Our Father's War

by Thomas, Julie

  I hope you all had an enjoyable Xmas and I look forward to hearing from home again soon. The ordinary mail takes anything up to 3 months, but the Clipper mail is usually under a month. Well I must close now and will write again soon and let you know about life in a fighter squadron. Please apologise for my bad correspondence to any of my friends who may ring up, I will do my best. Cheerio and best love to all, Hal.

  C/- NZ House, The Strand, London, Jan 16th

  As I have received two letters from you this week per Clipper, I think I should send another one home. They were dated Dec 5th and 23rd and I was thrilled to have such recent news from home. I am the envy of the mess as my family write by 5/9 air mail and I keep them well supplied with recent NZ news. You mention in your letter Dad that you are a little vague as to my exact activities and pay etc. and I will try to clarify the position somewhat, although I'm not sure what I can tell you.

  We are in the RNZAF still, although attached to the RAF and live under RAF conditions, drawing our pay from them, at the moment 13/- per day. Now we are operational I have heard that commissions are in the air, although we don't worry much about such things. My number is A391850 in case of further reference. I never use it but postal officials seem to ask for it occasionally. Now, at last, I am what is called a fully fledged fighter pilot and the rest is now up to me. The training on these magnificent machines was very interesting and enjoyable and I am afraid that I have now come to love flying so much, that I just can't imagine ever giving it up.

  Of course the Spitfire is rather strange at first after those slow old planes we used to fly in NZ and it takes quite awhile to become accustomed to the terrific speed and power in their engine. We also had to get used to the experience of blacking out in aerobatics and dog fighting. It is an amazing experience; you sense everything but can't see a thing, just a grey mist in front of your eyes. Naturally a great deal of our training was spent in "fighting" each other. Two pilots climb up and circle around for a while before rushing at each other like a pair of roosters. Then the fight is on and the idea is to get on the other man's tail and stay there. If you can "black the other man out" without going out yourself, it is easy, as he will hesitate while he is blinded. We usually roll onto our backs and scream backwards at anything from 400-500 m.p.h. in a dive, then pull out and see if the other man can climb behind you. It probably sounds very hard to a layman but actually is not nearly as difficult as people imagine, the idea being, of course, to stay reasonably fit and not drink too much or you will find that you black out very often. The rest of our training consisted of aerobatics and stunts and these are great fun in a machine like a Spitfire. Every morning, now we are in a squadron, we go up and roll over the aerodrome, the famous victory roll being almost a tradition in the RAF nowadays.

  14 out of the 21 pilots in the squadron are from NZ and you cannot imagine what it means to us to be together over here, in the same squadron, after flying together for a year. Having confidence in your fellow pilots in a fighter squadron is everything. All our work is done in formation until the last stage of dog fighting and even then the German does not like single handed combat. We have to be on our toes and when the call comes you rush madly to your plane and dash off the ground in formation. After that the ground wireless station takes charge and talks to you all the time. It is marvellous the way they direct you around the sky and bring you home in any weather, it is a great comfort.

  At present I am doing a tremendous amount of flying every day to get as much experience as possible and we do dawn and dusk patrols. We are usually too tired to go out at night at present but when we are fully experienced we will only fly when necessary. We have a room, situated on the 'drome', for when we are not flying, cars to drive us around the camp and of course are free to do what we like when not on duty, so we do have a good life. Flying seems to grow on one and the thrill and enjoyment never wears off. Unless we can fly every day we just become miserable and feel cooped up on the ground.

  Yesterday I had my first real exciting patrol. We were just taxiing out on to the take off patch when the magic word came over the radio and three of us roared into the sky after a raider flying at a tremendous height in our sector. I can tell you that we had every nerve tingling as we climbed furiously up to 20,000ft only to find that we were too late and the German had vanished towards another sector over which we do not operate. Imagine our disappointment, however I guess our time will come and we will have a chance to prove ourselves worthy of the long training that has been invested in us.

  As you had told me, Dad, when I left home, I have found that the friendships made and the feeling of comradeship which is built up amongst men who are fighting together, is one of the finest experiences that can be enjoyed. Naturally we have friendly rivalry between the two flights of the squadron as to who shall be the first "victim" and the splendid spirit of the lads, knowing that we have reliable men beside us all the time, as we always attack in threes, is a great comfort.

  You mention some parcels that you have sent, Mum. I received the cake sent in September and one other parcel sent later containing socks, shaving cream etc, which were all very acceptable. I have acknowledged one from the Rotary Club and received others from various societies. I could do with some more socks, long ones are very good for flying and if you could get any of those Roslyn singlets, a couple would be most welcome. Well, must close now so cheerio, best love to all, Hal.

  C/- NZ House, The Strand, London March 23rd.

  Please excuse this terrible note paper, but it is all that I can find at the moment and also excuse the writing as I have no table in my present bedroom. Since last writing to you or Bruce a great deal has happened to me and at the moment I am feeling very thrilled at my extreme good luck during the past week or so.

