by Nick Thomas
Pilot Officer H.C. Richardson
Pilot Officer W.E. Schrader
Pilot Officer W.F. Sooman
Pilot Officer B. Warren
Flight Sergeant John Henry Curry, RAFVR
KIA 25.7.43
Sergeant J. Coward
Sergeant G. Donaldson
Sergeant I. Forbes
Sergeant R. Keating
Sergeant A.J. Osborne
possibly KIA No. 236 Squadron 5.7.44
Sergeant J. Quinn
Sergeant E.S. Shipp
Sergeant L.A. Smith
Sergeant T.D. Stewart
Nominal Roll of Pilots who flew with No. 485 Squadron, January-March 1943:
Wing Commander Peter Malam Brothers, DFC and Bar, RAF
Later Air Commodore, CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar
Squadron Leader R.W. Baker, RNZAF
Squadron Leader Reginald Joseph Cowan Grant, DFC, RNZAF
Bar to DFC 15.6.43
Flying Officer John Albert Ainge, RNZAF
KIA 24.9.43
Flying Officer Ian Allan Charles Grant, RNZAF
KIA 13.2.43
Flying Officer M.R.D. Hume, RNZAF
Flying Officer J.G. Pattison, RNZAF
DFC 23.7.43
Flying Officer A.R. Robson, DFC, RNZAF
PoW 13.2.43
Pilot Officer R.W. Baker, DFC, RNZAF
Pilot Officer M.G. Barnett, RNZAF
DFC 1944
Pilot Officer John Grant Dasent, RNZAF
KIA 22.12.43
Pilot Officer P.H. Gaskin, RNAF
Pilot Officer B.E. Gibbs, RNZAF
Pilot Officer L.B. Gordon, RNZAF
PoW 6.2.43
Pilot Officer M.R.D. Hume, RNZAF
Pilot Officer E.D. Mackie, RNZAF
DFC 18 May 1943, Bar 24 September 1943, DSO 4 May 1945, DFC (US) July 1945
Pilot Officer M. Metcalfe, RNZAF
Pilot Officer George John Moorhead, RNZAF
KIA 30.5.43
Sergeant D.G.E. Brown, RNZAF
Sergeant S.F Brown, RNZAF
DFC 14.9.45
Sergeant G.M. Buchanan, RNZAF
Sergeant Fraser Dudley Clark, RNZAF
KIA 22.8.43
Sergeant Thomas William Jackson Denholm, RNZAF
KIA 13.4.43
Sergeant A.V. Frewer, RNZAF
Sergeant J.A. Houlton, DFC, RNZAF
Sergeant R.J. Steed, RNZAF
Sergeant I.P.J. Maskill, DFC, RNZAF
Sergeant Donald Stuart McGregor, RNZAF
KIA No. 598 Squadron 9.5.44
Sergeant I.J. McNeil, RNZAF
Sergeant G.H. Meagher, RNZAF
Sergeant Herbert John Oxley, RNZAF
KIA 4.4.43
Sergeant K.H. Salt, RNZAF
Sergeant C.J. Sheddan, RNZAF
DFC 12.6.45
Sergeant K.N.R. Sissonn, RNZAF
Sergeant R.J. Steed, RNZAF
Sergeant W.T.H. Strahan, RNZAF
Sergeant F. Transom, RNZAF
Sergeant H.S. Tucker, RNZAF
Sergeant G.R. Wilson, RNZAF
Nominal Roll of Pilots who flew with No. 610 Squadron circa 2–13 February 1943:
Squadron Leader James Edgar Johnson, DFC and Bar (DSO 4.6.43, Bar 24.9.43, second Bar 7.7.44, DFC (US) 18.1.44, Order of Leopold (Belgian) 1947, CdG (Belgian) 1947, Air Medal (US) Dec 1950, Legion of Merit (US) October 1951, CBE 1.1.60, CB 1.1.65)
Squadron Leader A.E. Robinson (Australian)
KIA 10.2.43
Flight Lieutenant D.C. Collinge
Flight Lieutenant W.A. Laurie
Flight Lieutenant G. Volkersz
Flying Officer A.S. Barrie
Flying Officer C.G. Hodgkinson
PoW
Flying Officer George Samuel Malton (Canada)
KIA 28.3.43
Flying Officer L.A. Smith, DFC
KIA 10.2.43
Lieutenant Arnt Hvinden (Norway)
Lieutenant ‘Gerry’ Volkersz (Netherlands)
Pilot Officer S.C. Creagh
Pilot Officer A.H. Davidson
Pilot Officer J.T. Skibinski, MBE
Missing 13.2.43
Pilot Officer J.G.A. Small
Pilot Officer K.S. Wright
Flight Sergeant G.W. Worley
Sergeant H. Fallon
Sergeant Harold Richard Harris (New Zealand)
KIA 10.2.43
Sergeant T. Lisowski
Sergeant K. Michalkiewicz
Sergeant Howard Russell Parker
KIA 6.2.43
Sergeant E.S. Roberts
Sergeant J. Smith
Sergeant William Alexander Wyse, RAFVR
KIA 28.3.43
Chapter 14
Wing Commander (Flying) Culmhead Wing
