Bader's Last Fight: An In-Depth Investigation of a Great WWII Mystery

BADER’S

LAST FIGHT

BADER’S

LAST FIGHT

AN IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION OF A GREAT WWII MYSTERY

ANDY SAUNDERS

BADER’S LAST FIGHT

An In-Depth Investigation of a Great WWII Mystery

This paperback edition published in 2017 by Frontline Books, an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire, S70 2AS

First published by Grub Street, London, 2007.

Copyright © Andy Saunders, 2007

The right of Andy Saunders to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN: 978-1-47389-540-9

eISBN: 978-1-47389-542-3

Mobi ISBN: 978-1-47389-541-6

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Author’s Note

Chapter 1 Setting the Scene

Chapter 2 Circus 68

Chapter 3 The Tangmere Wing and Circus 68

Chapter 4 Reach for the Sky ; Myth and Reality

Chapter 5 Collision? Or Shoot Down?

Chapter 6 The Experiences of Buck Casson

Chapter 7 The Loss of Unteroffizier Schlager

Chapter 8 RAF Fighter Command Claims For Circus 68

Chapter 9 Through Bader’s Eyes

Chapter 10 Bader’s Landing, Capture and Imprisonment

Chapter 11 The German Perspective

Chapter 12 The Hunt for Spitfire W3185

Chapter 13 Continuing the Quest: The Television Documentary

Chapter 14 Friendly Fire – The Phenomena Examined

Chapter 15 Aerodynamics and Science

Chapter 16 Conclusions

Postscript

References

Appendix A Operational details of Circus 68.

Appendix B The combat report by Group Captain D.R.S. Bader - 1945.

Appendix C Defining of claims over enemy aircraft.

Appendix D Complete listing of Luftwaffe aircraft losses.

Appendix E Luftwaffe fighter claims against Circus 68.

Appendix F RAF losses during Circus 68 on 9 August 1941.

Appendix G Transcript of R/T transmissions by the Tangmere Wing during Circus 68.

Appendix H RAF Fighter Command claims during Circus 68.

Appendix I Weather data for Saturday, 9 August 1941.

Appendix J Spitfire losses in St Omer region..

Appendix K History of Spitfire W3185.

Appendix L The saga of the leg.

Appendix M The search for Bader.

Appendix N Air Intelligence (AIk) Report 398/1941.

Appendix O In Memorium.

Appendix P Spitfire G-MCDB.

Selected Bibliography

For my son, Steven James Saunders

And dedicated to the memory of

Sergeant Pilot 404198 G.C.B. Chapman,

452 Squadron RAAF

Killed in action, aged 28, during Circus 68, 9 August 1941

Acknowledgements

Agreat many friends, colleagues, fellow researchers and others I have met along the path of this project have provided input and assistance with my preparation of this book. Without them my task would have been immeasurably harder. In no particular order of merit I would like to extend my humble thanks to the following:

Winston Ramsey, Norman Franks, Chris Goss, John Foreman, Ruth Bloom, Wing Commander B.M.E. Bernie Forward OBE RAF(Rtd), Julius Heger, Simon Raikes, Natalia Dannenberg, Dr Alfred Price, Jessica Cobb, Philip Clark, Jim Allen, Paul Cole, Peter Cornwell, Peter Dimond, David Norman, Simon Parry, Philippa Wheeler, Gareth Jones, Tim Davies, Richard Barnstable, Vince Megicks, Flight Lieutenant Mary Hudson, Georges Goblet, Captain Doug Newman (Canadian Armed Forces), Kim Hemmingway, Liz Watts, Ron Scott, Graham Warner, Eddie Taylor, Andre Clerbout, John Crossland, Flight Lieutenant Keith Lawrence DFC, Donald Caldwell, Jean-Pierre Duriez, John Davies, Hannah Stuart, Tony Holmes, Alma Bostock, Dr Fiona Gabbert, Jack Misseldine, Andy Barton, Jim Underwood, Keith Dowle, Ray Brebner, Aldon P. Fergusson and Steve Brew.

A special thank you is due to my old friend Peter Arnold for his advice on all matters relating to Spitfires and his valuable contribution to this work.

