Hurricane Squadron Ace: The Story of Battle of Britain Ace, Air Commodore Peter Brothers, CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar
Page 37
While flying with No. 602 Squadron he had served under Brendan ‘Paddy’ Finucane, DSO, DFC and two Bars, Pete Brothers, DSO, DFC and Bar and James O’Meara, DSO, DFC and Bar, of these three outstanding commanders, he rated Pete as the best. In his autobiography Spitfire Offensive (1994), Sampson wrote:
‘I was very fortune to serve under three brilliant squadron commanders. When it came to leading, first his squadron and then his wing, he had what can only be described as an instinctive feel for the battle. Pete invariably led us into an advantageous position before joining combat.’
Sampson was with the squadron during the Dieppe Raid, describing Brothers’ leadership on 19 August as ‘exceptional’, adding that, ‘he was an outstanding fighter pilot with well over twenty aerial combats in which he was invariably at the right end, with the Hun at the receiving end.’
Following a fortnight at Radfel, Washington, Brothers returned to the UK, where he was sent to No. 1 Personnel Despatch Centre on 24 January 1945. Having attended a month long No. 10 Senior Commanders Course at Cranwell, commencing on 7 February, Brothers was posted to the recently established Central Fighter Establishment, under his long-time friend, Air Commodore Richard Atcherley. Here he encountered Robin Olds. The legendary USAF pilot had arrived in a Lightning twin engine fighter and, after a cup of something in the mess, they swapped aircraft so that Olds could fly a Spitfire whilst Brothers leapt into the Lightning. Pete later joked that his learning curve on multi-engine taxiing was extremely steep and he, ‘counted himself fortunate not to have wiped out most of the flight line.’
One of his first duties with his new unit was taking a leading role in the Battle of Britain commemorations. Sampson recalled that in September 1945 he had landed at RAF Tangmere. Stepping into the officer’s mess he found Pete Brothers having tea with a number of recently freed PoWs, including Tuck and Bader, the pilots were discussing their roles in the flypast. It was fitting that Brothers and his fellow Battle of Britain aces were to lead the first major peacetime celebration.
Despite his impeccable war record and obvious leadership abilities, both in the air and on the ground, Brothers didn’t initially settle back into his RAF career. The crunch came in 1947, ‘The Air Force said they wanted me to go to the Staff College in Haifa for a one year course and I said, “Not bloody likely!”’
And so, following a period of extended leave, Brothers left the RAF on 28 March 1947, joining the Colonial Service as a District Officer in Meru, in the foothills of Mount Kenya, before moving to Kisumu, on Lake Victoria, a year later. He kept his hand in, however, piloting his own aircraft, an Auster, which proved extremely useful for patrolling outlying areas and frequently flying to Nairobi, ‘I had a little plane in Meru; an expensive pastime, especially on Colonial Service pay. When you joined the Colonial Service, you were allowed to buy a car because that was the only way to get around, but it was on a seven year interest free loan that was deducted from your pay, which was a very good deal. But being awkward I said, “I want an aeroplane!”’
It is a testament to his flying skills that Brothers never had a mishap on either takeoff or landing, as the strip had a gradient of about one in fifteen and looked, from photographs, to have been about the same length as a cricket pitch.
Brothers would fly when he could, giving lessons, ‘to help pay for it and I had a thriving little flying club’.
‘I only had one false landing, bringing my daughter [Wendy] back from school [The Beehive] in Nanyuki; the engine started coughing and spluttering and while I still had some control I put it down on a bit of scrub near Narok.’ They and Brothers’ other passenger, Ken Hunt, were taken to the local District Commissioner’s house where they spent the night. The following morning Pete borrowed a tool kit and drove back out into the bush where he fixed the aeroplane. Having made a quick air test he returned with Wendy and Ken, ‘and off we went home.’ Communications being somewhat lacking, his wife, Annette, had no idea what had happened to her husband and daughter. She must have been very worried, but reassured Ken’s wife that, ‘Pete always turned up!’
