Yeoman_dai
13th Mar 2010, 09:08
Hello all..
I'm having issues remembering the name of a particularly heroic WWII FAA Squadron commander. I can't for the life of me remember his name, or the squadrons he commanded, only that he was the youngest Lt-Cdr to gain squadron command, had a DSO and bar flew Avengers and Corsairs and his exploits included...
-Flying his squadron in formation under the sydney harbour bridge at the end of WWII
-Borrowing a Hurricane from the RAF to test fly it - then proceeding to shoot down a roving Luftwaffe aircraft (this being his first flight in the Hurricane), the kill of which he had to credit to the RAF Squadron Leader as he himself should have been in Cairo on leave
-Being on a carrier (again cant remember the name) that was torpedo'd by a U boat - despite being at 20 degree's list, and more than that down at the stern he took off with another Avenger and mounted a 4 hour U boat patrol to protect the ship, and then landed in terrible fog, using the parked aircraft as his arrestor wire.
Any help from these meagre facts will be much appreciated - if it helps, his story is on one of the paintings on the wardroom bulkheads on HMS OCEAN - the one on the right of the arch as you move through from the dining area to the bar.
Thanks in advance
I'm having issues remembering the name of a particularly heroic WWII FAA Squadron commander. I can't for the life of me remember his name, or the squadrons he commanded, only that he was the youngest Lt-Cdr to gain squadron command, had a DSO and bar flew Avengers and Corsairs and his exploits included...
-Flying his squadron in formation under the sydney harbour bridge at the end of WWII
-Borrowing a Hurricane from the RAF to test fly it - then proceeding to shoot down a roving Luftwaffe aircraft (this being his first flight in the Hurricane), the kill of which he had to credit to the RAF Squadron Leader as he himself should have been in Cairo on leave
-Being on a carrier (again cant remember the name) that was torpedo'd by a U boat - despite being at 20 degree's list, and more than that down at the stern he took off with another Avenger and mounted a 4 hour U boat patrol to protect the ship, and then landed in terrible fog, using the parked aircraft as his arrestor wire.
Any help from these meagre facts will be much appreciated - if it helps, his story is on one of the paintings on the wardroom bulkheads on HMS OCEAN - the one on the right of the arch as you move through from the dining area to the bar.
Thanks in advance