leader Crossley (flying V6535) claimed one Ju 88 destroyed, one Bf 110 probably destroyed and one Do 215 damaged, firing 1,600 rounds at 250 yards:

  ‘Having carried out a head-on attack on the main formation of Do 215s. I climbed and saw a single 88 [piloted by Rudolf Ahrens] about 2,000ft below. I did a quarter attack on it and after about five seconds there appeared to be an internal explosion [an oxygen bottle, which injured the flight engineer], and masses of bits flew off all round. I pulled away sharply to avoid them and flew alongside to observe the result [including damage to the right engine]. He jettisoned about ten small bombs and his undercarriage came down, and he glided down and crashed near Ashford [at Romney Marsh].

  ‘While carrying out the head-on attack, I took the starboard machine [a Do 215] and Red 3 said that it turned sharply up out of line, but could not confirm that it crashed.

  ‘I carried out another head-on attack on a 110 and caused its port engine to issue a stream of white smoke, but owing to my attention being taken elsewhere,

  I did not follow it up.’

  (signed) S/Ldr Crossley

  Yellow 2, Henson (flying V6536), claimed one Do 215 destroyed, firing 800 rounds in six bursts at 200 yards:

  ‘One machine was out of formation so I chose it as my target. I closed in to 200 yards (my machine was hit several times by rear gunfire from another machine at about 500 yds or more). I gave one good burst of fire into the starboard side of the Dornier, the underneath part of the starboard engine burst into flames, then my own centre tank burst and I had a lap full of petrol. I was struck in the face by a piece of bullet, so I broke off the attack, switched off my engine and petrol. I forced landed in a field at Shoreham. An army officer watched the bomber dive down in flames about eight miles SW from where I landed.’

  (signed) Henson.

  Yellow 3, Sergeant E.A. Bayley (flying P3481), claimed one Do 215 destroyed, with a Bf 110 damaged, firing 2,500 rounds:

  ‘We made a quarter frontal attack [firing a two second burst] on the formation of twenty-four Do 215s, broke away, and came up behind and below in an astern attack; after a five second burst I broke away to engage the Me 110s [twenty to thirty in the formation] which were closing in and as I climbed up I saw the Do 215 burst into flames and dive away. I made a front attack on an Me 110 and we exchanged fire for about three seconds. I broke away and chased the bombers, which were now running for home, I caught up with the rear one and gave him a long burst [five seconds]. His port engine started to smoke but he kept going.’

  (signed) Sgt E.A. Bayley.

  Red 3, Pilot Officer Barton (flying P3900), claimed one Ju 88 destroyed, firing half of his ammunition in several two to three second bursts at 300 yards:

  ‘I noticed a long line of bombers in threes reforming to go home (88s and 215s). I went in behind a section of Ju 88s and attacked the right hand one. After one burst bits flew off the fuselage – I put another burst into his starboard engine – smoke and flames came from it. He wobbled and lost his position in the section; it is extremely unlikely that he could have got home.’

  (signed) Barton.

  Squadron Leader Donald McDonald’s No. 64 Squadron now intervened to take on the Bf 110s and damaged the Messerschmitt flown by Ruediger. Meanwhile No. 32 Squadron’s ‘A’ Flight commander, Flight Lieutenant “Humph” Russell (flying V7363), claimed one of the Bf 110s which came to the bomber’s aid as destroyed over Edenbridge, firing one burst of six seconds at 300 yards:

  ‘I broke away upwards and to the left. I then saw about thirty Me 110s which had been following the bombers circling. I did a diving attack on one and opened fire with a quarter deflection shot. I had given him a six second burst and had seen my incendiary enter his cockpit, when I heard a very large explosion behind me [cannon shell burst in cockpit] and my machine went out of control. I then took to my parachute.

  ‘I am in Edenbridge Hospital suffering from wounds [left foot and elbow], and the local authorities state that the Me 110 at which I was firing caught fire.’

