Description
Object description
British officer served as pilot with 66 Sqdn, No 12 Group, Fighter Command, RAF in GB, 8/1941-1/1942; served with 605 Sqdn, RAF and commanded 249 Sqdn, Air Headquarters Malta, RAF on Malta, 2/1942-7/1942; served as staff officer with Headquarters, Fighter Command, RAF at RAF Bentley Priory, Stanmore in GB, 8/1942-12/1942; served as instructor with Fighter Leaders School, RAF at RAF Chedworth, GB, 1/1943-4/1943; commanded 616 Sqdn, No 12 Group, Fighter Command, RAF in GB, 4/1943-7/1943; commanded Spitfire Fighter Wing, No 12 Group, Fighter Command, RAF in GB, 1943; served as staff officer with Headquarters, Fighter Command, RAF at RAF Bentley Priory, Stanmore in GB, 1943-1944; commanded 613 Sqdn, No 138 Wing, No 2 Group, 2nd Tactical Air Force, RAF in North West Europe, 12/1944-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as journalist with Daily Express Newspaper in London, GB, 1939-1940: background to starting to fly; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; memories of Sefton Delmer and pre-war journalists at Daily Express. Recollections of operations as pilot with 605 Sqdn and commanding 249 Sqdn, Air Headquarters Malta, RAF on Malta, 2/1942: Daily Express coverage of siege; losses of experienced pilots; flying of aircraft from aircraft carriers; opinion of Air Officer Commanding Malta Hugh Pughe Lloyd; smuggling written account of siege to Lord Beaverbrook; background to posting to Malta, 2/1942; memories of Stan Turner; reaction to air situation on arrival on Malta, 2/1942.
REEL 2 Continues: how situation changed for Royal Air Force, 2/1942-3/1942; contribution of British air control and radar; predictability of Axis raids; personalities who served on island; Fleet Air Arm attacking Italian cruisers off Tunisia, 5/1942; story of captive Royal Air Force aircrew who hijacked Italian flying boat back to Malta; degree of contact with civilians.
REEL 3 Continues: estimate of civilian fortitude; his crash landing on Malta and how Maltese women put fire out; nature of air war over Malta; visits to shot down Axis pilots; German Air Force pilots' opinion of Italian pilots; interception of Axis air raid; reasons why he stopped visits to shot down Axis aircrew.
REEL 4 Continues: opinion of naval contribution to survival of island; theft of his camera from officers' mess; how he inherited camera from shot down comrade Flight Lieutenant Norman Macqueen; protection and turn round of aircraft on island. Recollections of operations as pilot with 66 Sqdn, No 12 Group, Fighter Command, RAF in GB, 8/1941-1/1942: contrast in navigating during training in Canada and in GB; story of emergency landing at Marshall of Cambridge Ltd airfield at Cambridge; personal morale prior to attack on German ships on Brest, France; leading raid on German capital ships at Brest, France, 11/1941; lessons learnt from participation in raid.
REEL 5 Continues: importance of pilots first instructor; important of his succession of mentors; attacks on German shipping using Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIs off Netherlands coast, 1941; nature of anti-shipping strikes; losses during anti-shipping strikes. Aspects of period as staff officer with Headquarters, Fighter Command, RAF at RAF Bentley Priory, Stanmore in GB, 8/1942-12/1942: offer of post of personal assistant to Duke of Kent and how he swapped it with friend, Michael Strutt, 8/1942; opinion of staff work of Group Captain Theodore McEvoy.
REEL 6 Continues: character of Air Vice-Marshal William Sholto Douglas; report he made to Air Vice-Marshal William Sholto Douglas about loss of 133 (Eagle) Sqdn, RAF off Brest, France; contrast between Air Vice-Marshal William Sholto Douglas and Air Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory; story of approaching Air Vice-Marshal Basil Embry to get third operational tour in 1944; memories of Air Vice-Marshal Basil Embry; opinion of Group Captain Theodore McEvoy.
REEL 7 Continues: Aspects of period as instructor with Fighter Leaders School, RAF at RAF Chedworth, GB, 1/1943-4/1943: posting to newly formed school, 1/1943; memories of Brian Kingcombe; amusing story of comments made by New Zealand pilot; contacts he made during his career. Aspects of operations commanding 616 Sqdn, No 12 Group, Fighter Command, RAF in GB, 4/1943-7/1943: character of squadron and operations; problems of commanding squadron; contrast between all English and mixed nationality squadrons. Recollections of operations commanding Spitfire Fighter Wing, 12 Group, Fighter Command, RAF in GB, 1943: posting to command wing at RAF Coltishall; strange warning he was given on posting; unfortunate start to job.
REEL 8 Continues: formations flown by Fighter Command; resistance in squadrons to adopting finger four formation; problems with Supermarine Spitfire Mk V; opinion of work of Johnnie Johnson; importance of co-ordination between station commander and wing commander (flying); question of taking senior officers off flying duties. Reflections of service with Royal Air Force, 1941-1945: question of length of tours; memories of Richard Hillary.
REEL 9 Continues: German Air Force system of not resting pilots; question of right age for squadron leaders; dealing with case of homosexuality whilst commanding 249 Sqdn, RAF on Malta, 1942; signs of exhaustion among pilots; signs of Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF) cases developing; dealing with pilot who found operations an exceptional strain during period commanding 613 Sqdn, RAF in North West Europe, 1944-1945.
REEL 10 Continues: background to Squadron Leader Bill Duncan of 613 Sqdn award of Distinguished Flying Cross, 4/1945. Aspects of political career: memories of Prime Minster Winston Churchill, 1950-1955; Conservative and Unionist Party crisis of 1957.