Brothers was given a much deserved break from combat operations and on 2 April 1943 was posted to No. 52 OTU, Aston Down, as Officer Commanding Training Wing, under the command of Group Captain Fred Rosier, DSO (later Air Chief Marshal Sir Fredende Rosier, GCB, CBE, DSO). This was a rare opportunity for Annette and Pete to live together, renting Well Hill House in Minchinhampton, with their daughter, Wendy, who had been born on the 9 March that year. Fred Rosier and his wife, Het, became lifelong friends and it was a brief, happy period during the rigours of the war years.
On 1 August Brothers was appointed as Chief Flying Instructor, No. 61 OTU Rednal, near Shawbury: ‘I was sent down on rest, transferred to [a] Spitfire OTU near Shawbury where the station commander [Group Captain Don Finlay, DFC] was not exactly an old friend of mine.’
The pair had clashed when they served at RAF Tangmere, Finlay as Wing Commander (Engineer). One day matters had come to a head and Brothers told Finlay in no uncertain terms that he should lighten up: ‘You know, what you need is to get a pint of Scotch inside you and make yourself into an ordinary chap.’
Now a Group Captain and Officer Commanding RAF Shawbury, Finlay was on the spot to greet Brothers when he landed in his personailized Spitfire, which he brought with him from his role as Wing Commander (Flying) Tangmere, ‘Finlay looked at my aircraft and said: “We haven’t got enough aircraft on this unit for every pilot to have his own machine.”’
‘Stupidly, I said, “I fully realise that sir, that’s why I’ve taken the precaution of bringing my Spit.” This didn’t go down well with the stiff Finlay.’
Brothers began a short spell on the staff of HQ, No. 10 Group, at Rudloe Manor near Bath on 22 November, ‘initially in charge of training’, taking over from Group Captain Thomas Frederick Dalton ‘Tom’ Morgan, DSO, DFC and Bar, during his temporary absence on sick leave. As Acting Group Captain (Operations), Brothers was involved in planning air operations, under the AOC, Air Vice-Marshal Sir Charles Steele, CB, DFC (later Air Marshal Sir Charles Steele, KCB, DFC). Brothers’ role included giving the Wings their tasks, timings and rendezvous points. The tactics of the mission would be worked out by the Wing Leader, ‘I was acting Group Captain ops, and at midnight every night, we had a telephone conference with the other groups.’
The work was important, but while it was interesting to play a part in the strategy of the air offensive, Brothers was keen to get back into the air, and was fully aware that the RAF would need men with his knowledge and air experience if they were to guarantee the success of the liberation of continental Europe.
Brothers was sent to the Headquarters Air Defence of Great Britain on 4 April, attending No. 3 Air Support [Fighter Leaders] Course at Milfield three days later, making his last flight with them on 21 April 1944.
A return to operations came on 23 April 1944, when Brothers was appointed to No. 10 Group’s Exeter Wing, as Wing Commander (Flying), ‘My Wing consisted of 610 Squadron [Spitfire XIV], Squadron Leader R.A. Newbury, DFC: 616 Squadron [Spitfire VII], Squadron Leader L.W. Watts, DFC; 131 Squadron [Spitfire VII], Squadron Leader J.J. O’Meara, all based at Culmhead. At Colt Head I had 41 Squadron [Spitfire XII], Squadron Leader R.H. Chapman, and at Exeter, 126 Squadr
on [Spitfire IXB], Squadron Leader W.W. Swindon [after 20 June, Squadron Leader J.A. Plagis, DFC and Bar]. 263 Squadron [Typhoons], Squadron Leader Henri Gonay [Croix de Guerre (Belgian)], was at Harrowbeer.’