  (signed) F/Lt Russell.

  ‘Humph’ Russell, who had been with the squadron since 1936, had only returned the previous day from secondment to the Biggin Hill ops room. He had to apply a tourniquet on the way down from 10,000ft. His Hurricane (V7363) crashed at Skeynes Park Farm, Edenbridge, following combat over Biggin Hill at 1345 hours. Russell returned in April 1941, commanding No. 32 Squadron until January 1942. He was awarded the DFC (London Gazette, 19 May 1944), having become a PoW in the same month.

  Leading ‘B’ Flight into the attack, Brothers (flying N2921) could see the enemy’s cannon and machine-gun fire as the Bf 110s drew ever closer: ‘In head-on attacks the question was whether you went over the top of the aircraft or underneath it after the firing. I always used to go down, because I thought the bomber would pull up instinctively.’

  Easing the throttle back too far Brothers accidentally put his nose past the vertical and gravity closed the needle valve in the float carburetor. With his Merlin engine starved of fuel, Brothers’ Hurricane stalled out of the attack.

  Recovering from his spin, Brothers latched onto a Do 215 [actually a Ju 88], which he shared:

  ‘It was on 18 August 1940 when I shot down Wilhelm Raab in his Dornier 17. He was leading the formation, and I thought “You’ve got to take the leader out.” It was a bit stupid, because I was trapped in the crossfire. But I got his port engine nicely burning.

  ‘Bringing down a bomber was really satisfying, particularly if you got it before it dropped its bombs. Getting them when they were on their way home was better than nothing, but if you’d caught them before they’d made their drop, it was a real success.

  ‘You envied them their cannon. You also broke the Fighter Command rules that your guns were supposed to be towed in to 200 yards [sic] range, where the rounds are gathered together in shot, but you weren’t going to
get very far like that; the odds were that you towed them in considerably and you got up jolly close – 50 yards if you could – as close as you could get and then you really did hammer it.’

  The cannon shell had a greater weight and velocity than the 0.303 bullet. The cannon shell detonated on impact, delivering a deadly explosion which sent fragments into the target area. While the rate of fire of the cannon was slower, the enemy only had to hit his target with one or two shells and there was a good chance of delivering the fatal blow. As had been seen from German bombers brought down as early as 1939, literally hundreds of rounds could strike them from astern (where the engines and pilot had the protection of armour-plating) before a vital component was hit.

  Pilot Officer Boleslaw Wlasnowolski (flying P3679) claimed a Do 215, which is believed to have been the same Ju 88 that was claimed by a number of other pilots, including Brothers, who saw his victim crash at Ide Hill, eight miles south of Biggin Hill. The pilots consequently awarded a ‘half kill’ included Flight Lieutenant James Sanders of No. 615 Squadron and ‘a/n other’ of the same squadron, Flying Officer James O’Meara, Flight Sergeant Adrian Laws and Sergeant Ernest Gilbert, all of No. 64 Squadron.

  Meanwhile, Pilot Office J. ‘Polly’ Flinders had taken off in one of the squadron’s trainers and caught up with the bombers as they headed for the coast, claiming a Do 17 and a Do 215 destroyed, expending all of his ammunition:

  ‘At 1320 hours about thirty enemy aircraft [Do 17s and 215s] were seen 3,000ft above us approaching from the SE while we immediately engaged and broke up. I got on to the tail of a Do 17 and fired four bursts [of three seconds at 200 yards], clouds of black smoke and flames poured from the machine and it went into an almost vertical dive. The engagement took place in the vicinity of Godstone.

  ‘I then sighted another enemy aircraft, believed to be a Do 215 at 12,000ft flying east about two miles away and gave chase. He immediately dived towards the ground. A running fight then ensued, the Do pilot doing barrel rolls and half rolls in an attempt to get rid of me. We were now down to 300ft and as I knew I had very little ammunition left I refrained from firing until I had a certain target.’

