COMMEMORATIVE E-BOOK WORLD WAR II FIGHTER PILOTS 1939 - 1945 A UNIVERSAL PROMOTIONS E-BOOK Copyright © Universal Promotions Limited 2010 WWII Fighter Pilots Commemorative E-Book is published by ArtToFly.Org by agreement with Universal Promotions Ltd ArtToFly is a non-profit organisation sponsored by Universal Promotions, established to raise funds for the Douglas Bader Foundation’s Disabled Children’s Flying Days programme Copyright © Universal Promotions Limited Copyright © of the paintings jointly held by artist Darryl Legg and Universal Promotions Limited Pilots’ Memoirs first published by Universal Promotions in UK in 1982 Reprinted as an E-Book in 2010 Universal Promotions Limited asserts its rights to be identified as authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act,1988 All rights reserved. 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LORD HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM TABLE OF CONTENTS E-Book Cover with Pilots Wings Half-title page with poem by Lord Effingham Index of contributing Fighter Pilots Introduction by Captain John Purdy “American Fighter Pilots” A tribute written by Air Vice Marshal Johnnie Johnson A Message from Air Commodore Alan Deere Fighter Command 1939-45 Fact Sheet The commanders, fighter production, leading fighter pilots of the war – all nations Prominent Aircraft of RAF Fighter Command Technical drawings with specifications of the principal fighter aircraft “RAF Fighter Command 1939-1945” A major feature describing the role and activity of RAF Fighter Command in WWII written by Air Vice Marshal Johnnie Johnson, Allies’ leading fighter pilot in World War II The Personal Memoirs Individually written by twenty five distinguished RAF and American fighter pilots comprising over 20,000 words of un-edited descriptive combat recollections Acknowledgements • INDEX OF CONTRIBUTING FIGHTER PILOTS Colonel Gerald Brown, DSM, DFC, Air Medal Squadron Leader Danny Browne, DFC Major General Marion Carl, Navy Cross*, DFC, Air Medal Captain Robert Coates, Navy Cross, DFC, Air Medal Group Captain Paul Davoud, DSO, DFC Squadron Leader Harry Dowding, DFC* Wing Commander ‘Stocky’ Edwards, DFC*, DFM Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris, DSO Wing Commander Hugh Godefroy, DSO, DFC, MD Colonel Jim Goodson, DSC, Silver Star, DFC Squadron Leader Bob Hayward, DSO, DFC Squadron Leader P.W.E (Nip) Heppell, DFC* Group Captain Al Houle, DFC* Air Vice Marshal Johnnie Johnson, DSO**, DFC* Colonel Robert Johnson, DSC, Silver Star, DFC, DFC (RAF), Air Medal Lieutenant General Don Laubman, DFC* Wing Commander Laddie Lucas, DSO*, DFC General Robin Olds, AFC, Silver Star, DFC, DFC (RAF), DSO, Air Medal Flight Lieutenant Larry Robillard, DFC, Wing Commander Dal Russell, DSO, DFC* General Robert Scott, Silver Star, DFC, Air Medal Flight Lieutenant Sir Alan Smith, DFC Wing Commander Rod Smith, DFC* Commander Alex Vraciu, Navy Cross, DFC, Air Medal Group Captain The Hon. John Waddy, DFC, Air Medal Introduction by Captain John Purdy P-38 Fighter ace and Chairman of the American Fighter Aces Museum Foundation Fighter pilots are people I have known most of my life. Many of the aces included in this volume are personally known to me and I am therefore honoured and delighted to introduce this collection of biographical recollections from WWII. I have often been asked what it takes to be a fighter pilot. I don’t believe there is a straightforward answer to the question because a fighter pilot needs to have a variety of special qualities. If pressed, however, I would say there is one characteristic every fighter pilot I ever knew has, and that is ‘individualism’. What makes this series of memoirs so fascinating is that each has been individually written by the man himself. Thus each personal memoir gives a glimpse into the character of the man in a way that reflects his personality and individualism. Since the early days of aerial combat fighter pilots have been portrayed as glamorous extroverts. However justified this image may be, of one thing you can be sure: in the air, fighter pilots are true professionals. I like the professional way in which this series has been compiled and published and I believe these memoirs will serve as a tribute to all fighter pilots, and in particular to the memory of those who lost their lives while still in the flush of youth. Captain John Purdy, USAAF (Ret.) AMERICAN FIGHTER PILOTS by Air Vice Marshal Johnnie Johnson In these memoirs you will read the personal accounts of some outstanding American fighter