For his assistance on matters relating to the Polish participation during Circus 68 I must thank Wojtek Matusiak – not least of all for ensuring the correct spelling of Polish names!

I must also thank the late General Adolf Galland, Jeff West, Bob Morton and Gerhard Schoepfel.

I would also like to give special thanks to the Battle of Britain pilot Squadron Leader Peter Brown, AFC, who spent a good few hours – and over a long period of time – talking to me about various technical, tactical, strategic and historical issues. Peter, you certainly helped me get a number of things clearer in my head and were a willing pair of ears when it came to talking the various issues through!

Last, but by no means least, I am indebted to the late Squadron Leader L.H. Buck Casson DFC. Without his candour, without his contact with me over many years and without his account to me of events during that fateful day this book would never have been written. RIP, Blue One.

If I have unintentionally forgotten or omitted anyone then I offer my unreserved apologies.

Introduction

Douglas Bader was a legendary if not iconic figure of the Second World War. Views about Bader the man, the fighter leader and Bader the pilot have always been polarised and, to an extent, he has been a controversial figure – both during and since the war and, not least of all, through his involvement in the Big Wing episode in the history of RAF Fighter Command. This, though, is not a biographical study of the man himself, but the examination of an event for which he is arguably most famous – being brought down and taken prisoner of war over France during August 1941. It is a story which has been famously told in his biography Reach for the Sky , and in the film of the same name where his part was portrayed by Kenneth More.

There can surely be few who are not already familiar with the dramatic story of his apparent mid-air collision with a Messerschmitt Me 109 and his desperate life or death struggle to escape by parachute as one of his artificial legs became trapped in the cockpit of his Spitfire. For decades this has been accepted as an accurate version of events that day and it is only in recent years that a question mark has been placed over what really happened.

This book, then, is a thorough examination of events that day and the contents may be considered by some to be controversial in that the widely accepted official version of events is questioned and challenged. The author, though, does not seek to be revisionist. Instead, it is the intention to present the known and verifiable facts along with more recently discovered details of what took place that day. In addition, to offer up some hard physical evidence and proffer an alternative interpretation as to what transpired in the skies above northern France during Bader’s last fight. Notwithstanding the fact that this is not a Bader biography it would, nonetheless, be remiss not to paint a brief thumbnail sketch of Bader the man before moving on with this extraordinary account.

Douglas Bader’s original registration photograph as a prisoner of war. (Michael Booker)

Douglas Robert Steuart Bader was born in St John’s Wood, London, on 21 February 1910, the second son of Jessie and Frederick Bader. Shortly after his birth the family re-located to India where Frederick worked as a civil engineer, although it was not long before the young Douglas was returned to the United Kingdom to be looked after by relatives on the Isle of Man. It was not until he was almost two years old that Douglas rejoined the family although, by 1913, they had returned for good to England. Upon the outbreak of war Frederick accepted a commission in the Royal Engineers and served with them in France, being severely wounded in the head during 1917.

Separation from his father thus became a feature of the young Douglas’s life, and this was compounded by his later admission to private boarding schools – first at Eastbourne and then at Oxford. From here he won a prize cadetship to the RAF College at Cranwell in 1928, where, in 1930, he was commissioned and posted to 23 Squadron at Kenley, then flying Gamecocks, and eventually to fly at the Hendon Air Display in 1931 as an aerobatic competition pilot. The following year, on 14 December, and still with 23 Squadron, he crashed at Woodley aerodrome after unauthorised aerobatics in a Bristol Bulldog and was seriously injured. As a result, he lost both legs; the right one above the knee and the left below.

Bader was invalided out of the service on 30 April 1933, unfit for flying duties, and obtained employment with the Asiatic Petroleum Company (later Shell) although, prior to the outbreak of war, he had agitated to return to active flying and was finally accepted after a test at the Central Flying School, Upavon, on 18 October 1939. With the rank of flying officer, and after a brief refresher course, he was posted to 19 Squadron at Duxford, flying Spitfires, on 7 February 1940 and then on to 222 Squadron, also at Duxford and also with Spitfires, as flight commander during March.

