Sniper of the Skies: The Story of George Frederick 'Screwball' Beurling, DSO, DFC, DFM

by Nick Thomas

  No. 403 Squadron’s new airfield was the home of No. 121 (Eagle) and No. 222 Squadron. The latter included amongst its ranks Bob Seed, one of Beurling’s fellow pilots from their training days.

  During the following morning, Beurling flew his first operational sortie; a convoy patrol between Clacton-on-Sea and the mouth of the Thames. It must have been a surreal experience, being on a war footing in the morning and celebrating Christmas in the afternoon. Following the Service tradition, the Officers and Senior NCOs served a five-course dinner ‘with ample beer’ to the other ranks. Beurling was most at home mixing with the ordinary airmen and envied them their time spent with the aircraft; tuning the engines, getting every last bit of power out of the Rolls Royce Merlin:

  ‘Great guys most “erks”. My kind, anyway. They like to talk engines and guns and instruments. Any pilot can learn a lot from the boys who look after his ship.’

  That night, like a couple of over-excited children, Beurling and Seed raided 222’s officer’s mess, making off with several helpings of turkey and all the trimmings, along with a whole Christmas pudding.

  Meanwhile, Beurling spent much of 27 December on the Sutton Bridge firing range, the whole Squadron getting in some valuable air firing. Next day the Squadron was back in the air, flying a series of uneventful convoy patrols.

  The Squadron was non-operational on 30 December, when the Station was visited by the Under-Secretary for Air, Captain Balfour, accompanied by the Station CO, Group Captain Pain and Wing Commander Nove, DFC, Wing Commander (Flying) North Weald. In the afternoon, the pilots were shown instructional films on diverse subjects such as the ‘He III’, ‘The use of Oxygen in high flying’ and ‘Records of Combats’, the latter outlining the essentials of recording aerial victories, referring to the Air Ministry’s criteria for assessing combat victories:

  Destroyed:

  a)

  Aircraft must be seen on the ground or in the air destroyed by a member of the crew or formation, or confirmed from other sources, e.g. ships at sea, local authorities, etc.

  b)

  Aircraft must be seen to descend with flames issuing. It is not sufficient if only smoke is seen.

  c)

  Aircraft must be seen to break up in the air.

  Probables:

  a)

  When the pilot of a single-engine aircraft is seen to bail out.

  b)

  The aircraft must be seen to break off the combat in circumstances which lead our pilots to believe it will be a loss.

  Damaged:

  Aircraft must be seen to be considerably damaged as the result of attack, e.g. undercarriage dropped, engine dropped, aircraft parts shot away, or volumes of smoke issuing.

  There was no flying on New Year’s Eve, while, during the evening, the Station played host to an ENSA orchestra. Beurling greeted the New Year in the company of Bob Seed and a few other pilots.

  For much of the first part of January, inclement weather conditions meant that the Squadron was not called into action. Instead, the pilot’s energy was channelled into sport.

  On 1 January 1942, the pilots of ‘A’ and ‘B’ Flights fought it out on the baseball field, with ‘B’ Flight emerging as victorious by five home-runs to one. The competition was repeated on the following day, when the pilots defeated the ground-staff eighteen home-runs to fifteen. Beurling would have been much more at home with the afternoon’s clay pigeon shooting, a sport at which he excelled and which helped him to sharpen his already well cultivated deflection firing.

  On 3 January 1941, the pilots and the majority of the ground personnel were released to attend the football, rugby and hockey matches played between North Weald and Hornchurch for the AOC’s Challenge Cup, which North Weald won.

  Back on operations on 6 January, the Squadron took part in what proved to be an uneventful Channel Sweep flown by the North Weald Wing, which was composed of Nos. 121, 222 and 403 Squadrons. The following few days saw the Squadron flying air-firing and general practice flights, while back on the sporting front, the pilots defeated No. 121 Squadron at baseball on the 7th.

  Changes occurred on 12 January, when Squadron Leader A.G. Douglas transferred onto North Weald’s Station Staff, handing over to Squadron Leader C.N.S. Campbell, who arrived from No. 72 Squadron.

  During the early afternoon of 16 January, No. 403 Squadron flew on uneventful convoy patrols, whilst on the following day disaster struck, when Beurling lost his room-mate ‘Art’ Monserez as a result of a tragic but avoidable accident. At 1200 hours, Flight Sergeant A.J. Monserez1 and Sergeant D.C. Campbell took off to do cine-gun and formation flying. On his approach, Monserez discovered his landing-gear wouldn’t lock properly. Taking his Spitfire back up, Monserez started throwing it about, in the hope of freeing the mechanism. He was seen going into a spin, before over-compensating and immediately going into an opposite spin from which he did not recover. Monserez crashed into a wood opposite the officer’s mess.

