Spending Day with BoB Spitfire Pilot - Questions Please

Mh. The meeting was supposed to take place on last Thursday and Friday ...

What I now would be interested in are the answers and better the whole interview as soon as Peter finds the time.

[klem]

Originally Posted by major_setback

Is it true that all British airmen were issued with brown underwear to save embarrassment?

No but due to the privations of war and after fighting alone for so long they were probably a little tired and grey.

[Timberwolf]

Originally Posted by Mysticpuma

Does he remember his first mission and if he does, what was it and what was the outcome?

What was the first enemy aircraft he encountered (or where was the first?)

Did he ever become close friends with any other pilots or was this not a 'done' thing as it was harder to get over a friend not returning from a mission?

Did the weather ever cause him any problems after take-off/before landing as Fog was often a problem but so was the miserable English weather?

Cheers, MP

Friends were made and lost everyday Even enemys became friends after the war Standford tuck DFC DSO and 2 bars was friends with fighter pilot and commander of Germany's fighter force Adolf Galland infact Galland sat in Tuck's house in England talking about all the times there sqauds fought in battle

[PeterPanPan]

Thanks for all your questions and comments chaps.

24 November saw the disbandment of RAF 19 Squadron, one of the few remaining Battle of Britain Squadrons. I was lucky enough to be invited to the event and even luckier to be honoured (and trusted) to drive Flt Lt Ken Wilkinson to and from the event at RAF Valley.

I don’t think I have ever been on an active RAF base, let alone been invited to such an event. I sat with Ken and others to watch the parade when the Squadron Standard was finally laid down. A moving event, in more ways than one. With winds gusting 48 knots, the Squadron Standard nearly became airborne for one last time, along with various hats and Orders of Service.

I was in the company of the most incredible selection of men – current and ex 19 Squadron members, along with the same for IV Squadron with whom 19 has now effectively merged. Most of us here will of course be most interested in the Spitfire pilots – Ken was sadly the only one there. But there were Lightning and Phantom pilots from the 60s and 70s, current and past Tornado and Harrier pilots, Hawk Pilots (one of whom was ex Red 1 of the Red Arrows) and more, all with endless and incredible stories of sorties, events and a few mishaps. And me … 80 hour Cessna pilot! One young Officer who had only recently joined the Squadron, had about 600 hours on Tornadoes and was convinced he knew nothing about flying and that he and I were really the same!

After the parade, we retired to the Officers Mess, after which it was Black Tie and an unforgettable time in the Mess Bar followed by an incredible ‘Dining in Night’, so steeped in tradition that you could be forgiven for thinking it was still 1940. What an incredible honour to be part of such an event. At dinner, I was sat 2 people away from Ken, who was naturally on the top table. Wg Cdr Marsh’s opening address to the 150 or diners naturally started with words of welcome but he then turned to Ken Wilkinson and spoke passionately about our heroic WWII fighter pilots and what an honour it was to have Ken in our presence. Everyone rose to their feet and clapped and cheered. Ken was, I think, a little embarrassed and started waving his hands, gesturing everyone to sit down. He then said in as loud a voice as he could muster, “We were only doing our job that we had to do”, but I’m not sure many people heard him.

There never seemed the time to ask Ken specific and technical questions about the Spitfire, and it didn’t seem quite appropriate at an event such as this to do so. However, Ken’s passion and memory for his wartime experiences remains as strong as ever and he clearly likes to tell his stories and anecdotes. He also likes to tell jokes and they are bloody funny. It was amazing to be standing with him at the bar, with a jar of ale in his hand, laughing my head off with a 93 year old veteran who stayed up partying well beyond midnight. I hope to meet Ken again next year and will perhaps be able to ask more specific questions then, but in the meantime (and in no particular order) here are some of the Spitfire related items he did drop into conversations which I hope he won’t mind me mentioning here:

• When Ken was stationed in the Orkneys, Ken flew Spit VIs and regularly flew patrols up to 40,000 feet. He once saw a Ju88 about 2,000 feet above him and try as he might, he just couldn’t climb any higher to reach him. The Spit VI had longer wings and the canopy was bolted closed to partly aid with pseudo pressurisation. Bailing out was not an option although he mused that he could have used the in-cockpit axe if needs must.

• In the Orkneys, in the summer months, they would regularly do a dusk patrol, land, have a cigarette and then take off again for a dawn patrol. The land of the midnight sun!

• He was on patrol in the Orkneys one time flying no. 2 to another Spit. On coming in to land, he noticed his leader was trying to land downwind. Never the less, he continued with the formation landing, noting that the ground speed was way too high. He is convinced his no. 1 hadn’t noticed the mistake which is why he (the no. 1) ended up arse over tit in the next field. Ken however was ready and pulled the stick into his gut and applied full opposite rudder and differential braking [how do you do that?!] and stopped just in time. He was rather miffed that his CO collared him saying that he was rather lucky.

• Ken mentioned a variant of the Hurricane Mk II that had a fixed fuel tank under the port wing. That’s right – it was fixed and it was only under one wing. The aircraft had, not unsurprisingly, an awful reputation with some pilots saying you had to have the stick right over to the right to fly straight and level. Ken was transiting to another airfield to fly some ‘other aircraft’. However, when overhead the airfield, he saw these asymmetric Hurris on the ground, thought bugger that, carried on round the circuit and flew back from whence he came!

• When doing fighter sweeps over France, they would cross the Channel as low as they dared. On approaching the French coast, they would pull sharply up and immediately release their drop tank in the hope this would turn into a ballistic missile and take out some Germans. I like it – waste not want not! He doesn’t know if this ever worked though.

• Ken says that Geoffrey Wellum is absolutely right when he describes in his book (First Light) the reality of steep turning. The stuff you are taught in training, 60 to 70 degree turns, is hopeless in combat. 90 degree turns, constantly on the edge of the stall, are the order of the day.

• Gun cams were triggered not by the gun button, but by a separate camera button on the spade grip. I never knew this. Ken says you could ‘spread the thumb’ to get both buttons at once.


PPP

[pupo162]

nice read. thank you.

i felt rahter sad for not having technical quesitons asked, but at the light of the event you were it would be innapropriate yes. On the other hand, you came up with soem really ncie storys.
cheers!

[hugso]

Thanks for a very interesting post.