Hurricane Squadron Ace: The Story of Battle of Britain Ace, Air Commodore Peter Brothers, CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar
Page 36
‘It was the last one I shot down. It nearly made me sick; he hadn’t a clue. He was doing gentle turns, he was a sitting duck. I slapped the cannon shells right into the cockpit which would have killed him instantly. The aircraft flipped over and hit the ground. I thought, “Oh Christ, I didn’t really mean that. I’d hoped you were going to jump out and parachute down.” It was very unpleasant.’
Squadron Leader Sampson, DFC, claimed one Fw 190 destroyed at 1520 hours west of Le Mans, his combat report giving a more detailed account of the air battle:
‘I was about 1,000 yds away when the two E/A on the extreme left broke to port and came towards me head-on. I climbed slightly to avoid a head-on attack and they rolled on their backs and went down. I half rolled after them. I had no difficulty in quickly closing the distance from 1,200 yds to 600 yds. We were now at zero feet. I gave a short burst at 600 yds to make them weave and they broke in opposite directions. I selected the starboard a/c. I gave a one and a half second burst of all armament at 450 yards. The E/A then broke starboard and I gave a two second burst at 300 yds one ring deflection. The Hun then started breaking both ways alternatively, and I was able to get in three more short bursts with small angles. I observed strikes on the cockpit and the E/A pulled up vertically to about 600ft, rolled over and went straight in, the pilot being killed.’
Meanwhile, Flight Lieutenant J.C.R. ‘Closet’ Waterhouse, one of No. 131 Squadron’s flight commanders, sighted thirteen Fw 190s flying in two boxes, one above the other. He attacked one fighter in the lower box, saw strikes followed by an explosion near the cockpit; the enemy aircraft crashed near Le Mans.
With the combat over, Brothers gathered as many of the squadron as he could back into formation and set course for home.
While flying over the Argentan at 4,000ft, Sampson’s Spitfire (NX – M) was hit in the port wing by flak. Brothers escorted the damaged aircraft home, going down to sea level to avoid the enemy. The Press got hold of the story and the Evening News wrote of Sampson’s exploits:
‘DAY OFF, SO HE GOT A 190
‘Spits and ‘Skitoes Range France.
‘Squadron Leader R.W. Sampson, DFC, took a day off yesterday – and shot down an Fw 190. He comes from Cheam, Surrey, and is on the staff at his group HQ. When he can he flies a Spitfire.
‘An ‘on-duty’ Spitfire man, Wing Commander P.M. Brothers, DFC & Bar, of Westerham, Kent, led the County of Kent Spitfires over France, and found them a bunch of 190s north of Alençon, 10,000ft above the allied tank columns racing for Le Mans.
‘Sent scuttling, he personally shot down one – hitting the pilot – and led an attack which sent the others scuttling.’
While the press coverage was good for morale, it drew unwanted attention from Group HQ and Sampson was summoned by Air Marshal Cole-Hamilton, and was reminded that he was a staff officer and was not to fly.
Two days later, on 9 August, Brothers led No. 131 Squadron on Ramrod 167, providing cover for No. 617 Squadron hitting the U-boat pens at La Pallice. Thirty enemy fighters were successfully fended off. With Squadron Leader MacDougall commanding, the mission was repeated on 11 (Ramrod 171) and 12 August, causing severe damage to the pens.
No. 131 Squadron flew two operations during 13 August, with Wing Commander Brothers leading. The first was a dawn sweep to the Loire on Rodeo 199. During the afternoon they flew on Ramrod 174, a sweep down to Bordeaux where fifteen Lancasters of No. 5 Group were bombing oil targets.
At dawn on 15 August, Brothers led Nos. 131 and 611 Squadrons to target Le Clot Airfield. This operation was part of No. 11 Group’s Ramrod 1203, a mass raid launched by 800 Lancasters and 1,100 Liberators and Fortresses, carpet-bombing nine airfields in Holland and Belgium in preparation for a renewed night offensive against Germany.
During the operation, Nos. 64 and 125 Squadrons of the Harrowbeer Wing, commanded by Bird-Wilson, provided cover for the front of the formation, while Brothers’ Culmhead Wing protected the rear, Brothers and his wingman acting as Tail-end-Charlie to the whole formation. Radioing to Bird-Wilson he discovered that the aircraft were so spread that ‘Birdy’ was over the Channel Islands while he was just leaving the outskirts of Bordeaux!
In a new phase of the war the Allies invaded Southern France, the landings being only lightly opposed. Meanwhile the breakout from Normandy was growing in pace.
On the following day, 16 August, Brothers headed up Nos. 131 and 611 Squadrons on Rodeo 203. The operation, however, was aborted due to thick haze which was encountered soon after crossing the French coast. Brothers – many years later – noted in his logbook with some degree of satisfaction, ‘Last operational trip. This completes 875 hours of operational flying.’