  The sudden loss of a room-mate in an air-accident must have had a devastating effect on Beurling. To lose a friend as a result of combat was one thing, but to witness an avoidable death over your home base was something completely different. But there could be no time to dwell on death in the Services, and the Squadron’s pilots were airborne within hours, flying, ‘cloud and local flying.’

  On a brighter note, a signal from No. 11 Group announced news of the award of the DFC to Squadron Leader C.S.N. Campbell, for gallantry while serving with his previous Squadron. The award was remarked upon in the Squadron’s ORB:

  ‘Owing to his excellent work in operational flying, his leadership and his outstanding sea rescue work, S/L Campbell has been awarded the DFC.’ The pages then added the less formal: ‘“Whoopie.” Our first DFC in the Squadron. Congratulations Sir, let’s add the bar to it while in 403 Squadron. Best wishes.’

  The Squadron’s routine continued, and gunnery practice was carried out at Martlesham and on the Dengie Flats towards the end of the month, while a number of aborted scrambles and uneventful convoy patrols were also flown. On 28 January, ‘A’ Flight Commander, Flight Lieutenant Brad Walker, posted earlier from No. 402 (Canadian) Squadron, led Beurling on a scramble. The excitement was short-lived, however, as the pair were recalled after only a few minutes in the air.

  Early February followed the same pattern, with only occasional convoy patrols and scrambles between long periods of poor weather, which left the whole Station grounded.

  However, during the mid-afternoon of 2 February, No. 403 Squadron flew as part of the North Weald Wing, following the Debden Wing on a sweep over naval targets located north-east of Calais. No. 222 Squadron was assigned to fly ahead of No. 121 Squadron, with No. 403 Squadron acting as rear cover.

  Between Ostend and Dunkirk the formation was attacked by Fw 190s and Bf 109s, with No. 222 Squadron’s Squadron Leader Milne (Red 1) getting off several bursts, but without results. Pilot Officer Seed (Red 3) damaged an Fw 190 which he shared with Flight Sergeant Wood (Red 2).

  No. 403 Squadron was also engaged, with Flight Sergeant G.A. Ryckman (Yellow 1) destroying a Bf 109F and also sharing a damaged Bf 109F with Sergeant E.A. Crist (Yellow 3). Wing Commander Eyre (Red 4), Squadron Leader C.S.N. Campbell (Red 1), Flight Sergeant L. Somers (Blue 3) and Blue Section’s Sergeant Crawford, all fired their guns during indecisive combats.

  The General Report read:

  ‘the Squadron was attacked by six Fw 190s and three Me 109Fs. Red 2, on being attacked from astern by one Fw 190, made a tight turn away and found he could easily out-turn the enemy aircraft. He then attacked another Fw 190 from dead astern, firing two short bursts of 1½ seconds at about 150 yards range. Pieces were seen to break off the wing of the enemy aircraft by Red 3 who also reported smoke from enemy aircraft. As Red 1 [Squadron Leader C.S.N. Campbell] broke away, he was again attacked and forced to take violent evasive action, but looking back he saw an Fw 190 crash into the sea. Red 3 was able to fire a short burst of 1½ seconds at the Fw 190 which att
acked Red 2, using full deflection at 75 yards range. He, in turn, was forced to break away without seeing any effect of his fire. The enemy aircraft formed into a defensive circle above them and the two aircraft made for home.’

  ‘Red 1 [Squadron Leader C.S.N. Campbell], became separated. Observed three Me 109Es make a head-on attack on two Hudsons, he fired a two second burst, with full deflection, at one of the enemy aircraft, which sheered away. The other two enemy aircraft dived at sea-level and made off.’

  ‘Yellow Section broke away and engaged a large formation of Me 109Fs which were approaching from straight ahead. Yellow 1 attacked one of these from astern, firing a two-second burst from 275 yards. Enemy aircraft emitted black smoke and took evasive action but straightened out, again allowing Yellow 1 [Flight Sergeant G.A. Ryckman] to fire another three-second burst. Strikes on wings and fuselage were observed, and heavy black smoke and flames enveloped the enemy aircraft as it disappeared into cloud.’

