66 FLYPAST January 2018
I
f I were to mention the names
Gunn, Scott or Young, the reader
would be forgiven for replying
‘Who?’ But if I’d said Bader, Doe
or Lacey, there would be a different
reaction. Gunn, Scott and Young
were three of the dozen aircrew that
made the ultimate sacrifice during
the latter half of 1940 while serving
with 74 ‘Tiger’ Squadron during the
Battle of Britain.
A long-needed rest period began
on May 28, 1940 when the pilots
of 74 flew their Spitfires north to
Leconfield, Yorkshire. It was a time to
lick wounds and count the cost of the
actions the Tigers had participated in
over the previous weeks.
They had fought over Dunkirk
during the evacuation when the oft-
quoted ‘Where was the RAF?’ was
uttered by army and navy personnel
on the beaches. The answer was
simple; the RAF was there, but often
at heights of 25,000ft (7,620m).
Add this to RAF fighters’ limited
endurance over the combat zone and
the question can be forgiven. (The
Luftwaffe would suffer from the same
problems a few months later whenoperating over southern England)
During the evacuation, within
a period of a week 74 claimed 16
enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed
and ten ‘probables’ with three
damaged. Despite this reasonably
high success rate, it came at a cost
with one pilot killed and three shot
down and captured.CHANGING A BULB
Brighter news arrived on June 1 when
South African Adolph Gysbert ‘Sailor’
Malan was awarded the DFC. His
calmness under intense pressure was
soon to become his signature trait
which was greatly admired, especially
by those new to the squadron.
His laconic report of shooting down
a Heinkel He 111 on the afternoon
of May 24 illustrates his character: “I
was leading four of ‘Yellow’ section
on offensive patrol, Dunkirk-Calais-
Boulogne.
“Spotted anti-aircraft fire at 12,000ft
over Dunkirk when at 500ft. Climbed
in line astern and saw three ‘vics’ of
enemy bombers. Intercepted second
vic at 12,000ft and passed through.
Attacked starboard flank inechelon port from astern as Me 109s
and ’110s were observed above and
into sun turning into us.
“Delivered three one-second bursts
at both engine and starboard side of
an He 111 from 250 to 150 yards. I
was then hit by return fire on starboard
main plane and fuselage which severed
electrical leads near my seat and
extinguished [the] reflector sight.
“As I broke off I observed a Me
110 coming up on my starboard
quarter and a Me 109 coming in from
astern. I executed some very steep
turns into the sun and lost sight of
the two fighters. I changed the bulb
in my reflector sight, but it failed
to function, and I concluded the
wiring had been cut.
“By now the battle had gone
out of sight and I did not
have the petrol to give chase.
Whilst climbing into the sun
I observed the crew of the He
111 I had taken shot at take
to their parachutes with the
aircraft gradually losing
height on zig-zag
course.”THEY FEARED
NO MANNO MANNO MANNO MAN
TONY CLAY OUTLINES 74 ‘TIGER’ SQUADRON’S BATTLE OF BRITAIN
NO MANNO MAN
1918 2018Below
Arming a 74 Squadron
Spitfi re at Hornchurch,- VIA AUTHOR
“I executed some very steep turns into the sun and lost sight of
the two fi ghters. I changed the bulb in my refl ector sight, but it
failed to function, and I concluded the wiring had been cut”