  The pursuit moved towards Canterbury, where they came within range of the guns of 12th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment which opened fire, damaging the German fighter.

  Flinders’ combat report continued:

  ‘The Do 215 pulled up out of a dive: and as he lost speed I closed to 150 yards and got in a good burst [four seconds]. The starboard engine caught fire and the machine dived to the ground and exploded [at Harbledown, north-west of Canterbury, both crewmen dying in the wreckage].’

  (signed) P/O Flinders.

  Flinders had earlier flown Spitfires with No. 74 Squadron on 20 November 1939, claiming an He 111 (shared). Now with No. 32 Squadron, he probably destroyed an He 111 on 18 May, claiming a Bf 109 the following day. He destroyed an He 111 on 8 June and a Bf 109 on 15 August.

  Another member of the Training Flight, Pilot Officer K.R. Aldridge, claimed one Do 215 damaged, firing fifty rounds at 200 yards:

  ‘Fifty E/A sighted at 10,000ft above me over Biggin Hill. Intercepted one Do 215 between Maidstone and Sevenoaks. Delivered an astern attack from slightly above. A burst of four seconds hit the starboard engine dislodging part of the cowling and leaving the engine smoking.’

  (signed) Plt Off K.R. Aldridge.

  The Squadron ORB recorded the following additional victories for which the combat reports are now lost: ‘P/O Eckford (flying P3936) one Do 215 damaged, P/O De Grunne (flying R4081) one Me 110 probably destroyed, one Do 215 probably destroyed.’

  Not listed was Pilot Officer Pain’s Do 17, as he was shot down in flames and slightly wounded, landing by parachute at Horsmonden. Pain’s Hurricane (P3147) crashed near Herne Bay. He was admitted to hospital in Tonbridge Wells.

  Sergeant Henson (flying V6536) forced landed at Otford with a slight face wound and was discharged from the Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich. The remainder of the squadron landed at 1345 hours; rearmed and refuelled, ready to take on the next attack.

  Meanwhile, fifteen Spitfires of No. 610 Squadron were also engaged, reporting a force of about fifty enemy bombers and a similar number of escorting fighters, flying five miles south-east of Biggin Hill. They succeeded in destroying five Bf 109s, ‘A’ Flight attacking the bombers, claiming one He 111, three Do 215s, a Bf 110 and a Do 17, which landed virtually intact at Romney Marsh and was ‘captured’ by a local parson. Their guns also damaged three Do 215s and one He 111; all without loss.

  Among those claiming ‘kills’ was Pilot Officer K.H. Cox, who destroyed one Bf 109, probably destroying a second, firing several two second bursts and one five second burst:

  ‘We intercepted Me 109s at 31,000ft. I engaged two, firing short bursts at each. I then got one long burst and one went down in flames. After a short while I saw an Me 109 about to attack me from behind. I was over anxious and blacked out, stalled and spun. On recovering I found I was immediately underneath the Bf 109, so I finished off my remaining ammunition in a climbing attack and broke away, as I looked back I saw a large smoke trail but could not see a machine.’

  (signed) Pilot Officer K.H. Cox.

  Meanwhile, Pilot Officer B.V. Rees claimed one Do 217 and a Bf 109 destroyed, firing three long bursts at 300 to 200 yards:

  ‘I chased a Dornier which was separated from the rest and delivered two long bursts, his port engine went on fire, smoking very badly, following it down when I was attacked from behind [by a Bf 109]. I put my propeller in fine pitch and throttled back. My attacker shot past me and I gave it a very long burst at very short range (at about 150 yds). It suddenly turned over and crashed into a wood about ten miles from the aerodrome.’

  (signed) P/O B.V. Rees.

