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Authors: John Moffat
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manoeuvrable as the Skua in the turn.
The Roc was a completely useless aeroplane. It looked like
a Skua with a gun turret mounted at the rear of the cockpit.
It had no forward-firing guns at all. Finally there was the
Gladiator, which was a biplane with a fixed undercarriage
and an enclosed cockpit. The Gladiator, however, despite its
obsolete appearance, was my favourite aircraft. It was
wonderful to fly and very good for aerobatics. But unfortunately,
like the Skua, it was not up to the performance of
modern fighters.
One morning at Eastleigh I was told to take a Gladiator up
and I decided to see how high I could get. The Gladiators had
been fitted with an oxygen supply for high altitude, so I went
out over the Solent and started to ascend, switching the
oxygen on at about 12,000 feet. It was a beautiful day, and as
I went through some clouds I came out into early-morning
sunshine. I continued to climb, reached 29,000 feet and
would have gone higher if I could, but the controls were starting
to feel vague and I lost any positive feel. I thought it wise
to start my descent and took her down in a gentle banking
turn, heading back to Eastleigh. I hit some cloud at 6,000 feet
and continued my shallow dive through it, coming out underneath
at 3,000. I could see the coast, but while I was checking
my position in relation to Eastleigh I suddenly became aware
that I was in the company of some other aircraft.
As tracer bullets started to whip over my upper wing, it
quickly dawned on me that these aircraft were not friendly.
Then a fast monoplanefighter shot past me and I saw the Iron
Cross markings of a Luftwaffe fighter. I decided to follow at
full throttle, when more bullets started to go past. I looked in
my mirror and saw another aircraft approaching fast, its gun
ports twinkling as the pilot tried another burst. I made a very
tight climbing turn to the left and the attacking plane shot
underneath me. I could see that it was a Messerschmitt 109,
and as I pulled round tightly I saw the German pilot's face as
he looked up at me out of his cockpit. It was my first face-to-face
contact with the enemy.
I realized that I was no match for these fast fighters, with
their no doubt much more experienced pilots, so I kept climbing
into the cloud. I stayed there for about ten or fifteen
minutes before venturing out, and by this time the German
fighters had decided to head back. During my flight to
altitude Eastleigh had come under attack and had launched its
barrage balloons. Under these conditions we were instructed
to fly to Worthy Down, near Winchester, which was our
reserve station.
I was lucky, because the Messerschmitt 109s were at the
limit of their endurance and did not have the fuel reserves to
fly around and wait for me to appear once more. Also, there
was a good chance that a group of Hurricanes or Spitfires
might be sent up to take them on. If I had been flying over
enemy territory, however, I would not have had that
advantage. This was the problem for the crews of the Skuas
and Gladiators in Norway. The aircraft carriers HMS Furious and Glorious had ferried some RAF Gladiators andHurricanes to fly from an airstrip at Bardufoss to provide air
cover for the allied troops. Both carriers remained on station,
sending out anti-submarine patrols and bombing missions.
It was a strain on the crews, because in northern waters there
was daylight for almost twenty-four hours, so the carriers
were the target of lots of dive-bombing attacks from the
Luftwaffe. There were a lot ofcasualties in the Fleet Air Arm
during this period, because not only were their machines
inferior, but if they were shot down over land they were
usually taken prisoner. The German army did not have it
all its own way, however: Norway is particularly difficult
terrain to fight in. But the war there was overtaken by other
events.
Hitler invaded Belgium and Holland on 10 May, and then
crossed into French territory. The British Government decided
to pull our troops
The Roc was a completely useless aeroplane. It looked like
a Skua with a gun turret mounted at the rear of the cockpit.
It had no forward-firing guns at all. Finally there was the
Gladiator, which was a biplane with a fixed undercarriage
and an enclosed cockpit. The Gladiator, however, despite its
obsolete appearance, was my favourite aircraft. It was
wonderful to fly and very good for aerobatics. But unfortunately,
like the Skua, it was not up to the performance of
modern fighters.
One morning at Eastleigh I was told to take a Gladiator up
and I decided to see how high I could get. The Gladiators had
been fitted with an oxygen supply for high altitude, so I went
out over the Solent and started to ascend, switching the
oxygen on at about 12,000 feet. It was a beautiful day, and as
I went through some clouds I came out into early-morning
sunshine. I continued to climb, reached 29,000 feet and
would have gone higher if I could, but the controls were starting
to feel vague and I lost any positive feel. I thought it wise
to start my descent and took her down in a gentle banking
turn, heading back to Eastleigh. I hit some cloud at 6,000 feet
and continued my shallow dive through it, coming out underneath
at 3,000. I could see the coast, but while I was checking
my position in relation to Eastleigh I suddenly became aware
that I was in the company of some other aircraft.
As tracer bullets started to whip over my upper wing, it
quickly dawned on me that these aircraft were not friendly.
Then a fast monoplanefighter shot past me and I saw the Iron
Cross markings of a Luftwaffe fighter. I decided to follow at
full throttle, when more bullets started to go past. I looked in
my mirror and saw another aircraft approaching fast, its gun
ports twinkling as the pilot tried another burst. I made a very
tight climbing turn to the left and the attacking plane shot
underneath me. I could see that it was a Messerschmitt 109,
and as I pulled round tightly I saw the German pilot's face as
he looked up at me out of his cockpit. It was my first face-to-face
contact with the enemy.
I realized that I was no match for these fast fighters, with
their no doubt much more experienced pilots, so I kept climbing
into the cloud. I stayed there for about ten or fifteen
minutes before venturing out, and by this time the German
fighters had decided to head back. During my flight to
altitude Eastleigh had come under attack and had launched its
barrage balloons. Under these conditions we were instructed
to fly to Worthy Down, near Winchester, which was our
reserve station.
I was lucky, because the Messerschmitt 109s were at the
limit of their endurance and did not have the fuel reserves to
fly around and wait for me to appear once more. Also, there
was a good chance that a group of Hurricanes or Spitfires
might be sent up to take them on. If I had been flying over
enemy territory, however, I would not have had that
advantage. This was the problem for the crews of the Skuas
and Gladiators in Norway. The aircraft carriers HMS Furious and Glorious had ferried some RAF Gladiators andHurricanes to fly from an airstrip at Bardufoss to provide air
cover for the allied troops. Both carriers remained on station,
sending out anti-submarine patrols and bombing missions.
It was a strain on the crews, because in northern waters there
was daylight for almost twenty-four hours, so the carriers
were the target of lots of dive-bombing attacks from the
Luftwaffe. There were a lot ofcasualties in the Fleet Air Arm
during this period, because not only were their machines
inferior, but if they were shot down over land they were
usually taken prisoner. The German army did not have it
all its own way, however: Norway is particularly difficult
terrain to fight in. But the war there was overtaken by other
events.
Hitler invaded Belgium and Holland on 10 May, and then
crossed into French territory. The British Government decided
to pull our troops
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