BATTLE OF BRITAIN 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
quite proud of how much damage the
‘Spit’ could take and still fly.
‘Green’ section had managed to turn
hard and evade the majority of ’109s
and climbed to around 23,000ft.
Suddenly the sky seemed clear and no
further contact was made.
Sgt W M Skinner, as Green 3, had
become detached from the rest of his
unit during the turning climb and
spotted a vic of three Bf 109s 5,000ft
below him. He dived down shooting
at the leader as he passed. It was last
seen going down in a shallow dive
before he lost sight of it.
The day ended up very much in
the German’s favour with 74 losing
two pilots and only able to claim a
probable. Brighter news reached the
squadron however with Sailor Malan
awarded a bar to his DFC and Johnny
Freeborn a DFC of his own. Since
hostilities began 74’s score stood
at 30 confirmed destroyed and 19
unconfirmed.BREEZY AND SNEEZY
August 5 saw two Polish pilots arrive
and join the Tigers. Their names
proved troublesome, if downright
impossible, to pronounce. So,
Flt Lt S Brzezina immediately
became ‘Breezy’ and Fg Off Henryk
Szczesny, ‘Sneezy’. These two pilots
became an elite within an elite.
Mad and keen Tigers, they went
on to command Polish squadrons as
typical headstrong, fearless leaders.
Szczesny described his time with the
unit: “In August 1940 I was posted
to 74 Squadron, the Tigers, the CO
[was] Sailor Malan. My knowledge
of England was nil, but flying
spirit and bloodthirsty killing in
revenge of Poland, very high indeed.
(Continued on page 72).Left centre
A relaxed Flt Lt John
Freeborn. VIA AUTHORLeft
Flt Lt John Freeborn
on the wing of his
Spitfi re during a lull
in the fi ghting.
VIA AUTHORLeft
Pilots and mascots at
Biggin Hill, 1940. VIA
AUTHORquite proud of how much damage the
‘Spit’ could take and still fly.hard and evade the majority of ’109s
and climbed to around 23,000ft.
Suddenly the sky seemed clear and no
further contact was made.and recorded as probables.
Although contact was made
sporadically over the next week or so,
it wasn’t until the 28th that the next
major engagement took place. Twelve
aircraft were scrambled at 1350hrs
and ordered to intercept the incoming
raid over Dover. They were instructed
to attack the escorts and leave the
bombers to the Hurricanes.
Visibility was good and 36 Bf 109s
of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51) were
sighted at 18,000ft. The dogfights
resulted in nine claims as destroyed
and three damaged. While it was
an overwhelming victory for 74, it
came at a price. Plt Off J H R Young,
was shot down and killed over the
Goodwin Sands in P9547. Although
wounded in the leg, Flt Sgt Mould
managed to bale out of his blazing
P9336 and land safely.
BITTER TASTE
Considering the success 74 had
enjoyed up to this point, the end of
July was going to leave a bitter taste.
On July 31 both ‘A’ and ‘B’ Flights
were scrambled from Manston to
intercept the growing number of
hostile raids. ‘A’ Flight didn’t make
contact with the enemy, but at
18,000ft ‘B’ Flight spotted a group of
15 Bf 109s 2,000ft above them and
turned, still climbing, to engage them.
The Germans had obviously seen
the Spitfires at the same time as they
too turned and dived into the attack.
Blue 3, Sgt Fred Eley flying P9398,
was hit almost immediately, bursting
into flames and crashing just outside
Folkestone harbour.
Moments later Blue 2, Gunn flying
P9379, turned onto the tail of one of
the ’109s. He did not see the second
German fighter creep up from behind
and open fire at close range, shooting
him down and ending his life.
Piers Kelly, in R6983, was hit by a
cannon shell that entered the port side
of the upper fuel tank, blowing the top
armour clean off. Evading his pursuers
and ankle deep in petrol, he landed
safely back at Manston. Later in the
day Supermarine test pilot Jeffrey
Quill surveyed Kelly’s Spitfire and wasJanuary 2018 FLYPAST 69