It was intended that in the lead-up to D-Day the Exeter Wing should fly fighter sweeps and escorts for daylight raids over North-Western Europe. Following the landings they provided close ground support, flying regular ground strikes. Brothers’ squadrons operated at anything from single sortie to multiple Wing strength.
Soon after assuming command, however, Brothers realized that his Wing was too widely dispersed to operate efficiently: ‘This was too scattered to control, so I moved 126 to Culmhead and later persuaded Tom Morgan to rename us Culmhead Wing and to form the Harrowbeer Wing [based at Perranporth] using 126 [along with Nos. 41 and 263 Squadrons], who had less range than our Spit XIs and VIIs, and “Birdy” [Wing Commander H.A.C. Bird-Wilson, DFC and Bar – later Air Vice-Marshal Arthur Harold Cooper Bird-Wilson, CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar, AFC and Bar] came and took over.’
Brothers had a meeting with No. 10 Group Operations Officer, Group Captain ‘Tom’ Dalton Morgan: ‘I explained my case; every time I went to visit a squadron away from Culmhead I would be recalled halfway there with orders that his office had ordered a Wing Sweep. This usually resulted in me rushing back to Culmhead in time to see the Wing departing, with me lacking sufficient fuel to join them. I therefore suggested to him that he form a second Wing at Harrowbeer with the two Spits units and the single Typhoon squadron, which he duly did.’
Brothers would be in regular contact with ‘Tom’ Morgan over operational matters until Morgan was posted to HQ 2nd Tactical Air Force prior to D-Day, the role for which he was later awarded the OBE (London Gazette, 14 June 1945).
Sitting in the Blackdown Hills five miles to the south-east of Wellington, Culmhead had opened as RAF Church Stanton on 1 August 1941, operating as a satellite to RAF Exeter. The first units to use the station were Nos. 302 (Poznaski) and 316 (Warszawski) Squadrons, flying the Hurricane IIb.
When Brothers arrived at Culmhead the base was in transition. The Royal Navy’s No. 24 Fighter Wing had flown in from Ballyherbert on 20 April. Commanded by Lieutenant Commander N.G. Hallett, DSC, the Wing, which consisted of Nos. 887 and 897 Squadrons, flew convoy escorts and anti-shipping patrols in the Channel, also taking part in the occasional Rodeo. Their Mk III Seafires would make a total of 400 sorties during a three-week period before transferring to HMS Infatigable.
Meanwhile, on 2 May, No. 610 Squadron joined No. 10 Group’s Roadstead 101, providing close escort to Typhoon fighter-bombers targeting shipping.
Brothers’ first op out of Culmhead, however, came a few days later when he joined No. 887 Squadron’s Seafires on Rodeo 128 to Rennes and Gael airfields, damaging gun positions and buildings. Brothers went along for the ride, making his first sortie on the Spitfire XIV, ‘The Mark XIV was the real performer thanks to its Griffin engine. It was a truly impressive machine, being able to climb almost vertically.’ Although he never took on an Fw 190 while flying the Mark XIV, Brothers added, ‘It gave many Luftwaffe fighter pilots the shock of their lives, when, having thought that they had bounced you from a superior height, they were astonished to find the Mark XIV climbing up to tackle them head-on, throttle wide open. I would have liked to have had a whole Wing of these aircraft.’
The Griffin engine’s torque made the Mark XIV a handful on take-off, even for an experienced pilot like Brothers, ‘Even with full aileron, elevator and rudder, this brute of a fighter took off slightly sideways.’
On 22 May Brothers detailed the recently arrived No. 616 Squadron’s ‘A’ Flight to fly on Rhubarb 255, in the Reimes to Laval area, attacking three trains, but losing Pilot Officer Prouting, shot down by flak from an armoured train in the Follingy Yards. Pilot Officer (175505) George Edward Prouting, RAFVR, was the son of Gilbert and May Prouting, of Cosham, Hampshire. He was 22-years-old and was buried in Equilly Churchyard, Cherbourg peninsula.