  A further Bf 109 was encountered, and attacked by Yellow 1 and 3 [Sergeant E.J. Crist]:

  ‘Each attacked in turn with three-second bursts from astern at 300 yards range. A further one-second burst was fired, also from dead astern, by both pilots. Strikes were seen on wings and fuselage before enemy aircraft disappeared into cloud.’

  No. 403 Squadron lost Pilot Officer John Cawsey2 (flying AD273 ‘C’) on 12 February, when he was killed during a scramble made at 0900 hours. Once airborne the Spitfires were vectored onto a lone raider approaching Clacton-on-Sea. Pilot Officer Cawsey and Flight Sergeant A.H. McDonald (flying BL337 ‘K’) collided after entering cloud; McDonald’s aircraft had his tail damaged, but he managed to bail out safely.

  Meanwhile, intelligence had been received that a convoy, including the Germans’ prize battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, was preparing to pass though the English Channel, in what would be dubbed the ‘Channel Dash.’

  At 1100 hours, the Squadron was brought to Readiness and the pilots were briefed for a Wing show, with Squadron Leader Milne leading. Forty minutes later No. 403 Squadron took off, making a rendezvous with the rest of the North Weald Wing and the Debden Wing.

  Three Bf 109s were seen over the Channel, making a head-on to quarter attack on a Hudson. Squadron Leader C.N.S. Campbell positioned himself to head off the Messerschmitts, giving them a full deflection shot which had the desired effect.

  Further Bf 109s appeared from the east and Squadron Leader C.N.S. Campbell led a fruitless pursuit, before pulling away to provide an escort to eight Wellington bombers.

  Meanwhile, Yellow Section engaged Bf 109s at 2,000ft, with Sergeant G.A. Ryckman (Yellow 1) getting onto the tail of a Bf 109F, at which he fired a two-second burst at 275 yards with cannon and machine gun. The enemy aircraft was seen to pour black smoke, while taking evasive action, before straightening out long enough for Ryckman to get in another three-second burst, when hits were seen on the wings and the fuselage. Heavy black smoke and flames shot from the Bf 109’s engine and it went into a dive, disappearing into cloud at 2,000ft. This was witnessed by Sergeant E.A. Crist (Yellow 3) and Pilot Officer J. Parr (Yellow 2).

  Sergeants G.A. Ryckman and E.A. Crist then engaged another Bf 109, both firing a three-second burst at 300 yards from astern and a second burst of one second from dead astern. Strikes were seen on the wings and the fuselage before the fighter was lost in cloud.

  Sergeants Crawford (Blue 2) and L. Somers (Blue 3) saw a Bf 109E dive towards them out of the cloud, and both turned to their right and fired a three-second burst of cannon and machine gun. Sergeant Crawford engaged a second Bf 109 on his right front, at an angle of 45 degrees, firing a three-second burst of cannon and machine gun fire.

  403 Squadron claimed one enemy aircraft destroyed and a second damaged.

  The Squadron flew a number of convoy escorts between 13th and 24th February. Meanwhile, on the 15th, Beurling was selected to accompany Squadron Leader C.S.N. Campbell, Flight Lieutenant C.P.J. Wood and Flight Sergeant D.C. Campbell, taking part in No. 11 Group’s Air-to-Air Gunnery competition. Surprisingly, the Squadron’s ORB recorded their score as only ‘fair.’

  At 1750 hours on 17 February, Flight Lieutenant C.P.J. Wood nearly had the opportunity to make amends. While on patrol, Wood sighted a Do 217 below the low cloud base. He turned to give chase, but the Dornier jettisoned its bombs and ran for home.

  A signal was received from No. 11 Group on 20 February announcing the award of the DFC to Flight Lieutenant C.P.J. ‘Timber’ Wood, who had been with the Squadron since its formation. Meanwhile, a visit from an official photographer led to a number of the Squadron’s pilots featuring in the following day’s edition of Canada Weekly.

  On 25 February, Air Vice-Marshal Leigh-Mallory gave the Squadron a lecture entitled, ‘Review of War and our Possibilities in the Spring of 1942,’ following which he discussed some innovations, which included a new type of engine for the Supermarine Spitfire.

  During the mid-afternoon of 2 March, No. 403 Squadron flew on an offensive sweep to Commines, during which Flight Sergeant J.B.B. Rainville (Blue 3) damaged a Bf 109F:

  ‘We were not attacked until just after crossing the French coast on the way home from Commines.

