LADDER OF FAME

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 117, 19 May 1945, Page 6

LADDER OF FAME

FROM AC2 UP!

DOMINION PILOTS

METEORIC CAREERS

Most famous New Zealand pilots of this war—all of them Royal Air Force aces—Wing-Commanders Alan Deere, Colin Gray and Bill CrawfordCompton, have all risen to their present eminence from the rank of A.C.2, the lowest rung on the Air Force ladder.

The three of them have also more operational flying time to their credit than any other New Zealander. These facts were gained today from Wing-Commander W. V. Crawford-Compton. who arrived last night in Auckland after leaving England a week ago. Compton's own operational flving hours as a Spitfire pilot total 800. Deere and he have each shot down 21 h enemy planes.

Like most New Zealand pilots, Compton had little to volunteer about himself and his career, and when one fact was dragged from Jiim he immediately brought in some comment about another pilot who had also achieved fame. But the two rows of "colours," with their bars and leaves, that decorated his tunic below his wings told their own story. He has the D.5.0., D.F.C. and bar, U.S. Silver Star and the Czechoslovakia Clasp. Not yet is he wearing the French Croix de Guerre to which he is entitled, according to a recent R.N.Z.A.F. announcement.

Tribute to Alan Deere "Deere was about the toughest fighter in the Air Force," he declared. "You can never tell a fighter pilot at first glance. Now Deere was a pugilist He looked like it and he had the reputation. In the air he was just the same. On the other - hand, Gray was a small, highlystrung type . . . and he was the greatest fighter of the lot from the point of view of skill. Ray Haselton, who was an Australian and who was the co-author of 'Spitfires Over Malta,' was also a small type. He was only sft 3in and weighed nine stone. He was another notable fighter."

This led the talk to a discussion of "types" and. the wingtcommander had some interesting observations to make.

"There is a conception that the fighter pilot has to be young and dashing," he said, "But these types don't last long. It. is better to have a man with dash, but who knows when to leave off."

His "Toughest" Job Later he passed another remark, which indicated that ''toughness'' in the air is not synonymous with callousness. The toughest job he and others had had to do, he said, was go in and "beat-up" about three or four hundred horses in France. That was in the post-D day period, when the Nazi transport had been

so battered from the air that they had to use horses to try to get their guns out. "It was a beastly business," he said. "We all felt sick, and two' of the pilots vomited as soon as they left their machines on returning." Coolness was one of the most necessary attributes of the good air fighter. When an attack suddenly loomed everybody tensed up, and it helped a lot if the flight leader spoke slowly and in as matter of fact a tone as possible. That was where , some of the British pilots, normally %. .accused of speaking with "a plum in : their mouths." shone. He remembered one occasion when .. out on a patrol, and there was a sudden, excited call over the wire- «' jtess from one of the fighters. "Look s vbut! 109's at 3 o'clock" (using the ißJ&lock code to indicate direction of 'attack). A moment later there was .excited call. "Look out, ®>¥haps. More 109's at 9 o'clock." v*' Everybody was on edge at the alarm, when suddenly there drifted to them over the air the Oxford drawl of an R.A.F. "type." Sift say,' old boy. . . a pincer moveJjl'jnent, what!" •

ili • Battle of Britain Highlights 15':" The Battle of Britain, in memory, !?>had many highlights for this fighter i>:pilot, who has been on active ser-Sj-vice ever since the war began in . Although he was not listed tpas-a "night fighter" he and the other pilots were called on at all 5 : fsorts of times to patrol the outskirts centres that were being attacked 't .by the Luftwaffe. "There was a dreadful feeling of frustration up there," he said. "You could look down and see the bombs

bursting and the fires raging. And you could see the flak coming up. _ JBut you couldn't see the Jerries. You felt all tensed up, and the ; .thought was constantly recurring, >•- 'God. If I could even see one of the so-and-sos!' You had to wait round „and try to pick one up as it was silhouetted against a fire below or against the moon or a cloud up • above. "Once, over Holland, I saw a

. Heinkel hit and the crew bail out, . parachuting down right into the centre of the fires they had created!" Those days were the most nerveracking of the lot, said the wingcommander, referring to the Battle of Britain. Fifty per cent of the R.A.F. strength had been lost over Dunkirk. There was great pressure ; on Fighter Groups 11 and 12, to the first *of which he was attached, and feTvit was a terrific strain. Sometimes

the pilots would be up at 4 a.m. for a cup of coffee before going on operations. Thej r would, perhaps, have eaten only half an egg on their return for breakfast when they were called on again for another job. They lived on their nerves. And even at night they could not sleep.

He mentioned the keen rivalry which existed between neighbouring New Zealand wings, which were commanded by Alan Deere and himself, respectively. Their group commander, now Air-Vice-Marshal Saunders, was formerly Chief of Staff in New Zealand. Saunders was the greatest commander of all the fighter groups, and the man who, in the highest degree, combined all the qualities necessary for leadership. He was a good fighter, a good administrator, and he had the respectful friendship of everyone of his men.

Referring to the intensive training that was necessary for fighter operations, Wing - Commander Compton pointed out that the pilots coming from New Zealand were taught on the types of machines which they would fly on active service. They put up 50 to 60 hours' flying time as a preparation. Even then it took a time before they couid be fully utilised. On their early operations they flew as No. 2, guarding the tail of their leader, who pressed in the attack. In this way they gained experience and on showing aptitude they qualified for the No. 1 job.

It was essential for the pilots to retain their pair formation, and m this connection he had an amusing tale to tell of a patrol led by WingCommander E. P. (Hawk-eye) Wells. They were flying in line abreast, when suddenly there was an anguished call from a No. 2 . . . "Calling Red 1. . . . Calling Red 1. . . . Bed 2 calling. . . I . have lost you . . . please waggle your wings. "Then, as one, I saw the whole front line solemnly waggle their wings!" said the Aucklander

TRAVELLERS' WELCOME

Over 100 members of the Auckland Commercial Travellers' Club this morning gave Wing-Commander W V. Crawford-Compton a rousing reception when he was noticed in th Mr. ll C." J. W. Taylor, a Dominion past-president and past-president of the Auckland Commercial Travellers Club, in the absence of the president, Mr V. J. Stewart, said Wing-Com-mander Crawford-Compton had not only the most hours of any fighter pilot to his credit, but also was New Zealand's most decorated pilot m the R.A.F.