Early the following morning No. 616 Squadron flew on Rhubarb 256, strafing a radar station, two trains and a staff car. Brothers explained that, ‘on these missions we hit anything that took our fancy; vehicles, trains and airfields.’ The same day they also provided an escort to Mitchell bombers targeting Dinard airfield on Ramrod 131. For many like Brothers, the pattern of raids which heralded the invasion must have had echoes of the Luftwaffe’s aerial campaign over Britain in advance of what Hitler had planned to be the invasion and conquest of these isles.
Meanwhile, on 24 May, No. 610 Squadron transferred away from Culmhead, becoming a part of the Harrowbeer Wing. They were replaced by Nos. 126 and 131 (County of Kent) Squadrons, both equipped with Spitfire IXs (the latter effectively swapping stations with No. 610 Squadron).
On 28 May, Nos. 131 and 616 Squadrons flew Rhubarb 258 over Western France, while No. 126 Squadron made a reconnaissance to Batz and Ushant. Over the following few days Brothers’ squadrons flew on a number of Rhubarbs and Rodeos, No. 131 Squadron losing Warrant Officer Atkinson to flak on 29 May. Warrant Officer (413332) William James Atkinson, RAAF, was the son of Clifford and Elsie Atkinson, of Cremorne, New South Wales, Australia. He was 21-years-old and is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 259.
Brothers detailed No. 616 Squadron on further Rhubarb operations on 1 June, the Spitfires claiming two locos and a number of railway wagons and lorries, along with a gun position. A convoy patrol followed on the 4 June.
It was at about this time that Brothers attended a high-level Fighter Command conference in the company of Richard Atcherley, as ever a ‘disruptive’ influence, ‘Inevitably, with such a large gathering, progress was slow and Batchy’s interest flagged. Quickly drawing four lines on his conference pad he inserted a cross, pushed it to me and the game was on. Time passed, the pad grew thinner as sheets were used, and honours were about even when we heard the C-in-C [Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory] say, “What do you think, Batchy?”
“I’m sorry Sir, I did not hear the question as I was playing noughts and crosses with Pete.”’ While Brothers looked embarrassed and waited for a severe put down in front of his peers, Batchy’s amiable honesty defused what might have been a tricky situation, the incident bringing a little humour to an otherwise dry presentation.
Meanwhile, Culmhead went into lock down on 5 June in preparation for the D-Day landings. Overnight the aircraft were painted with black and white identification stripes on the underside of their wings and the rear of their fuselage, ‘These distinctive markings were intended to allow air recognition and prevent casualties from “friendly” fire.’
On 6 June, known ever since as D-Day, Brothers (flying No 131 Squadron’s Spitfire VII NX – U), led No. 131 Squadron on Rodeo 156 to Gael, Vannes, Karlin and Bastard, noting in his logbook; ‘131. Pranged three engines, two cars and odd lorries.’
Brothers made sure his pilots flew at over 6,000ft on these operations, to avoid the perils of light flak. It was during one of these sweeps that once again he demonstrated his tactical mastery, taking on and destroying a flak train, ‘One of my pilots spotted a flak train steaming along below us.’ Brothers acknowledged his call, but ordered the formation to maintain course, giving the enemy the impression that they hadn’t been observed. ‘After flying on for a further twenty miles, I gave the order to drop down to the deck and turn back in towards the train.’ Following the progress of the smoke plume as the train vanished into thick wood, Brothers lined up ready to lead a single attacking pass. ‘We timed our approach perfectly, and as the engine emerged from the wood I squared it up in my gunsight and gave it a broadside of cannon. The remainder of the Spitfires quickly followed suit, and by the time the deadly flak batteries had emerged from the wood we were on our way, having left the engine a hissing wreck.’
Meanwhile, having completed several convoy patrols over the D-Day Armada, No. 616 Squadron flew a Rodeo, destroying two goods trains, a staff car and around five military trucks. Brothers added a further commenta
ry in the leaves of his logbook:
‘D-DAY. Last night and this morning, British and Allied forces set foot on Hitler’s “European Fortress”. Landings all according to plan, with only slight opposition and few casualties. Out of 1,100 British and American troop carrying a/c, only twenty-three were lost. 4,000 ships taking part and 11,000 aircraft. Air opposition nil. Bridgehead firmly established and troops “pressing on”, behind Caen.’