  ‘I saw two Me 109Fs approach us from the south-west and attack Blue 4, who was hit in the port aileron. Blue 1 (Flight Lieutenant C.P.J. Wood) turned to attack the enemy aircraft and was followed by the whole section of four. Blue 1 attacked the second of the enemy aircraft and I chased the leader as he broke away into France. I gave him a three or four-second burst with machine gun from about 300 yards astern, but saw no result. I turned to rejoin my section and the 109F turned also, coming in behind me and firing so that I saw the smoke of his bullets ahead and below me. I kept my speed at about 200 mph then closed my throttle and began a vertical climb. He overshot me and I got on his tail. I gave the enemy aircraft three different bursts of about three to four seconds from 150/200 yards astern and saw strikes on his wing root. After the last burst, white smoke came from the enemy aircraft and he dived steeply down towards France.’

  At 1414 hours on 3 March, the Squadron took off to rendezvous with the remainder of the North Weald Wing in order to escort a dozen Havocs on a feint raid towards France. Despite reports that the Wing’s plot brought up 100 enemy aircraft, the Biggin Hill and Kenley Wings, which were following close behind, were not engaged.

  Beurling’s ‘B’ Flight took off at dawn on the following morning and spent the better part of the day practicing their air-to-air gunnery skills. Despite having flown a number of operational sorties, few of the Squadron’s pilots, Beurling included, had actually fired their guns in anger.

  At 1503 hours on 8 March, the Squadron flew on a Sweep as close escort to five Havocs which were targeting the Commines Power Station, north of Lille, with Northolt, Hornchurch and No. 12 Group’s Wings acting as cover.

  On their way home, Fw 190s and Bf 109s tried to bounce the Havocs, just north of St Omer. During the engagement, No. 403 Squadron lost Wing Commander Eyre, DFC (flying BL661), who was shot down and became a POW. His Spitfire was hit in the glycol system by the Bf 109 of Leutnant A. Beese of JG 26, and was seen going down trailing white smoke. Pilot Officer D.S. Aitken3, flying in the formation’s most vulnerable role as ‘Tail-end-Charlie’, was bounced and shot down by a Bf 109F.

  No. 121 Wing came in via Dunkirk in order to pick up the North Weald Wing, who were also tangling with Bf 109s. Pilot Officer W.L.C. Jones’s Spitfire (AD463) was damaged by Bf 109s, while a second aircraft (BL465), was written off. Meanwhile, No. 222 Squadron had one Spitfire damaged in combat.

  No. 403 Squadron helped bring the bombers back safely. Blue Section’s Flight Lieutenant C.P.J. Wood saw two Bf 109Fs come down out of the sun on the tail of Blue 4. The lead Bf 109 fired and hit Blue 4 in the port aileron. Flight Lieutenant Wood then attacked the two 109s which broke away. He gave the first 109 a burst of cannon and machine gun fire, forcing it to disengage, before closing with the second Bf 109, firing a continuou
s six or seven-second burst from quarter astern at 200 yards. There was an explosion just behind the pilot’s seat, as the Bf 109 poured white, then dark blue smoke and went down in flames. This was confirmed by Blue 4.

  Blue 3, Warrant Officer J.B.B. Rainville, damaged a Bf 109F, firing three bursts of about three to four seconds from 150 to 200 yards astern, seeing strikes in the wing root. The Bf 109 emitted white smoke and went into a steep dive, and was claimed as damaged.

  Yellow 1, Pilot Officer N.D.R. Dick, was attacked by two Bf 109Fs, one of which he damaged. In his debriefing, he reported giving the leader a burst of cannon and machine gun fire at 300 yards, thirty degrees off head-on position. The enemy aircraft dived away, a large piece of his tail unit breaking off.

  Beurling later recalled that during the melee, Pilot Officer Hurst’s Spitfire was shot up, when a cannon shell punctured a hole through the port aileron, although not before he added two damaged Bf 109s to the Squadron’s haul.

  The next few days saw little air activity due to the prevailing foul weather over Continental Europe. While a few convoy patrols were flown when possible, Beurling filled the hours between ops by taking the Squadron’s ‘erks’ up ‘sky-riding’ in the station’s Magister and Tiger Moth. Throughout his flying career, Beurling never forgot the skilled ground crews who helped to keep his Squadron’s aircraft in the air. Beurling would spend as much time as he could with the riggers, fitters and armourers.

  It was around this time that Beurling was once again offered a commission, this time by his flight commander, Flight Lieutenant R.R. Gillespie:

  ‘I thought it over for a day, but again said no. All my close pals in 403 were sergeants and I’d rather stay living with them, thanks.’