Bader’s career progression was, by any standards, extremely rapid and by early July he was promoted to acting squadron leader and posted to command 242 Squadron flying Hurricanes at Coltishall. It was there, during the Battle of Britain, that he began to make a name for himself, and although his early wartime career was spent flying the Spitfire it was as a Hurricane pilot that he made the majority of his victory claims. On 18 March of the following year he was again promoted, this time to acting wing commander, and posted to RAF Tangmere as wing commander flying to command the Tangmere Wing and, once more, flying Spitfires.

During the spring and summer of 1941 he had added to his tally of victory claims. Then, on 9 August, his fighting career came to an abrupt end when he was brought down over northern France and taken prisoner of war.

To reiterate, the biographical detail of Douglas Bader’s life can be found, well covered, in a variety of other places although it is appropriate to mention here that his retired RAF rank was Group Captain with DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, Légion d‘Honneur, Croix de Guerre, and a Mention in Despatches. He was made a CBE for services to disabled people in 1956 and appointed a KBE in 1976.

Author’s Note

The views expressed in this work are those of the author alone, unless otherwise attributed. No criticism of any person (living or dead) is either intended or implied.

All times quoted are standardised at BST for both the RAF and Luftwaffe to avoid any confusion with Central European Time then being used by the Germans.

Chapter 1

Setting the Scene

Throughout 1940, both in France and in the British Isles, the role of RAF Fighter Command had been a defensive one. In time, however, the lessening of daylight attacks on Britain during the latter part of the Battle of Britain and a change of tactics by the Luftwaffe to, primarily, night bombing attacks led to a re-think of Fighter Command’s tactics.

At the end of 1940 there could not be any real certainty that the daylight offensive which had epitomised the Battle of Britain would not resume once the better weather returned. However, whilst Fighter Command needed to maintain an ever vigilant air defence of the United Kingdom, the Air Staff had decided to try to seize the initiative and take an offensive stance against the Luftwaffe in north-west Europe. Accordingly, a policy of using fighter-escorted bombers to attack targets – primarily over France – was decided upon with the aim of enticing the Luftwaffe fighter force into action and thereby preventing the renewal of daylight attacks on Britain.

Air Vice-Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, AOC 11 Group Fighter Command during 1941. (Via N. Franks)

Dated 15 March 1941, this is Cuthbert Orde’s portrait of Squadron Leader D.R.S. Bader DSO, DFC.

Initially at least, the scheme would also demonstrate the rather more aggressive stance of the newly-appointed AOC of 11 Group, RAF Fighter Command, Air-Vice Marshal Leigh-Mallory. It is no coincidence, perhaps, that Bader was soon to be appointed Wing Commander Flying to lead the very cutting edge of 11 Group in the form of the Tangmere Wing which would ultimately play a key role in the new operations. Bader was very much a Leigh-Mallory man, having been implicated in the Big Wing controversy of the previous summer when 12 Group, of which Leigh-Mallory was then AOC, instigated the use of Big Wings to confront German attacks.

Bader’s loyalty to his then AOC, and his undoubtedly bullish and forceful spirit, as well as his perceived leadership skills, made him an obvious choice for a key posting within Leigh-Mallory’s command. In addition to Leigh-Mallory’s clear desire to stamp his mark on 11 Group operations, the new AOC of 2 Group (the Bomber Command Group undertaking the sharp-end of the recently conceived offensive), Air Vice-Marshal Donald Stevenson, also had a steely desire to advance his own career. Incidentally, it could be argued that the plans now being conceived would promote Stevenson’s ambitious desire, and there was certainly a view amongst some of the 2 Group aircrews that he put personal glory ahead of anything else. Nevertheless, the directions for the two group commanders came directly from the Air Staff.

Originally the plan, codenamed Circus, had been that the new offensive strategy would be put into operation during December 1940. In the event, however, bad weather prevented the combined forces of RAF Bomber and Fighter Command seeing any action until the new year. Thus it was on 10 January 1941 that operations finally began.

