by Nick Thomas
Brothers always loved dogs. His first two were bull terriers, Merlin, who was acquired the year he married Annette and who finished his days in Kenya, and Kali, who arrived when Brothers was posted to Mildenhall. In his retirement he took on a waif and stray mongrel whom he christened Spindle. They became inseparable, which meant that he would take long walks along the canals of Devon, helping him keep fit. Moving up from Devon to Eastbury in West Berks, to be nearer their daughters Wendy and Hilary, Brothers and Spindle had extensive fields to the rear of the house in which to enjoy country walks. After the demise of Spindle, Brothers maintained his interest sponsoring two wolf cubs at the nearby Wolf Conservation Trust.
In 2005 Pete lost Annette, his wife, confidant and best friend of sixty-six years. The couple had always been extremely close. ‘They’, as Pete described it, ‘were a team.’ Annette was an accomplished hostess, imperturbable in most situations, even when during the Battle of Britain, Pete arrived back at their hiring, RAF pals in tow, and swung open the front door to find Annette having a bath in a tub in front of the fire. As Pete used to joke, ‘I made the big decisions, like which fighter the Air Force should buy, whilst she chose where we lived, and where the girls were to be schooled.’ Pete and Annette had four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. They were immensely proud of them all and naturally their grandchildren adored them. Pete never really recovered from his loss. He adapted a couple of lines from a poem which somehow summed up his grief: ‘She first deceas’d – he for a little try’d, to live without her, lik’d it not and dy’d.’
Deprived of his greatest love, Brothers threw himself into projects supporting his old RAF pals and keeping their memory alive in whatever way he could. Often interviewed on all matters relating to the battle, and a regular attendee at Battle of Britain commemorative events in his latter years, Pete astounded many journalists and aviation enthusiasts with his infectious enthusiasm and energy, ‘People say to me, “You seem pretty fit, despite your age.”’
Always quick-witted, he would reply, ‘Yes; I’ve got the secret! Cigars, whisky and wild women, but I’ve run out of wild women so I need more cigars and whisky!’
Brothers was described by friend and fellow aviator ‘Laddie’ Lucas as ‘one of those distinctive Fighter Command characters, full of bonhomie, humour and decorations, who made light of the serious things, no matter what his innermost thoughts.’
Pete Brothers died on 18 December 2008 following a lifetime of distinguished service to his country. As ever, he had planned ahead and left his own epitaph thus:
“A Lancashire man with an old-fashioned sense of right and wrong, an innocent belief that virtue will prevail, and truth will triumph in the end.”
Bibliography
Arthur, Max, Last of the Few: The Battle of Britain in the Words of the Pilots who won it, Virgin Books, 2010
Bingham, Victor, Blitzed: The Battle of France May – June 1940, Air Research Publications, 1990
Bishop, Patrick, Fighter Boys: Saving Britain 1940, Harper Perennial, London, 2003
Bishop, Patrick, Hurricane, Airlife, 1986
Buckton, Henry, Voices From the Battle of Britain: Surviving Veterans Tell their Story, David & Charles, 2010
Cooksley, Peter G., The Story of No. 11 Group, Fighter Command, Robert Hale, London, 1983
Cull, Brian et al, Twelve Days in May, Grub Street, 1995
Dalton-Morgan, Group Captain Tom (with Clive Williams), Tommy Leader: Group Captain Tom Dalton, DSO, OBE, DFC & Bar, Griffon International, 2007
Deere, Group Captain Alan, DSO, OBE, DFC, Nine Lives, Cornet Books, London, 1959
Foreman, John, Fighter Command War Diaries Volume One: September 1939 to September 1940, Air Research Publications, 1996
Foreman, John, Fighter Command War Diaries Volume Two: September 1940 to December 1941, Air Research Publications, 1999
Franks, Norman L.R., RAF Fighter Command Losses of the Second World War: Volume I 1939–1941, Midland Publishing Ltd, 1997
Franks, Norman L.R., RAF Fighter Command Losses of the Second World War: Volume 2 1942–1943, Midland Publishing Ltd, 1998
Franks, Norman L.R., RAF Fighter Command Losses of the Second World War: Volume 3 1944–1945, Midland Publishing Ltd, 1997
Gelb, Norman, Scramble: A Narrative History of the Battle of Britain, Michael Joseph Ltd, London, 1986
Knight, Dennis, Harvest of Messerschmitts; The Chronicle of a Village at War – 1940, Frederick Warne (Publishers) Ltd, 1981
Ogley, Bob, Biggin on the Bump, Froglet Publications, 1990
Price, Alfred, The Longest Day: 18 August 1940, Macdonald and Jane’s, London, 1979
Ramsey, Winston G., The Battle of Britain Then and Now, After the Battle Magazine, 1980
Sampson, R.W.F., Spitfire Offensive, 1994
Sarkar, Dilip, Battle of Britain: Last Look Back, Ramrod Publications, 2002
Sarkar, Dilip, Last of the Few, Amberley, 2010
Shores, Christopher, Aces High, Grub Street, London, 1994
Shores, Christopher, Those Other Eagles, Grub Street, London, 2004
Stewart, Adrian, Hurricane: The War Exploits of the Fighter Aircraft, William Kimber, London, 1982
Stokes, Doug, Wings Aflame: The Biography of Group Captain Victor Beamish, DSO and Bar, DFC, AFC, Crecy Publishing Ltd, 1985
Wallace, Graham, RAF Biggin Hill, Putnam & Co Ltd, 1969
Wynne, Kenneth G., Men of the Battle of Britain, Gliddon Books, Norwich, 1989
Original Documents
Operational Record Books (all in Air 27) and Combat Reports (all in Air 50) viewed in microfilm form at The Public Records Office, Kew: Nos. 32, 41, 57, 79, 111, 126, 131, 133, 145, 165, 222, 257, 263, 307, 401, 457, 485, 602, 603, 610, 611 and 616 Squadrons
Civilian and RAF Logbooks belonging to Air Commodore Pete Brothers, CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar
Correspondence with:
Air Commodore Pete Brothers, CBE, DSO, DFC and Bar
Wing Commander D. H. Grice, MBE, DFC
Wing Commander T. F. Neil, DFC and Bar, AFC
Squadron Leader T. G. Pickering, AE
Wing Commander J. Rose, CMG, MBE, DFC