  To go back a little, you will remember that I have written home describing our fighter squadron as the NZ fighter squadron and told you how our C.O. had managed to get 19 NZ pilots, two Poles, two Czechs and a few Englishmen. We all had our heart set on becoming recognised as the official NZ squadron and used to wear the national emblems etc. Our ambition was to fly the Spitfires that NZ have bought and thus represent our country in true style. Well our hopes were dashed a week ago when the official NZ fighter squadron was formed by the NZ Government and equipped with Spitfires bought by our own little country. Sixteen NZ pilots were immediately posted from squadrons all over England to fly these machines and really form the foundation of the squadron, which is, at the moment, the baby of the RAF. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that I was one of the sixteen and received notice to report to a drome in Yorkshire. I was disappointed at leaving my friends in our former squadron, only three lads were posted here from our little crowd, Alan Shaw was one and a lad from Auckland another.

  Cam White and all the boys were sorry to part with us and, of course, were all envious of our good luck in having the opportunity to "fly for NZ" as they said. We had a grand farewell night before leaving the squadron and I realised that it is only when you leave a squadron of fine chaps like we had, that you realise what a wonderful spirit of comradeship is built up when you fly and fight side by side with such men. My C.O. said that I could return to his squadron at any time and my own flight commander gave me a grand report. He flew me over to Yorkshire in a bomber which he borrowed and I said goodbye to him in Blackpool with mixed feelings as he taught me most of my knowledge of aerial fighting.

  When I arrived at our station I discovered, to my delight, that Gary Francis was there and he is now in the same flight as me. Strangely enough Bob has now joined Ian and Pip so that the five of us are together again in two camps. I also discovered that most of the pilots had trained at Blenheim in courses junior to me and I knew most of them, some came from Wigram also. Bill Wells from Cambridge, who was senior to me at Blenheim, is also here, you might know his family, Mum. As a number of these chaps have only recently arrived in England and have not had much experience in squadrons, Garry and I and some of the
"older" hands have been flying with them all day, teaching them all the tricks that we have been taught. I had a young Waikato boy of 19 (we have two 19 year olds) up today dog fighting with me and felt quite amused when he regarded me as a seasoned veteran, as although I have nearly 100 hours on fighters, I have not had the opportunity to be in real action yet, having done all my flying during the winter months. However I have done numerous operational patrols or have been in sight of the real thing, Gary is the lucky one having shot down one bomber already.

  I had a letter from Pip yesterday, he, Ian and Bob are in the NZ Bomber squadron and are doing magnificent work at present. They are leaving us behind as they are bombing the hell out of old Hitler and he talks of being over various German cities nearly every night. Pip is Captain of a bomber now and is a real veteran, can he tell the experiences! But I will leave those until we come home as I am sure that he will want his activities kept quiet. I admire those bomber boys more than anybody in this war and nobody will know until after the war what they have had to face and what work they have done. I only hope that we can do as well when our turn comes to defend good old England.

  We believe that the NZ Govt. is going to give us a great deal of publicity at home as we are flying your machines and I suppose that you will hear all about us in due course. At the moment I feel I am the most fortunate person in the RAF to be representing my own country in this way. I was going on a well earned week's leave before coming to this squadron but had to postpone it, however will get away as soon as possible and will probably see Pip, Ian and Bob first, and probably go down to Aunt Luce's place in Cornwall. It is almost real springtime now and I would like to see the south of England under really favourable conditions. The weather is much better here now and the days longer, we stroll into the local village every night, it is only half a mile, and have a pint with the locals. It is a charming old Yorkshire village; these places never fail to fascinate me, with their old cobbled streets and red brick buildings. The landlord of the "Buck Hotel" and his good lady have adopted four of us and insist on taking us for drinks when we have time off and have invited us to share a dinner of venison next week. He has been shooting with the local squire and they shot a deer the other day. We look forward to that very much. Well must close now, am enclosing a couple of snaps to show how fit I am, never better. I haven't heard from home for sometime, no doubt the Clipper service is disorganised. Cheerio now, best of love to all, Hal.

  C/- NZ House, The Strand, London April 20th

  I was pleased to receive a letter from home, one from Pat and one from Aunty Glad yesterday all dated about March 25th. Three weeks ago I received four from home and one from Pat in one lot, they were dated 3rd Feb, 10th Feb, 17th Feb and 1st March and I must take this opportunity of answering them all.

  We have been very busy just at present doing escort work, convoy work, patrols and chasing quite a few enemy bombers who come over to visit us occasionally. The day before yesterday was a tremendous day, had 16 hours on duty and spent four hours (each pilot) searching an area in the North Sea, 100 miles out, where six of our bomber lads had come down the night before. They were in a small rubber boat and we did the patrols trying to find them, we didn't mind the tiredness when we thought of those lads in the water. However our efforts were to no avail. Dawn patrols are at 5am and dusk at 9pm so we have a long day just at the moment. Some of the younger pilots are not yet operational so we older hands have to do all the work involving the likelihood of any action.

