TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY 5 SEPTEMBER 1940 he morning of 5 September saw the squadron called to arms once more: Tsix aircraft of ‘A’ Flight departed at 0945, followed fifteen minutes later by an equal number of Hurricanes from ‘B’ Flight, both flights being committed to aerodrome defence patrols. With neither formation making contact with the enemy, ‘B’ Flight landed back at 1040 and ‘A’ Flight 1045, the fitters immediately refuelling the Hurricanes as the squadron remained on readiness. It was not until just after 1430 that the second scramble order came through: nine Hurricanes under the command of S/Ldr Kellett getting airborne between 1440 and 1445. Following various course directions, the squadron was patrolling over Gillingham at 22,000ft when Kellett spotted anti-aircraft shells exploding across the Thames Estuary. Leading the squadron over to investigate, he identified approximately thirty-five Junkers Ju88 bombers escorted by Me109 fighters. Kellett, flying V7284/A, was manoeuvring his formation for an attack on the bombers when the escort tried to intervene; Kellett’s combat report: About a dozen Me109s came down and attacked us. I had manoeuvred up sun of the Me109s, so my section, Red, took on the Me109s, leaving the others to attack the bombers. I singled out one Me. and did a number of short deflection 303 Squadron Hurricanes dispersed at the north-west93 corner of RAF Northolt, September 1940. shots, followed by a long burst from below and astern. E/A caught fire and spun down, covering me with oil. I was looking about for the rest of my section when I saw another Me109. I was able to give it several deflection shots, and saw the de Wild ammunition bursting in the engine, which began to smoke and E/A dived straight down. I had used up all my ammunition and could not find my section, so I came home. Sgt Wünsche, Red 3 flying V7289/S, intercepted another Me109 that, unseen by his leader, was diving to attack S/Ldr Kellett: I came round on his tail as he fired at S/L Kellett, we were all only 100yds apart. The Me. was not straight on to Red 1 and he missed him, as he used no deflection. I was at 60-70yds and I fired all my ammunition at it, as I was afraid it would hit the other Hurricane. It turned on to its back, and the cockpit was a mass of flames. It fell slowly into the sea. As I had no more ammunition I dived to the ground and came home. Sgt Wünsche’s combat report was to be corroborated by no less a person than Northolt’s Station Commander. Group Captain Stanley Vincent was a former World War One fighter pilot and despite being well into his forties, took to regularly tagging along on an interception in either a Station Flight Hurricane or an aircraft borrowed from one of the Northolt-based squadrons. Despite the inherent dangers of flying on his own, Vincent continued this practice throughout the Battle of Britain, officially to monitor the fighting and performance of his squadrons, but really to engage the enemy. He was by no means the only fighter station CO to engage in such activity. The remaining member of Red Section, Red 2, Sgt Karubin in P3975/U, had dogfights with two more Me109s and recorded the following in the Squadron Chronicles: ….This moment I spotted a bomber formation with Messerschmitt escort. I jumped forward, giving a sign to the commander. We engaged in a combat. I attacked a Me109 with two short bursts. It went down, burning, I escaped upwards as I was attacked by a Me109. It was run over by Hurricanes and went down smoking badly – me behind him. We descended to tree top height. Chase. I hit the boost again, got very close to him and ran a razor over him. The Jerry’s scared mug flashed before my eyes. This very moment he hit the ground, squirting smoke with lumps of soil. I pulled up, circled him and took a look at the remnants of the burning machine. I opened the throttle, going at altitude towards the aerodrome. 94 Sgt Karubin pictured here with LAC Rosochacki, a member of his loyal groundcrew. Note the blown gunport covers, evidence the guns have been recently fired. Having run out of ammunition, the ‘razor’ move referred to by Sgt Karubin was a highly dangerous manoeuvre. With the two adversaries almost at ground level, Karubin manoeuvred his aircraft slightly above and alongside his opponent before turning and flying straight at him. Responding to his natural instincts the 109 pilot took the only avoiding action he could to avoid a collision, descend, but with insufficient height the 109 hit the ground and disintegrated. As Red Section engaged the escort, Yellow Section was bounced by another strong force of enemy fighters from above and out of the sun. Taking desperate evasive action, all three Hurricanes broke and dived away but in doing so lost contact with the enemy and so returned to base. Meanwhile the remaining three Hurricanes, Blue Section