The front had by now advanced beyond the practical range of the Wing. On 27 August news came through that No. 131 Squadron was being transferred after three months at Culmhead, the Squadron’s ORB read: ‘We are moving to Friston in 11 Group and everybody, though sorry to say goodbye to Culmhead, is anxious to get nearer to the Hun.’
Before being posted away in October, Brothers was able to get in some recreational flying: ‘I use to whip up to Manchester aerodrome where I’d learnt to fly and my father would collect me and take me home. I’d take a weekend off as wing leader, I’d got a Spit Mk XIV; a wonderful aeroplane, and I’d take it home and show it to my father.’
Brothers had made the journey north to spend time with his family whenever he could, usually getting permission to borrow a Spitfire under whatever pretence he could, ‘I did that throughout the war’.
While this meant arriving in Manchester in style, flying home also maximized his time on leave – every moment at home was precious and with several tours under his belt, he never knew if his next leave would be his last.
Too young to have clear memories of her father’s visits, Wendy recalled her grandparents’ house, Pete’s boyhood home:
‘I have wonderful memories of Westfield. It was a large Victorian Gothic building, gloomy in its way, but I loved it. The lighting was by gas mantles and I loved lying in bed, reading to the sound of the shhhhhhh noise they made. We had stone water bottles to warm the beds in winter. Most magical of all were the attic rooms, stuffed with all sorts of forgotten ‘treasures’ (including many of my father’s toys) and accessed by a beautiful, wrought-iron spiral staircase from the main landing. There were conventional back stairs too, but these were far less interesting! There were cellars as well – though I was forbidden to go down into these. I must have been taken down there as a baby, as everyone in the house, including our bull terrier, Merlin, would shelter there during the air raids on Manchester. Being forbidden, of course, they were the place I longed to go, and Aunty Matty, ever indulgent, took me down on the promise not to tell anyone else!’
Wendy remembers as a child seeing the hand-tinted photographs of Pete’s sister, Iris, who had died tragically young: ‘She looked like her mother. Most of all I was intrigued by the fact that one photo showed Iris with brown eyes and in another photo blue eyes.’
Wendy also recalls Pete’s father with great fondness: ‘My grandfather had a photographic memory – whether by chance or because his eyesight was so poor, I do not know. He would recite poems to Hilary and me, holding us spellbound whilst we marvelled at his ability to remember so much.’
The Culmhead Wing
Nominal roll of No. 126 Squadron pilots who flew operationally late May–30 June 1944:
Squadron Leader W.W. Swinden
Officer Commanding
Acting Squadron Leader J.A. Plagis, DFC and Bar
Officer Commanding, DSO, 3.11.44
Flight Lieutenant R.TH. Collis
‘A’ Flight Commander
Flight Lieutenant J. Garden
Flight Lieutenant Jones
Flight Lieutenant Owen
Flying Officer R.A. Caldwell
Flying Officer Jan L. Flinterman
Flying Officer Graham
Flying Officer D. Kingsbury
Flyin
g Officer D. Owen
Pilot Officer E. Cousins
Pilot Officer F.K. Halcombe
Warrant Officer Austin
Warrant Officer Henderson
Warrant Officer Hinten
Warrant Officer Riseley
Warrant Officer Smith
Sergeant William Derek Webster
KIA 7.6.44
Nominal roll of No. 131 Squadron pilots who flew operationally 24 May-27 August 1944:
Wing Commander Crayford
Squadron Leader MacDougall, DFC
Squadron Leader O’Meara, DFC and Bar
DSO 27.10.44
Acting Squadron Leader C. Rudland, DFC
Flight Lieutenant Cecil Ernest ‘Pete’ Bearman
D. air accident 25.8.44
Flight Lieutenant Richard Ulick Paget de Burgh
Flight Lieutenant Stanley Aske Catarall
Flight Lieutenant Dicky
Flight Lieutenant King
Flight Lieutenant Vincent Kenneth Moody, DFC
KIA 12.7.44
Flight Lieutenant Rudland
Flight Lieutenant J. Sowery
Flight Lieutenant J.C. Waterhouse
‘A’ Flight Commander
Flight Lieutenant Woolley
Flying Officer Atkinson
Flying Officer John Russell Baxter
Flying Officer Edwards
Flying Officer Hirst
Flying Officer Kelly
Flying Officer L. Lackhoff
Flying Officer Maingard
Flying Officer J. Morris
KIA 17.5.44
Flying Officer R.K. Parry
Flying Officer Patten
Flying Officer C.A. Smart
Flying Officer J.C.R. Waterhouse
Pilot Officer R.P. Cross
Pilot Officer Morris
Pilot Officer A.F. Tate
