70 Vol. 9 / No. 12/ December/January 2017/18 Global Aviator
bombers to Berat when Fiat G.50bs were
scrambled from Berat airfield, but they
were attacked by the higher altitude
Hurricanes. Pattle led his section straight
towards four Fiat G.50s and selected
the leading aircraft as his own target. It
was the first time he had fired the eight
guns of the Hurricane, and the G.50
exploded. Another CR.42 fell to Pattle
on 27 February 1941 - his 17th victory.
On 28 February British pilots in
Greece celebrated their biggest success
in combat when No. 80 Squadron
claimed 27 Italian aircraft without loss
in 90 minutes of air combat. Pattle
himself claimed three Fiat CR.42s shot
down in less than three minutes.
On 4 March 1941, Pattle claimed
three enemy Fiat G.50bs fighters - the
first while Nigel Cullen - another leading
fighter ace - flew as his wingman.
Escorting Blenheims to attack Italian
warships, the pair were engaged by
a lone G.50. Pattle engaged the Fiat
and shot it down—its landing gear
dropped down and it rolled over
and into a mountainside just north
of Himare. Pattle searched for Cullen
but saw no sign of the Australian.
The solitary Pattle was attacked by
another lone G.50b while flying towards
Vlorë. He soon dispatched this aircraft
and claimed to have downed a third
such fighter over Valona harbour.Squadron leader
On 12 March 1941 Pattle was promoted
to squadron leader of No. 33 Squadron
but was unimpressed by the group who
were also resentful of an outsider being
promoted above one of their own.“This is my first command. I intend
to make it a successful one. You have
done well in the desert, but you are not
a good Squadron. A good Squadron
looks smart. You are a scruffy looking
lot! Your flying, by my standards, is
ragged. Flying discipline starts when
you start to taxi and doesn't end until
you switch off your engine. In future
you will taxi in formation, take off in
formation, and land in formation at
all times unless your aircraft has been
damaged, or in an emergency,” were his
opening words to his new command.
Within a week he had moulded his
squadron into an effective flying unit.
On 23 March Pattle flew his first
missions with No. 33 Squadron when
they as escort for Blenheims from No.
84 Squadron over the Pindus Mountains
and Paramythia. Supported by No.
112 Squadron Gladiators they flew to
raid Berat. The cloud base was low and
thick and they descended below it
at 1 900 feet. The bombers attacked and
two Hurricanes were badly damaged
by ground fire. One of the squadron
was shot down by a Fiat G.50 and
bailed out—the Italians disappeared
before they could retaliate. In the
afternoon he was briefed to strafe
the heavily defended Fieri airfield.
At 25 000 feet, they were intercepted
and a dogfight began with G.50s and
Macchi C.200s. Only Pattle and one
other Hurricane attacked the airfield.
Furious, Pattle berated the pilots
for not carrying out their primary
assignment. He had claimed one enemy
fighter as a probable and proceeded
to the airfield to claim another victoryand another three on the ground.Battle of Greece
On 6 April 1941 the invasion of
Yugoslavia began in the morning.
While the Wehrmacht also intervened
in Greece. No. 33 Squadron was
immediately put on alert. At noon
Pattle was ordered to fly a fighter
patrol over the Rupel Pass, Bulgaria,
another Axis partner. Here he had his
first encounter with the Luftwaffe. No.
33 Squadron attacked 20 Bf 109s and
claimed five without loss. Pattle claimed
two victories over Bf 109Es over the
Rupel Pass. Unfortunately all records
after this were destroyed and details
vary as to his score were unrecorded.
The following day, he acted as escort
for No. 11 Squadron RAF. Only one
enemy aircraft was sighted by Pattle,
though none of the squadron could see
it. He left them to deal with the intruder.
Thirty seconds later they witnessed an
explosion and a CR.42 fall to the ground
while Pattle rejoined them. It is believed
he attacked a reconnaissance Dornier
Do 17 from Sturzkampfgeschwader
2 ("dive bomber wing 2") which he
claimed destroyed, though it appears it
made it back to German lines damaged.
On 8 April, despite bad weather,
Pattle led an attack on Petrich in
Yugoslavia and left a number of enemy
aircraft destroyed on the ground.
On 9 April Pattle claimed a Junkers
Ju 88 (actually a Do 17) damaged.
He left the burning machine as it
disappeared into cloud. On 10 April
he flew as fighter escort for No. 11
Squadron Blenheims on a mission
over Betjol, Yugoslavia. Attacked by
flights of Messerschmitt Bf 110s and Bf
109s. Pattle shot down a Bf 110 which
was seen to crash in flames and a Bf
109 whose pilot bailed out. On Good
Friday Pattle led his squadron into battle
against German bombers minelaying
over Volos harbour. He dispatched a
Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 into the sea.
Despite aerial successes, the story
on the ground was very different with
Axis forces gaining significant territory.
In the air Pattle claimed another Do 17
and SM.79 along with a Bf 109 damaged
but interceptions would now be more
difficult after the port of Salonika fell.
Observers at the port had been able to
telephone his operations hut to warnSouth African history
Left: Pattle (sixth from right) with the Hurrican
pilots of 33 Squadron RAF during the
Battle for Greece.