Wing Commander Brendan 'Paddy' Finucane
 

Seventy years ago this week (15 July 1942), Wing Commander Brendan 'Paddy' Finucane DSO, DFC** (1920-1942) died when he ditched his Spitfire Mk V off the French coast north of Le Touquet. He had taken a round through his radiator, fired by a German gunner on a beach sand dune, as he led the Hornchurch Wing in to attack the German Army camp at Etaples. Paddy had timed the attack for lunchtime, and had claimed for himself the target of the Officer's Mess.

His plans were thwarted by the damage to his Merlin's cooling system, and he immediately did a 180, followed by his wingman, Flt Lt Al Aikman, who found himself nicely lined up on the solitary beach gunner as he rolled out of his turn. A squirt on the gun button redressed matters somewhat.

Paddy failed to escape from his cockpit, & may well have knocked himself out on the gunsight.

He overtook Douglas Bader's score (by now he was a POW) & became the RAF's highest scoring ace at that time, with a final total of 32 victories. He was a fearless leader & a terrific shot, once scoring a kill (Fw190) from 500yds with some considerable deflection (26 March 42). On his best day, he downed x3 Me109's in one sortie (20 Sep 41).

In June 1942, he was promoted Wing Commander & OC Hornchurch Spitfire Wing, age 21yrs. He held this post for only 19 days, before his death.

I flew close to his ditching spot a few weeks ago, on a commercial pax flight; looking out of the window at an impossibly blue sky & sea, I thought of my fellow Irishman and his Spitfire somewhere below the calm Channel waters. Hope you are having a good pint of the Black Stuff somewhere, Wing Commander Finucane.

HB

Inspiring tale.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Had the pleasure of visiting Casement Aerodrome a few years ago and seeing the new memorial garden which had been recently dedicated to Wg Cdr Finucane and planted with roses named after him in his honour.

It was touching to see such a memorial in the heart of the home of the Irish Air Corps.

Top man.
 

I knew a chap who flew Mk IX Spit's from Hornchurch with 129 Sqn around that time, he often told me about their sweeps into France - Brave chaps.

Paddy was an inspirational fighter leader, never forgotten.

The more you think about it, the more impressive it becomes. An amazing man of an amazing generation. We owe them everything...

His medals are on display at the RAF Museum Hendon and Finucane Rise on the patch at Bushey Heath is named after him.

He is also commemorated in his old home town of Richmond, Surrey, by "Finucane Court", a block of flats. Not particularly inspiring, unlike the man himself, but at least he's remembered.

Here's a bit more on the gentleman in question. Alot achieved in such a short life / career.

Paddy Finucane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Runnymede Memorial

http://www.pro-patria.co.uk/Panel064.jpg

Aah, Group Captain Victor Beamish - another 'Fighting Mick', lost in action.

Glad to see his & Paddy's name so close together.

HB

There was a large photograph of "Paddy" Finucane positioned above the exit door to the hut I was assigned during aircrew selection at Hornchirch in 1956I would reach up and touch it every time I went out!

IIRC, at Ickenham cricket club there is a memorial to a Sgt Dennis James of Finucane's squadron, who died on the same operation.

Bob C

And then there is Finucane Rise, No 23 in our case, at Bushey Heath!

'Paddy' Finnucane is well remembered by Australians as well - he was a Flight Commander on 452 (RAAF) Sqn in 1941, helping the squadron to become a top scoring Fighter Command unit.
He mentored the boggies like 'Bluey' Truscott, Bardie Wawn and 'Throttle'-Smith, before they came back for the desperate NG campaign in 1942.

Gp Cpt Beamish
 

HI Halton Brat, do you have any further detail of link re Beamish. I'm interested in all notable Irish guys who flew for Fighter Command

As BBadanov says, Paddy Finucane was highly admired amongst Australian pilots. His Shamrock endowed Spitfire was a source of great comfort.

p.s spreckly, iirc Beamish was killed circa 1942. He was also highly spoken of by Bader et. al.

A great read is "Fly For Your Life " by Larry Forrester, the story of Stanford-Tuck, (Bantam War Book) has some detailed stories about those mentioned above.
Regards,
F

A 21 year old Wing Commander . . .

Currently reading 'The Reich Intruders: RAF Light Bomber Raids in WWII' by Martin Bowman.

The loss rate of Blenheims, Bostons, Lodestars and Mosquitos was appalling, so many senior officers died leading their squadrons on shipping strikes, Circuses, Ramrod etc.

Makes me feel incredibly humble considering I get paid for breathing in a couple of weeks . . .

RIP gentlemen and thank you.

What a remarkable career, albeit terribly brief. I just cannot conceive the demands of commanding [and fighting in] a Wing at war at 21 ... I was still struggling with collar studs at that age!

As a Richmond, Surrey, lad I never knew of the connection until I read the Wiki. Took me a lot longer to get to wg cdr too!!

Gp Cpt Beamish
 

Get hold of a copy of 'Wings Aflame' by Doug Stokes, the biography of Gp Capt Victor Beamish (plenty of copies on Amazon).

Hi Spreckley, there is a Wiki article titled 'Beamish Brothers' which gives a brief history on this distinguished Irish family. Victor Beamish was a Fighter Command Station Commander (shooting from the hip here) who had a penchant for tagging along on the Ops of his resident Wing. Fate caught up with him & he was killed in action. In 'Reach for the sky', the author (Brickhill) relates an incident at a Command meeting where Bader gives Beamish a slap on the backside in greeting, knowing well that his buttocks had been recently peppered with small shrapnel in combat. Jolly japes indeed......

HB