Wendy, who was then only five, recalls the incident, writing of her father, ‘He would have grass airstrips cleared in the bush as necessary and was known by the locals as “Bwana Ndege” – the rough translation being “Mr Birdman!”’
Pete was great with his two daughters, and could keep them entertained with stories he made up for them, the telling of which would always include his favourite phrase, ‘Lo and behold’.
When the girls were young he had a fund of memorized poems and stories which he used to recite to his daughters and these stay with them still. Some of them probably would not have made it into the nursery rhyme books of today, but they still bring a smile to their lips.
Wendy recalled an early memory: ‘I was a passionate reader [from the age of seven or eight] and was allowed to read in bed before my light was turned out. My father would come up to say good night and turn out the light, which I always resisted because I could never bear to put my book down. It became a game and he would stand between me and the light and declare, “beware the Hun in the sun!” He would then remove my book and when I struggled to regain it he would pin me down under the blankets, lean over me and say, “I have the advantage of height!” To me it was just a part of the game and, as he never referred to the war or talked about it to me or my sister until we had families of our own, it was only as a mature adult that I realized these were the basic rules of engagement of every pilot who flew during the war!’
In spite of the trials and tribulations of late 1940s Kenya, it was a happy time for Brothers and his family. He had to call on all his powers of diplomacy and persuasion in administering his patch. Whilst there Brothers met Dick Abrahams near Nairobi. Abrahams was commanding a squadron of Lancasters based at Eastleigh, but had been assigned to carry out an aerial survey of Kenya. The two talked at length, Abrahams hoping to persuade Pete to re-enlist.
Hilary, Pete’s youngest daughter, recalls that: ‘Dick and father were to remain great friends. He had done our father a great service in getting him back into the Royal Air Force that he so loved. Dick and Joyce’s daughters, Linda and Jacqui, were of similar ages to Wendy and myself and so began our lifelong friendship.’
After two years in Kenya, Pete and Annette decided it was time to return to the UK. Here their children, Hilary and Wendy, would complete their education.
When Brothers sent in his letter of resignation he was informed that, ‘no-one resigned without the permission of the Colonial Secretary, Mr Creech Jones.’ Brothers duly wrote back saying, ‘You’d better tell this Creech fellow that I’m leaving and since I am temperamentally unsuited to the administration, I do not intend to interfere with it further.’
The reply was equally as blunt, inviting Brothers to pay back £957, the cost of the family’s passage and allowances. An indignant Brothers refused to pay. And then came a letter saying, ‘In view of your service to-date, you are entitled to six month’s leave on full pay and a passage home’.
Brothers said that he would pick up the pay in Nairobi. The ‘passage home’ turned out to be a voyage on a troopship, but Pete and Annette’s send-off was first class, ‘I threw a big party in Nairobi for all my chums.’
Brothers applied to rejoin the RAF on 2 June 1949 and was sent first to the Holding Unit at RAF Biggin Hill, his second home. He was commissioned as a squadron leader, but with seniority from 5 August 1946, ‘they invited me back and said I’d be squadron leader. They were charging me five years seniority for my two years out, which meant that when I came back all my chums who’d been junior to me were now my bosses.’
Brothers took the ruling on the chin, adding wryly, ‘I never had great ambitions to be Chief of the Air Staff or anything like that. All I wanted to be was a pilot who was paid the same salary as the Chief of the Air Staff!’
Attending No. 1 Pilot’s Refresher Flying Unit, Finningley, between 21 July and 19 August, Pete transferred to No. 201 Ad
vanced Flying School on 2 August, where he remained until 11 October. Following a month at the Air Ministry under Group Captain MacGregor, Brothers was sent to No. 230 Operational Conversion Unit, RAF Scampton.
