Fly Past

That day was also one of major
re-organisation for the PDU,
with the Air Ministry putting the
unit on a more formal footing,
placing it under the administrative
control of Coastal Command but
operational remit remained with
the Directorate of Intelligence.
France concluded an armistice with
the Germans on the 25th, bringing
an end to the Battle of France
and with it the evacuations of any
remaining Allied troops to Britain.
On the first day of July, two
new detached elements were
formed from the remnants of 212
Squadron: ‘A’ Flight at Wick in
Scotland and ‘B’ Flight at St Eval
in Cornwall. From these airfields
PDU could monitor any German
build-up along the extensive
coastline now under the Third
Reich’s control.
Ring continued to fly from
Heston, unsuccessfully attempting
to cover Ostend and Dunkirk on
the 3rd. Two days later his primary
objective of Bremen was obscured
by 10/10ths cloud, but he was able
to photograph multiple targets in
Holland.
At this time he was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross for
his service with 212 Squadron
and the PDU, having flown 22
Spitfire ‘ops’. On July 8, PDU
was re-named the Photographic
Reconnaissance Unit (PRU). This
made no difference to the day-to-
day nature of operations, but better
reflected RAF acceptance of the
unit’s role.
On July 24, ‘C’ and ‘D’ Flights
were formed from the Heston-
based elements of the PRU
and Ring was appointed officer
commanding of the latter and, soon
afterwards, was promoted to flight
lieutenant. On the 29th, he carried

out an operational test of the new

Spitfire PR variant, Mk.I Type E –

later PR.IV – P9384.

While photographing the Scheldt

Estuary on the Dutch coast, at

27,000ft, Ring’s engine cut out

due to an airlock in the new fuel

system. He was able to re-start it at

20,000ft after getting fuel to feed

from a different tank and returned

safely to base.

Over the summer and autumn

most of Ring’s sorties were

unsuccessful because of the poor

weather. He managed to take

images of Calais from 200ft on

October 4, but low cloud and rain

prevented him from covering other

objectives along the coast.

LOW-LEVEL ‘DICING’

Detached flights at Wick and St

Eval were regularly rotated and

replaced with their Heston-based

colleagues. To this end, ‘D’ Flight

began operations from St Eval on

November 1, taking over from

‘B’ Flight. The primary aim of

PRU aircraft at St Eval was regular

coverage of the Brittany and Biscay

ports to track shipping movements

and concentrations.

Ring flew his first sortie from

the Cornish base on November 6,

when he was tasked with covering

Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire and

Nantes. Near Lorient, he was forced

to abandon as the whole area was

covered by thick cloud.

Shortly after ‘D’ Flight’s move

to Cornwall, yet another change

in name took place when, on the

16th, PRU was re-designated as 1

PRU. This was necessitated by the

formation of Bomber Command’s

own dedicated unit, 3 PRU at

Oakington, Cambridgeshire, on the

same date. [No.2 PRU was based in

Egypt – ED.]

Many operations from St Eval to

France were at low level. Aircraft

would use low cloud for cover to

approach undetected and fly across

the target area before the enemy

could react. Generally, the variant

used for these low-level ‘dicing’

sorties was the Spitfire PR Type

G (PR.VII from 1941), which

retained its armament for self-

defence.

At the end of November 1940,

Ring was returning home from a

dicing sortie after unsuccessfully

trying to cover Brest when, about

20 miles (32km) south of the

Lizard, he observed a freighter

under attack. He engaged a Dornier

Do 17, firing three bursts, but

it escaped into cloud. Other Do

17s were involved, but these were

taken on by Spitfire fighters, so he

returned to base.

Returning from another failed

attempt to photograph Brest on

December 14, Ring encountered

a lone Junkers Ju 88 off Brittany.

After firing three bursts at the

Ju 88, which then turned back

towards France, Ring returned to

Cornwall.

He was successful the following

day. From 28,000ft he was able

to cover the town and port and

the surrounding aerodromes

and seaplane bases. At the start

of January 1941, Ring returned

to Canada having flown 44

operations.

ATLANTIC INTERLUDE

Ring’s next posting was to the

Atlantic Ferry Organisation which

was headquartered in Montreal,

Quebec. This had been had formed

in 1940 to bring aircraft to Britain

which had been purchased in North

America.

After a short course, Ring was

May 2018 FLYPAST 73

Top left

Ring successfully

photographed Le Havre

and the mouth of the

Seine from 31,000ft in

Spitfi re I PR Type C P9550

on 16 August 16, 1940.

VIA CHRIS GOSS

Above

On March 29, 1942 Ring

was scheduled to cover

targets in Denmark in

Mosquito PR.I W4060,

but it failed a pre-fl ight

engine check and the

sortie was cancelled.

W HOGG