England, 1940. Portrait Of 39461 Flight Lieutenant Paterson Clarence Hughes DFC.
apotheosis in the sixteen week Battle of Britain campaign. Having been appointed Commander-inChief Fighter Command in 1936, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding maintained a steadfast conviction the Command’s prime purpose was the defence of Britain against the ‘knock-out-blow’. The daylight duel between Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe which began on July 10, 1940 and continued until October 31, involved the whole apparatus of Britain’s Air Defence. At the very center of the Fighter Command system was the concept of control, and the technology on which it was based. By 1940, radar had developed into a sufficiently effective instrument of war to transform air defence by offering warning of an incoming attack and its general direction. Once the enemy was in view, the ‘eyes and ears’ of the Royal Observer Corps together with the Chain Home defensive radar system meant fighters could be detected, identified and tracked. Radio monitoring of German signals was also possible, with the first listening post being set up at Hawkinge. The Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, whose dedicated personnel broke the German Enigma, together with Ultra, were significant in assisting Dowding to conduct the Battle by providing information about forthcoming raids. Dowding and New Zealander, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, commanding No 11 Group, alone knew about the Ultra secret. The Dowding system of intelligence sources and an elaborate communication system of telephone and teleprinter networks, and the installation of high frequency RDF, provided the means of putting the British fighters on an interception course with incoming German bombers. At the heart of the complex at Bentley Priory was Dowding’s Operations Room where the whole Battle could be centrally controlled. It has not gone unnoticed by
England. 1940. Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding (centre) with a group of his Battle of Britain pilots. Left to right: Squadron Leader A. C. Bartley DFC; Wing Commander D. F. B. Sheen DFC and Bar; Wing Commander I. R. Gleed DSO DFC; Wing Commander M. Aitken DSO DFC; Wing Commander A. G. Malan DSO DFC; Squadron Leadr A. C. Deere DC; Air Chief Marshal Dowding of Fighter Command; Flight Officer E. C. Henderson MM (WAAF); Flight Lieutenant R. H. Hillary; Wing Commander J. A. Kent DFC AFC; Wing Commander C. B. F. Kingcome DFC; Squadron Leader D. H. Watkins DFC and Warrant Officer R. H. Gretton.
historians that Dowding controlled the Battle from day to day, Park controlled it from hour to hour, and the 11 Group Sector Controllers – from minute to minute. Thanks to Dowding and his Command, Hitler’s Germany met its first defeat in the war. One fifth of Fighter Command’s aircrew came from overseas and 16 nations were represented. These included 145 Poles, 126 Kiwis, 98 Canadians, 88 Czechoslovaks, and 32 Australians. The aircrew were as diverse as they were inspirational. Flight Lieutenant Paterson Clarence Hughes, DFC was wearing his dark blue RAAF uniform when he fought and died in the Battle on 07 September 1940. Burned Spitfire pilot Flight Lieutenant Richard Hillary, author of the bestselling The Last Enemy, was born in Australia and is claimed as both Australian and British. Canadian, John Kent best known as flight commander of the legendary 303 Polish Fighter Squadron, the re-formed Kosciuszko Squadron, whose convivial attitude to the Poles earned him the affectionate nickname Kentowski. Adolph ‘Sailor’ Malan, DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, the South African fighter pilot who led No. 74 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain. RAF fighter pilot, Wing Commander Ian Gleed, DSO, DFC, who served in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, before being shot down and killed over Tunisia, has been discovered by the gay community as a hero. Women’s Auxiliary Air Force plotters, radar and telecommunications personnel were integral to the success of the Dowding system and often did their jobs better than the men. Overall, fewer than 3,000 aircrew fought in around 60 squadrons. Of these 544 are killed, around one in five. Contemporary research has revealed the average age of a Battle of Britain pilot to be 21 to 22; during the Battle, the RAF was itself only 22; the RAAF 19.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Alexander, Kristen, Australia’s Few and the Battle of Britain, NewSouth Publishing, Sydney 2004. Coulthard-Clark, C.D., The Third Brother, The Royal Australian Air Force 1921-39, Allen & Unwin in association with the Royal Australian Air Force, Sydney, Australia, 1991. Bishop, Patrick, Air Force Blue, the RAF in World War Two, William Collins, London, 2017. Hough, Richard and Richards, Denis, The Battle of Britain, Coronet Books, Kent, UK, 1990. Kent, Johnny, One of the Few, A Story of personal challenge through the Battle of Britain and Beyond, the History Press, 2008. Dr Price, Alfred, Battle of Britain Day 15 September 1940, Greenhill Books, London, 1990. Stephens, Alan (ed), The War in the Air 1914 – 1994, Air Power Studies Centre, Fairbairn, ACT 1994. Royal Air Force, 100 Years, Official Souvenir Issue, 2018. Terraine, John, The Right of the Line, The Royal Air Force in the European War 1939-1945, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1985. Professor Woodward, David R., The Imperial Strategist: Jan Christiaan Smuts and British Military Policy, 1917-1918, samilitaryhistory.org/vol054dw.
The Battle of Britain demonstrated for the first time, the German war machine was not invincible. While the way ahead was long and hard – knowing it need not end in defeat – was the most important result from the Battle of Britain. The Royal Air Force’s victory in the Battle of Britain will be always be the defining moment in the history of the RAF and the Nation it served. In the words of Prime Minister Churchill, delivered in the House of Commons, August 20, 1940 Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. Churchill’s words reminds us to always honour our champions. As the Royal Australian Air Force looks forward to celebrating the centenary of its formation in 2021, and commemorating all those who have served in peacetime or conflict, we will continue to draw inspiration from the RFC and AFC – the First of the Few – and all those in Britain and the Commonwealth who fought in the Battle of Britain. Lest we Forget. n
THE LAST POST – 2019 SPECIAL EDITION ‘PLACES OF PRIDE’ 41