Pilot Officer J.R. Wilson
Lieutenant A Hartshorne (FAA)
Warrant Officer Clatworthy
Flight Sergeant E.J. Tanner
Sergeant Williams
Nominal roll of No. 610 Squadron pilots who flew operationally April-24 May 1944:
Squadron Leader R.A. ‘Dicky’ Newberry, DFC and Bar
Squadron Leader John Bean ‘Shep’ Shepherd
DFC 12.12.44
Flight Lieutenant Brian Minden Madden
Flight Lieutenant Hugh Harold Percy
KIA 22.5.44
Flight Lieutenant John Bean Shepherd, DFC
Flight Lieutenant Ronald ‘Ronnie’ West, DFC and Bar
KIA 23.5.44
Flying Officer Brian Thomas Colgan
PoW 28.5.44
Flying Officer Dodson (Australia)
Flying Officer ‘Tex’ Donohoo
Flying Officer Robert Hussey
Flying Officer Norman Frank ‘Mac Mk III’ McFarlane
Flying Officer George Mercer McKinlay
KIA July 1944 (V1)
Pilot Officer L.E. Finbow
Pilot Officer Benjamin R. Scaman
Flight Sergeant Inguar Fredrik Hakansson (Sweden)
KIA 9.7.44
Flight Sergeant Harding
Nominal roll of No. 616 Squadron pilots who flew operationally 22 May–21 July 1944:
Squadron Leader Watts, DFC
K. collision with Sgt B. Cartmel 29.4.45
Flight Lieutenant Dennis A. Barry
Flight Lieutenant Jack Cleland
Flight Lieutenant G.C. Endersby
Flight Lieutenant M.A. Graves, DFC
Flight Lieutenant Clive Gosling
Flight Lieutenant G.A. Harrison
KIA 13.6.44
Flight Lieutenant H.G. Pennick
Flight Lieutenant Pontsoron
Flying Officer T.Gordon Clegg
Flying Officer Mike H. Cooper (Kenya)
Flying Officer T.D. Dean
Flying Officer C.K. Doughton
Flying Officer G.N. Hobson
Flying Officer A.G. Jennings
Flying Officer J.F. Kistruck
Flying Officer J.N. McJay
Flying Officer W.H. McKenzie
Flying Officer Miller
Flying Officer M. Moon
Flying Officer Prule Mullenders (Belgium)
Flying Officer J.R. Ritch
Flying Officer J.K. Rodger
Pilot Officer F. Clerc (France)
Croix de Guerre (France)
Pilot Officer G.E. Prouting
KIA 22.5.44
Pilot Officer K. Ridley
Pilot Officer A. Stodhart
Pilot Officer I.T. Wilson
Warrant Officer R.S. George
Warrant Officer R.A. Hart
Warrant Officer ‘Des’ Kelly
Warrant Officer G.M. Wilkes
Warrant Officer T. Sidney Woodacre
Flight Sergeant V.J.T. Allen
K. flying accident 29.6.44
Flight Sergeant E.W.J. Amor
Flight Sergeant ‘Sam’ Easy
Flight Sergeant ‘Eddie’ Epps
Flight Sergeant D.A. Gregg
KIA (landing) 15.8.44
Flight Sergeant F.G. Packer
Sergeant B. Cartmel
K. collision with S/L Watts 29.4.45
Sergeant J. Ost
Chapter 15
Post War Service and Honours
Brothers’ next posting saw him crossing the Atlantic as a member of the RAF Delegation which visited Washington between 8 and 28 October 1944. On 29 October he attended a course at the US Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Meanwhile, Brothers had learnt that he was to be made a member of the Distinguished Service Order, the award being promulgated in the Supplement to the London Gazette of 31 October 1944, published on 3 November:
‘Air Ministry, 3 November, 1944.
‘The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the following award in recognition of gallantry displayed in flying operations against the enemy: —
‘Distinguished Service Order.
‘Wing Commander Peter Malam BROTHERS, DFC (37668), RAFO.
‘Wing Commander Brothers is a courageous and outstanding leader whose splendid example has inspired all. He has led large formations of aircraft on many missions far into enemy territory. Much of the success obtained can be attributed to Wing Commander Brothers’ brilliant leadership. He has destroyed thirteen enemy aircraft.’
The Air Ministry’s records were incomplete, as Brothers’ tally was actually sixteen confirmed destroyed, one unconfirmed, one probable and three claimed as damaged. Meanwhile, Brothers had completed an almost unprecedented forty-four month period on operations, during four tours (875 operational flying hours). And while he had had to nurse a damaged aircraft back on more than one occasion, Brothers never had to abandon an aircraft.
Looking back at his wartime career Brothers was characteristically modest when he said, ‘It was a great chance to try to live up to those characters [Ball, McCudden, Mannock, et al]. I don’t think I did.’
Of course, those who served under Brothers and who owed their survival to his tactical abilities as a flight, squadron and wing leader, would have argued differently. One such pilot was Wing Commander R.W.F. Sampson, OBE, DFC and Bar, who flew under Brothers as a pilot officer in No. 602 Squadron and as a staff officer, when he hitched a ride on one of the Culmhead Wing’s operations.