A BLOODY
SUMMER
to Amelie
A BLOODY
SUMMER
THE IRISH AT THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
DAN HARVEY
First published in 2020 by
Merrion Press
10 George’s Street
Newbridge
Co. Kildare
Ireland
© Dan Harvey, 2020
9781785373251 (Paper)
9781785373268 (Kindle)
9781785373275 (Epub)
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
Front cover: Battle of Britain. Czech Hurricane pilots in 1940 at their squadron’s UK base © Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo.
Back cover: RAF Hawker Hurricanes making a head-on attack against German Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 110s in the Battle of Britain © Gary Eason / Flight Artworks / Alamy Stock Photo.
CONTENTS
5. Summer Skies
6. Attrition
7. Phase One – Conflict Commenced
8. Phase Two – State of Alert
9. Phase Three – A Decisive Victory Demanded
10. Phase Four – German Air Attacks on London
11. Phase Five – Fighter Fight
12. After the Battle
13. Telling the Battle of Britain Story
Appendix 1: Chronology of the Battle of Britain
Appendix 2: List of Accredited Battle of Britain Squadrons
Appendix 3: Location of RAF Fighter Command, 31 July 1940
Appendix 4: R/T Codes
Bibliography
Glossary
Index
FOREWORD
Growing up, one of the first movies that my father brought me to see was 633 Squadron – an action air picture based on events during the Second World War and featuring the ubiquitous DH Mosquito aircraft, the ‘Wooden Wonder’. This outstanding picture and iconic aircraft caught my attention and I commenced building AirFix models as fast as they and I could make them. Along the way I assembled a sample of the Supermarine Spitfire, featuring in another film Angels 15, as well as Reach for the Sky and many more. Around the end of the Sixties the film Battle of Britain was released and I splashed out on a massive 1/48th scale model to celebrate. My mother asked me what I was building and I said I’d give her a hint, saying ‘RJ Mitchell’. ‘Oh,’ she replied, ‘a Spitfire!’ I was stunned – and impressed! But I learnt then that my parents had lived through the war and blitz in Belfast and were well aware of the origins and importance of Mitchell’s creation.
They moved to Dublin after the war and I grew up in a community in Malahide comprising an amazing amount of former Second World War ex-RAF pilots flying with Aer Lingus. Jock Smith had flown Consolidated Liberator bombers in the Far East theatre of operations and Roy Smith flew Lancaster bombers on missions over Europe and had a wonderful photograph on the wall in his hallway of his squadron personnel posing in front of a Lancaster bomber. Ian Dunlop was a fighter pilot who flew in the Battle of Britain and met his future wife between scrambles during the battle as she was a WAAF technician and involved in servicing on his aircraft! After the battle, he served in the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down where he test-flew every Allied fighter type including P-51s, P-47s, and P-38s, as well as the RAF types like Typhoons and all the Spitfire marks, assessing them for combat performance and handling qualities.
During my service in the Air Corps I became aware that they had operated a squadron of Supermarine Seafire LF. IIIs Mk.47s and then replaced them in the early Fifties with six, two-seat conversion, Spitfire T. Mk.9s. Long since gone before my entry to the Flying School there were reports that they had been sold to the Battle of Britain film company and that some were still airworthy in the UK in private hands. In 1986 one returned to Casement Aerodrome in the ownership of Mr Nick Grace to display at that year’s Air Spectacular airshow. Sadly, Nick later died in a car crash but the aircraft has returned since to our skies, displayed by his wife Carolyn and son Richard. The sound of that Rolls Royce Merlin engine combined with its speed and the elegance of its wings made a big impression on me as a lowly Marchetti pilot!
Twenty years on and another ex-Air Corps Spitfire, formerly serial number ‘161’, graced our skies once again to attend a ‘Wings Day’, sponsored this time by the airline CityJet. It was and remains in the ownership of John Romain of the Historic Aircraft Restoration Company based in the former RAF base Duxford and its appearance and aerobatic display at the end of the parade was both inspirational and impressive. After landing it formed a stunning backdrop for the photographs of the graduating class, dominating the apron with its mighty propeller while the engine clicked and ticked as it cooled off.
A couple of weeks later I was fortunate to fly in her back to Duxford, helping John navigate through and out of Irish Airspace and being allowed to hand fly her all the way to our destination where he then put on a spirited aerobatics display before landing. I sat in the back, a passenger, and experienced the sheer power and manoeuvrability of that aircraft and was enthralled by its noise and performance. I have heard the cockpit noise of a Spitfire likened to driving around inside the China Showrooms at full power in a JCB and I must admit it comes close to fitting the bill. On parking we were met by the aircraft’s technical team, who gave her a thorough and loving examination, confessing as they did, that they had missed her in their hangar. Such is the magic and magnetism of a Spitfire.
I flew an ex-Air Corps Spitfire once more in my career – Nick Grace’s machine, piloted by his son Richard. Strapped into that small but comfortable cockpit, it’s an aircraft that you ‘wear’ when the straps are tightened. He gave me control to get a