The operational order for Circus 1 was clear, and reflected the initiation of a new and enduring phase of the air war. It read:

Intention; To harass the enemy on the ground by bombing Forêt de Guînes and destroy enemy aircraft in the air, or, should none be seen, to ground strafe St Inglevert aerodrome.

The scene was set.

As it transpired, Circus 1 was not exactly an outstanding success. Six Blenheims of 114 Squadron bombed an ammunition dump in the Forêt de Guînes, escorted by no less than seventy-two fighters from 11 Group. A few hits on the target were observed but the Luftwaffe had not joined the fight as had been hoped.

A pinprick had been inflicted upon the enemy, who had engaged the fringes of the fighter escort and taken out Pilot Officer William McConnell of 249 Squadron. McConnell, wounded in the thigh, baled out into the sea whilst his Hurricane, P3579, flew headlong into the white cliffs at Dover. Wounded and out of the fray for months, McConnell became the first RAF casualty of Circus operations.

For its part, the RAF lost none of the bomber force and claimed as destroyed two Luftwaffe fighters. Quite likely, the initial effect upon morale for the RAF fighter pilots would have been positive after long months of being on the receiving end, although that would change as losses mounted and pilots began to question the value of the operations to which they had been committed. In the bigger picture, though, it is interesting to note the Luftwaffe response which was to continue the night blitz against Britain; during the night before Circus 1, a massive assault had been launched against Manchester and a secondary attack on London. The following night a major attack was carried out against Portsmouth. Damage and casualties were severe, although the attacking force suffered no losses to British defences.

Slowly, the Circus operations gained momentum, although any ongoing success was minimal. The targets attacked were, by and large, fairly inconsequential in terms of their overall importance to the German war effort. Power stations, distilleries and other factory locations perhaps were affecting the French civilian population more than the occupying Germans. Certainly, French civilians were dying as a result of attention from their allies and French commercial interests were being harmed.

Recognising that these attacks were a nuisance more than anything else, the Luftwaffe often refused to be drawn into combat and chose instead to do battle on its own terms when they could seize the advantage. This was not, of course, quite how the Air Staff had intended these Circus operations to be. They had set out very clearly the objective for such missions:

The object of these attacks is to force the enemy to give battle under conditions tactically favourable to our fighters. In order to compel him to do so, the bombers must cause sufficient damage to make it impossible for him to ignore them or refuse to fight on our terms.

Unfortunately, the small force of bombers usually employed, together with the choice of target and the limited damage often caused, did not exactly encourage the Luftwaffe to play the game according to the desires and wishes of the air ministry!

All of this is not to say, however, that the Luftwaffe fighter force stayed permanently at home. In any event, their own airfields were sometimes the subject of attack and therefore the fighter force became increasingly compelled to come up and fight. Certainly, it was no picnic for RAF Fighter Command as the mounting losses began to testify – although the intention to use these Circus operations to deny the Luftwaffe the opportunity to resume its daylight attacks was, as it turned out, somewhat misplaced. The German high command now had ambitions towards the east which, in any event, precluded any further meaningful assault, aerial or otherwise, against the British Isles.

Bader sits centre stage with all his pilots of the Tangmere Wing at Westhampnett on 7 August 1941 – the very day that the fateful operational order for Circus 68 was being drafted. (Jeff West)

In any case, after its daylight losses during the summer of 1940, the Luftwaffe preferred instead to send its attacking forces by night. Whilst not impotent, the British night defence capability was far from its full potential. True, the anti-aircraft artillery was pretty formidable and the night fighter force was certainly not to be dismissed – but the bomber’s attrition rate was hugely less than that which had been suffered by day.

What the continued Circus missions did achieve, though, was to tie up a substantial German defensive fighter force on the Channel coast which might otherwise have been deployed on the as yet unopened Eastern Front. That said, it is surely unthinkable that the Luftwaffe high command would have denuded the north-western European front of an effective fighter defence force – regardless of whether or not the RAF embarked upon Circus operations and other harrying attacks.

A frequently seen image of Bader as Tangmere wing leader in the cockpit of his Spitfire during the early summer of 1941. The Wing Commander’s official pennant can be seen