The Flight Commander 15

On these raids we carried, in addition to about 2,000 rounds of ammunition, four 16-lb. bombs which we dropped on the hangers of the enemy aerodrome or on gun teams, trains, or in fact anything which looked as if it might be improved by the addition of l6-lb. bombs. Personally, I was always relieved when I had found a suitable resting place for this cargo, because I did not

relish being hit by a bullet on the bombs and being thereby given a free pass to the next world, providing my own cordite for the job.


What I have told you gives, I fear, a very brief outline of scout work from the Flight Commander’s view in No. 8 Squadron, but I think I have shown you what great need there was for co-operation between Flight Commander and pilots. One advanced all the time with the science of aerial fighting. Each day brought something new; perhaps it would be a new type of enemy scout, or perhaps a new plot of the enemy to decoy the unwary. Fighting did not cease when a pilot climbed out of his aeroplane on the aerodrome; his mind carried on in thought, developing fresh methods whereby he could defeat the enemy.


I do not wish to conclude this outline without paying tribute to the Squadron Commanders under whom it was my privilege to serve in No. 8 Squadron. The first Squadron Commander (now Group Captain) G. R, Bromet, organised the original Squadron. He was a born leader and one whose leadership inspired efficiency and whose personal example counted for so much in those days when the schoolboy was flung into a world where moral standards were, like everything else, suffering from the heat thrown out by the cauldron of war. Next, was Squadron Commander Christopher Draper, a man whom I should have no hesitation in describing as one of the finest pilots in the world in his time; to see him handle an aeroplane was to view a complete mastery of a machine, in which few others have expressed so much grace of movement. He gained the loyalty of all, for he was everybody's friend.


Nor can I conclude without paying my tribute to all those pilots it was my privilege to lead. Some led flights in their turn and came through safely, others were lost in the common cause, but all were imbued with the team spirit; each gave of his best and backed his leader up through thick and thin, so that he could bring all his energies to bear on the main object, which was to bring down, drive down, or prevent from working, all enemy aircraft within the sector one had orders to patrol.

Anecdote Homepage

1916 - 1939 Anecdotes Homepage

…...continued

The Flt Cdr Page  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Compston - The Flt Cdr 16 Compston - The Flt Cdr 14
Home News Membership Chapters History Medals Galleries Contact Us
Home News Membership Chapters History Medals Galleries Contact Us
Chapters 1916-1939 Spit / Hurr Meteor Hunter Buccaneer Hawk
TemplateI-06 208 form.jpg

Timeline