  A squadron consists of approximately 200 men divided into two flights of 100 each, each commanded by a Flight Lieutenant. Each smaller flight consists of 11 pilots and 9 machines, the extra two pilots being on leave in rotation, thus giving each man one week off in five. In addition we will have one day off every four days and 48 hours off every ten days, this physical and mental rest being absolutely necessary for each pilot. There are six pilots in each flight available to take off all the time, the remaining three being on rest, these six men being divided into three sections of two. One section is ready to be in the air in 90 seconds, the next section who were previously on 15 minutes then come up to the 90 second scale. The third section who are usually on 30 min availability then come up to 15. Of course in the event of some real action the whole squadron takes to the air. There are five section leaders in the flight. A section, by the way, is often three machines depending on the enemy target and the attack to be used. The leader is directed from the ground by radio to the enemy position and then the direction of the attack is left up to him. Garry and I are both section leaders in our flight and although it is a great responsibility when three machines are sent off, the knowledge that you can depend on any one man to do his best and that you are all operating as a complete unit is very reassuring to a leader.

  Gary and I took off together yesterday morning and as the two of us flew up and down over a huge convoy in the North Sea, I couldn't help thinking how strange it was that we should be together after 16 months of training and how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to take part in the defence of England. In the last letter I had from Ian Reid he said that Pip had put up a grand show over Berlin the other night and there was also a chance that Ian and Bob may fly together in the same bomber. Pip was caught in searchlights for ten minutes and coolly threw his machine around evading anti-aircraft fire, while his crew sat and watched terrified. They apparently idolise him as a Captain. Those bomber boys are simply magnificent, a tremendous number of the New Zealanders are being killed in bombers and their nerves are subjected to terrible strain, during six hour trips, at the moment they are the heroes of this war. As I haven't seen Bob or Pip for over six months I am going to fly down to their drome this week and have lunch with them.

  I received two parcels from the Hutchinsons the other day, one from you Mum and one from The Maple, also a grand cake yesterday dated Feb 14th, many thanks. No doubt some of the parcels are going down en route but they are always very much appreciated. I would like some cork tipped cigarettes, also some NZ No 3 pipe tobacco and chocolate, these things are non-existent in our part of the world and I would appreciate them very much indeed. Also NZ butter is a great treat at any time, there are dozens of things in the food line that I used to take for granted at home, that we never see these days. Will I order a meal when I come home and I will eat apples all day! Socks are also acceptable. I am glad that you are sending some Roslyn singlets they are good for flying at great heights. We spend a lot of time these days flying around 35,000 ft and it is very cold. I would give anything for a day on the beach in the sun, instead of this damp and foggy weather we are always flying in, you have to fly on your instruments for hours on end.

  During my last leave I had a good look around London, went to some of the shows and met many Aucklanders that I had known in peacetime. It was wonderful seeing them again. I went up to Thame and enjoyed roaming around the beautiful old colleges of Oxford and the glorious countryside in that district. One night I hitch-hiked back to Thame (13 miles) on the back of a lorry, having missed the last bus and no trains being available. The family I was staying with took me on a picnic on my last day. I did enjoy every moment of it, such a peaceful atmosphere after the crazy world of speed and murder in which we continually live. It is strange, but the simple homely things in life seem to possess a new value. After months of camp life and hours of flying when you cannot relax for a second, the experience of entering a private home and sitting by a fire with a family similar to my own is a feeling I will never forget. It is only by doing without these things that anything like a real sense of values, of the things that matter in life, can be developed. When I realise that the cause for which I am fighting embraces the very existence and continuation of the family circle and all it stands for, I feel privileged to be taking part in the fight and any sacrifice I can make will be well worth while. At the moment I am lucky in that I am fighting fit, am still crazy about flying and I am flying with as fine a bunch of chaps as ever stepped into a pla
ne. Cheerio for now, Best love to all, Hal.

  C/- NZ House, The Strand, London, June 14th

  I received your letter of the 23rd May yesterday and was glad to learn that all is well at home and also that news is reaching you in NZ of the activities of our squadron. I have no doubt at all that the press will overestimate our qualities and in their endeavour to impress upon the public that their Spitfire fund contributions are winning the war, will give the impression that we are something out of the ordinary. However we are really a very ordinary bunch of New Zealanders whose main assets are the best of health, plenty of enthusiasm and a keen desire to knock any enemy machine out of the sky. As a matter of fact until a fortnight ago, although we had been formed for nearly three months, the squadron had still to win its spurs and register the first combat reports in the pages of its history.

  I was really thrilled to be a participant in the first engagement and it was really an amazing coincidence that Gary and I should have been together at the time and were the first to sight the quarry. I was filling in for Gary's No 2 man for five minutes, I always fly my own section, and we were sent off to intercept a German bomber during those five minutes. We were lucky enough to find the German machine all right, flying just below thick cloud and we both attacked and put three long bursts of machine gun fire into him before he escaped into the cloud. I met him head on coming out of the cloud a minute later and knocked his starboard engine out of action, the last I saw of him he was diving towards the sea.