Some called it a rest

Some called it a rest – After a regulated deal of hours and/or sorties, depending upon the theatre of fighting, a fighter pilot had to stand down. This usually meant that he had to instruct at an operational training unit for several months. So, I was sent to No. 57 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Hawarden in North Wales.

The Padre & Recreation

The Padre – The first time, and the last, that I had anything to do with a military padre was before the military got smart and put the right words into padres’ mouths. A young padre of the Tangmere Wing came to visit “B” Flight just before we were about to go on a sweep over France. Each of us in the Flight had the usual difficult-to-spit mouth; dry as a bone. The very first words that the young padre volunteered were, “Now, it is a probability that one or more of you may not be returning this afternoon…” and before he could get another word out, he was on his way out the screen door of the hut without a foot on the floor. (Can you imagine, uh?)

2 – 2 = 0

2 – 2 = 0 – The RAF fighter Command made no money with me as a fighter pilot as the fabulous score of two ME 109’s which I shot down was equated to my being shot down upon two occasions, and both times the kites were written off.

The first ME 109 which I shot down (July 8, 1941, and confirmed by Billie Raine) was in a beehive over the Lille area of France. I spent too much time on the guy’s tail before I got the sights of my kite out in front of him and I was lucky that I was not clobbered myself and I remember that I gave him about a two second burst of the small bore. The 109 was afire and the pilot bailed out. In this particular melee we lost two pilots.