pilots including my old friends Robin Olds, Danny Browne, Eagle Squadron ace Jim Goodson, and Robert Johnson who achieved 28 victories in the space of just 12 months combat in Europe. Some fought in Europe with the RAF, others with the USAAF – Jim Goodson with both. Others fought in the Pacific with the US Navy and Marine Corps. Robin Olds, one of the great fighter pilots of our time, became an ace flying P-51 Mustangs in Europe during WWII and went on to become one of the outstanding jet fighter leaders in the hard fought war in Vietnam. After Pearl Harbor, in 1942 the Japanese were masters of a large part of Asia, dominated the Western Pacific, and controlled Indonesia. American strategy was to hold the line until sufficient strength had been gathered, then progress using amphibious landings as they arduously fought their way step-by-step up through the Pacific towards Japan. When in May 1942 the Japanese struck the U.S. Fleet in the Coral Sea, for the first time in naval history all the fighting was conducted by carrier-borne aircraft – not a shot being fired by the surface ships during the battle. It was a portent of what was to become a war dominated by American fighter aircraft. Soon after came the decisive Battle of Midway when the brilliant flying of the Navy and Marine pilots set new standards in carrier-borne warfare. Then followed Guadalcanal – one of the hardest fought campaigns in American history – and ‘up the ladder’ to the Solomons, Gilbert and Marshalls, the Marianas and Bonin islands till, in the summer of 1945 the American forces had battled their way to within bombing distance of Japan itself. Both Services produced many fighter aces, Marine pilot Marion Carl being among those to achieve early success at Midway. Flying Wildcats, Hellcats, Corsairs – big radial engine fighters favoured by the Americans – the Navy and Marine pilots that fought the Pacific battles were among the bravest and most determined of the war. Although the memoirs in this collection largely represent pilots that fought in the European Theatre, the publishers wisely felt those that fought in the Pacific should be acknowledged in any collection titled “WWII Fighter Pilots”, and I heartily agree. Fighter pilots were, and are with few exceptions, more important than the machines they fly – and this applies to all forms of aerial combat. Fighter pilots are individualistic, characterful, sometimes colourful, occasionally quirky, but all have in them the basic nature of the hunter. In war the fighter pilot lives a strange life alternating between short periods of intense excitement in the air, sometimes quite frightening, which greatly contrasts with long periods on the ground between fighting when they have little to do. These periods of relaxation often produce much gaiety and frivolity but, unlike the image often portrayed in the popular press, never of the nature that affects a sense of purpose in the air. Once airborne, the fighter pilot becomes at one with his aircraft and in extreme adversity, invariably exceeds even his own expectations. I believe these personally written memoirs bring out the individuality of each contributing Fighter Pilot in a quite unique way and I am proud to have had the opportunity to acknowledge the huge role that our American counterparts played in WWII. • ROYAL AIR FORCE FIGHTER COMMAND 1939-1945 AN INTRODUCTION BY AIR COMMODORE AL DEERE, DSO, DFC, OBE. A casual observation in Johnnie Johnson’s “Fighter Command 1939-45” could well be that “it has all been said before” and so it has; but, the author, calling on adepth of experience on fighter operations throughout the period, has successfully knitted together the various phases of the development of the Command to produce a refreshingly readable account of Fighter Command in war. It has been said that mistakes lose wars, and so it was to prove in the Battle of Britain, for, as the author brings out, German High Command made two grevious ones. In the first place, flushed no doubt with quick victory in Poland and the Low Countries, their Head of Intelligence assessed victory over Fighter Command as “between a fortnight and a month”. His mistake was grossly to underestimate the capability of the Command to withstand an aerial blitzkreig as practised thus far by the Luftwaffe, due no doubt to the fact that he either ignored or was not made aware of the highly sophisticated radar defence-control system which appended the RAF fighter force, that high degree of flexibility not available to the continental air forces.