During this period Annette and the girls lived at Pitts Cottage, in Westerham, where Annette’s aunt still ran her restaurant. There were also visits to Pete’s parents in Prestwich Park where Wendy and Hilary recall that:
‘Aunty Matty did nearly all the cooking and was a wonderful cook. I particularly remember her teas – if we were going to stay we always seemed to arrive at teatime and the table would be properly laid, with perfect sandwiches, (the bread actually cut by my grandmother who could cut the thinnest slices of anyone I have ever known!) and a mouthwatering selection of cakes – everything from fruit cakes to brandy snaps, jam tarts to macaroons.
‘Aunty Matty kept all her old ball gowns and shoes, in which we were allowed to dress up – a great treat. She was one of those souls who was always on the go. I boarded at a school near Westerham for a term and I can remember Aunty Matty sending me a huge tin of her home-made fudge – I was the most popular girl in the school while it lasted – which wasn’t long!
‘Aunty Matty was one of the many women of the First World War generation who never married. She doted on Pete and on us.’
Nearly three years into his commission, on 1 February 1950, Brothers was given command of No. 57 (B) Squadron, flying Avro Lincoln bombers, ‘I was hauled up in front of the postings Air Commodore, who had been one of my bosses in Fighter Command and he said it was time I learnt other things and he was going to post me to Bomber Command.’
Brothers was none too keen and said, ‘I can’t go there Sir!’
He said, ‘Why not?’
Brothers replied that his hands were, ‘too small for four throttles! And I’m scared of the dark!’
In a rebuff Brothers was told, ‘For God’s sake stop wittering and for once go and do as you are told. You are lucky that you’re getting command of a bomber squadron and there aren’t many squadrons flying at the moment.’
On this occasion Brothers took the advice and reported to RAF Waddington, where he assumed command from Squadron Leader R.A.G. Ellen, MBE. ‘So I had a Lincoln squadron which was a lot of fun actually.’
While it went against the grain to fly as a part of a crew, Brothers was determined to make the most of the posting. Quickly mastering the multi-engine bomber, he was keen to fly in action and soon saw an opportunity, calling in a favour:
‘I heard a rumour that a squadron was wanted for the Far East and so I phoned up my postings chum, who was by then deputy commander of Bomber Command and asked if it was true. He said, “Yes” and I said, “Well write 57 Squadron down in your notes will you?” and he said, “Christ Pete, you shouldn’t be talking to me. You should be talking to your AOC.” I said, “I don’t know him Sir, but I know you! Can you speak to him for me?” He said, “You are a bloody nuisance; you always have been. I’ll do what I can.”’
On 2 March, Brothers attended a Squadron Commander’s Conference, where he learnt that his canvassing had paid off, and No. 57 Squadron would fly ‘anti-bandit’ operations in the Malaya Emergency. His would be the first Bomber Command unit to be deployed in Operation Firedog:
‘We were to fly out on 15 March, which meant I had thirteen days to satisfy myself that my crews had sufficient training to perform under combat conditions. Meanwhile, the ground crews had to work around the clock; all the aircraft had to have 120 [flying] hours before they were due for a major inspection.’
The squadron’s six Lincoln bombers were fitted with long-range fuel tanks, while two additional aircraft were transferred from No. 61 Squadron for the duration.
Brothers’ daughter Hilary remembers, ‘standing in the garden of our quarters in Waddington, with my mother waving a tea towel as the squadron flew overhead on its way to Singapore.’
The first of the squadron’s aircraft arrived at Tengah on 20 March 1950. Six days later SASO AHQ Malaya, Group Captain Dunn, DFC, briefed the air crews in preparation for the squadron’s first bombing operation. This was launched on the 27 March, a formation of six Avro Lincolns bombing enemy positions in tight formation.
On 1 April five aircraft took off, dropping sixty 1,000lb bombs on the target area: ‘which from the air amounted to little more than a patch of jungle.’ The bombers made three runs before positively identifying the target area. Two further missions were flown before the month was out.
With British ground forces often operating in close proximity to the target areas, it became regular practice for a lower flying Dakota to act as spotter, fluorescent markers being used to indicate ‘friendly’ troop locations.