  With the majority of No. 11 Group’s fighters either in the air or refuelling, the third wave of bombers were more successful, leaving Kenley extensively damaged with only one hangar remaining unscathed. Critically, the Operations Room sustained direct hits and had to be transferred to a butcher’s shop in Caterham. Unable to see the airfield for thick black smoke, the Ju 87 dive-bombers had to divert to West Malling. Here they were targeted by the Hurricanes of No. 501 Squadron.

  Another element of the same raid, including a formation of He 111s, made for Biggin Hill, which they had hit at around 1330 hours. The bombers were over the airfield for barely ten minutes, hounded by sporadic attacks by Hurricanes and Spitfires, aided by gunners from the 58th Heavy AA Regiment firing from their positions around the perimeter. Added to this was light-arms fire of the men of the 4th Platoon of the Kent Home Guard.

  The enemy did not escape unscathed. Sergeant Harry Newton damaged the Do 17 flown by Günter Unger before being hit by return fire and bailing-out. Meanwhile, four Do 17s were destroyed, including that flown by Feldwebel Johannes Peterson, which was entangled by the rocket-fired cable defences launched by Aircraftsman D. Roberts, who also hit the aircraft piloted by Wilhelm Raab, but he managed to free the cable before its parachute could deploy. The remainder of the Do 17s were damaged.

  One Dornier of KG 76, which had earlier bombed Kenley as a part of the second wave and been hit by the airfield’s anti-aircraft gunners, was subsequently attacked by the Hurricane of No. 111 Squadron’s Sergeant Dymond. Flying low, it was set alight by withering fire from the Home Guard, rolling on its back it crashed on the far side of Biggin Hill, to the cheers of the gunners. The crew survived. Sergeant William Lawrence Dymond was one of the many unsung heroes of 1940. He destroyed an He 111 (shared) on 10 April, Do 17s on 13, 18 and 19 May, damaging an He 111 on 31 May, destroying a Bf 109 on 11 June, a Do 17 (shared) on 13 August, a Bf 110 and a Do 17 on 15 August, before damaging a Do 17 on 17 August and destroying another the following day. Further ‘kills’ came when he destroyed an He 111 on 24 August and damaged a Bf 110 on 30 August. Sadly, Dymond was killed in action on 2 September (flying P3875), following combat over the Thames estuary.

  The airfield suffe
red considerable damage to the landing strip, with a number of station buildings also being hit, along with one of the Bofors 40mm gun emplacements. One gunner was killed; the remainder of the wounded crew were taken to Decontam. In a shameful scene that followed, a young leutnant from the Do 17 crew, apparently spat in one of their faces.

  Some 500 bombs were dropped, ninety of which were delayed action. As the explosions died down, telephonist WAAF Sergeant Joan Eugene ‘Elizabeth’ Mortimer, whose lines were by then dead, grabbed handfuls of red flags and began marking the bomb craters and unexploded bombs. She knew that the station’s fighters, including among which was her boyfriend, might be returning at any moment from their combat. One bomb detonated close by, throwing her to the ground. Staggering to her feet Mortimer continued her efforts, ignoring orders.

  For her courage and coolness, Sergeant Mortimer was awarded the Military Medal, which was announced in the London Gazette of 5 November 1940: ‘During an intensive enemy raid on an aerodrome, Sergeant Mortimer displayed courage and example of a high order.’

  Mortimer’s gallantry award was one of three made to WAAFs at Biggin Hill that summer.

  Meanwhile, as the raiders withdrew, they were met by fresh Hurricane and Spitfire fighters, Nos. 46, 54, 56, 151 and 266 Squadrons all making claims.

  The RAF’s airfields had taken a pounding, but the day’s raids were not yet over and by about 1700 hours another raid, estimated at 250 aircraft from Luftflotte 2, had been plotted crossing the French coast. The formation included fifty-eight Do 17s and their escort, which were heading for Hornchurch. A second formation of fifty-two He 111s targeted North Weald. Both bomber formations were escorted by Bf 110s and Bf 109s.