led by F/Lt Forbes in R4217/V, broke through the escort 95 to attack the Ju88s. Choosing the left aircraft in the last section, Forbes initially attacked from astern before breaking away and re-engaging from the front starboard quarter. Returning to attack again from the rear, he set alight one engine but then had to evade an Me109 before he could deliver the coup de grȃce. F/O Łapkowski flying P2985/Z as Forbes’ No2 attacked the Ju88 leading the same section as Forbes had just engaged. Closing in to only 150yds, Łapkowski made two passes from astern setting fire to both engines. Watching the bomber fall away, Łapkowski was surprised by an Me109, cannon and machine gun fire fatally hitting his Hurricane’s Merlin engine and setting it alight. He was to later record: ….I was shot by cannon from behind. My engine caught fire. I turned over on to my back, opened the cockpit cover and on getting out I broke my left arm near the shoulder. I was also burnt in the face and left leg. Łapkowski’s matter-of-fact wording hid the life or death struggle faced by the experienced twenty-six year old to escape his burning Hurricane before it became his funeral pyre. Landing at Rectory Road, Hawkwell, Łapkowski was admitted to Rochford Hospital; his aircraft, P2985, crashing at Benvills Farm, North Benfleet. F/Lt Forbes in his combat report stated that Sgt František, Blue 3, in R4175/R, initially broke away from Blue Section to attack an Me109 he witnessed firing at a Spitfire pilot who had just baled out. Normally such an event was guaranteed to excite comment and inflame feelings, so it is strange that in his combat report, František makes no mention of this incident, stating that the Me109 had attacked his own aircraft from above and to port, before overshooting the Hurricane. František had then reversed their rôles and, getting on the Me109’s tail, had fired a two second burst from 150-100yds, sending the Me109 down vertically in flames. He then rejoined Forbes to attack the Ju88s, setting the starboard engine of one bomber on fire before seeing it hit the water. The surviving eight Hurricanes landed back at Northolt in ones and twos between 1530 and 1600. Confusion regarding František’s Me109 persists to this day. Squadron victory listings certainly award František a confirmed kill, but Hadwen’s Intelligence Patrol Report quite clearly only credited František with a probable. The initial typed combat report adds further confusion by only claiming an Me109 damaged. Confusing the picture still further, František’s combat report narrative states the Me109 ‘went down vertically in flames’, whilst the Patrol Report details the Me109 breaking away ‘with the engine emitting clouds of smoke, diving towards the sea’. The combat report would allow at least a probable claim to be made and more likely a destroyed 96 claim, whilst the contradictory wording contained in the Patrol Report could only support a damaged categorisation. Could this just be a simple mistake? Was it perhaps a reflection of the mounting official suspicion of the squadron’s number of claims, or possibly the Poles’ own doubts regarding the veracity of František’s own claims? Ironically given their own reputation for poor discipline, there was reputedly growing resentment on behalf of the Poles to their Czech ‘guest’ Sgt František and his propensity for disappearing to fight his own battles. Not unlike some of the First World War aces who would wait above the whirling dogfights to pick-off a straggler, František saw similar opportunities over the Channel coast, as single Luftwaffe aircraft, sometimes already damaged, tried to reach France. Lengthy squadron patrols criss-crossing the Kent countryside were not his style, so František would frequently break formation and make his own way to his favourite hunting grounds. In this way his score was already accumulating but, so the Poles felt, only by weakening the squadron formation and thereby risking their lives. With regards to this particular combat, ultimately František was awarded a confirmed victory with his combat report being amended, somewhat confusingly, to show the Me109 as being claimed as destroyed. F/O Łapkowski was subsequently able to confirm from hospital that the Ju88 attacked by F/Lt Forbes had fallen out of the formation enveloped in thick clouds of smoke. On that basis Forbes’ claim of a Ju88 probably destroyed was also revised to confirmed, providing 303 with a final claim listing: - S/Ldr Kellett 1 Me109 destroyed and 1 Me109 probably destroyed F/Lt Forbes 1 Ju88 destroyed Sgt Karubin 2 Me109s destroyed F/O Łapkowski 1 Ju88 destroyed Sgt Wünsche 1 Me109 destroyed Sgt František 1 Ju88 and 1 Me109 destroyed The tally amounting to five Me109s and three Ju88s destroyed with one more Me109 probably destroyed set against F/O Łapkowski wounded, one Hurricane lost and one slightly damaged (Sgt František’s aircraft).