The squadron flew only eight raids during May. The bombing campaign intensified in June with a total of eighteen missions, mainly flown towards the beginning of the month and tailing off as the squadron began winding down ready to hand over the baton to No. 100 Squadron.
Their tour nearing its conclusion, the first of No. 57 Squadron’s Lincolns took off on the initial leg of the return journey to Waddington, via Negombo.
On 10 June, a formation of six Lincolns, three drawn from each squadron, took part in a bombing mission. In the absence of No. 100 Squadron’s CO, Squadron Leader G.D. O’Brien, Brothers led the operation, but the Brigade was still in the target area and Brothers had to make a second run.
The squadron was addressed by C-in-C FEAF, Air Marshal Sir F.J. Fogarty, KBE, CB, DFC, AFC, on 27 June, congratulating them on their success in the campaign and the high standard of serviceability maintained during their time in the Far East.
Over the following days and weeks the squadron’s aircraft and personnel were ferried back to the UK, the eight bombers between them clocking-up 239 hours and 54 minutes flying time during the return journey.
Back at Waddington a number of key personnel were granted leave during August. Those aircrew who had been attached to the squadron for the Malaya campaign returned to their own units. Meanwhile, the following communication had been received, commending Brothers and those under his command:
‘From: HQ FEAF To: HQBomber Command. Dated: 30 June:
‘For C-in-C from C-in-C
‘No. 57 Squadron leave here within the next few days and I should like to take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the magnificent way in which they have carried out their task in this campaign.
‘Since the first day of their arrival all ranks have shown the greatest enthusiasm and energy. This is in large measure due to the very able leadership of their commanding officer, Squadron Leader Brothers, DSO, DFC.
‘The high rate of aircraft serviceability reflects the greatest credit on maintenance crews often working in extremely difficult climatic conditions. Similarly armament staffs as usual have worked like Trojans.
‘No. 57 Squadron have indeed set a very high standard in squadron efficiency and, if I may say so, one which Bomber Command may well be proud.’
A provisional list of pilots and aircrew who flew operationally with No. 57 (B) Squadron (including aircrew who were attached to the squadron during the Malaya operations):
Pilots:
Squadron Leader P.M. Brothers DSO, DFC and Bar
Flight Sergeant Warwick
Flight Lieutenant J.R. Cox
Flight Sergeant Herbert
Flight Lieutenant Lang
Sergeant Hedges
Flight Lieutenant Scott
Sergeant Hudd
Flight Lieutenant Sinclair, AFC
Sergeant Steed
Flight Lieutenant Viner
Sergeant Whitaker
Flying Officer Gaywood
Sergeant Kidd (spare crew)
Flight Engineers:
Navigator/Bomb-aimer
Flight Lieutenant Cairns
Flight Lieutenant Ford
Flight Lieutenant Cole
Flight Lieutenant Trotter
Flight Lieutenant Welsh
Flight Lie
utenant Webb
Flight Sergeant Buchanan
Pilot Officer Webster
Flight Sergeant McEwan
Sergeant Boyko
Flight Sergeant Robinson
Sergeant Doyle
Flight Sergeant Rowe
Sergeant Law
Sergeant Arnold
Sergeant Martin
Sergeant Lowery
Sergeant Walton
Sergeant Oxenford
Sergeant Pountney
Sergeant Stalker
Navigators:
Flight Lieutenant Collard
Sergeant Blicq
Flight Lieutenant Garfit
Sergeant Brown
Flight Lieutenant Mortimore
Sergeant Buchan
Flight Lieutenant Peasley
Sergeant Cook
Flight Lieutenant Smythe
Sergeant Domican
Flight Lieutenant Webb
Sergeant Holland
Flight Lieutenant E.S. Welsh
Sergeant Stevens
Pilot Officer Iwachow
Sergeant Storey
Flight Sergeant Collins
Sergeant Walsh
Signallers:
Mid-upper Gunners:
Flight Lieutenant J. Carruthers
Flight Lieutenant Langston
Flight Lieutenant Meeghan
Flight Lieutenant McDonald