SQUADRON NO. 20

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4346, 4 January 1938, Page 7

SQUADRON NO. 20

WAR-TIME SERVICE Squadron No 20 wais on the scene of the war early. It had an outstanding record of success in planes brought down. No, 20 was the only squadron which managed to bring down the famous Richthofen, greatest of all livers, before the final crash which killed him, writes Sydney Hampden in the Sydney ‘ Morning Herald ’). Just as there were “ ace ” pilots during the war, so there were “ ace squadrons. The French and the Germans, the Belgians, and the Italians each had their crack squadrons, probably the most famous of all being Richthofen’s “ circus,” which was moved from one part of the line to another, where the pressure was greatest. Onlv the British did not adopt this practice. Their best pilots were never kept looked up in one unit, but vveie moved frequently, as military necessity, promotion, and the need ol expeuenced men to command new squadrons demanded. The authorities discouiaged undue publicity for any particular squadron or pilot, which might by implication be taken to reflect upon the rest, and the squadrons were known only by their numbers. Mere figures were not calculated to catch the imagination of the general public, but m France many ol these numbers acquired an almost legendary reputation on both sides of the lines. No. 20 worthily earned its right to stand among these great ones. When the squadron went to trance, in January, 1916, things were going badly for the Allies in the air. the Germans had recently brought out the Fokker monoplane, with a machine-gun firing through the propeller, which had given them a temporary supremacy. The British answer to the Fokkers lay in the de Havilland Scout (D.H.2) and the Farman Experimental (F.E.2), both of which were “ pushers’ ; that is to say, the propeller was behind the wing. No. 20 was the first squadron to be equipped with the F.E.2.bn, which proved fully a match for the German machines. Reliable, fairly fast, and easy to manoeuvre, they were armed with three Lewis guns, one mounted upon the axis and operated by the pilot by a cable, and the two fired by the observer, one forwards and the other backwards over the top wing. The complete reversal oij the German air supremacy was to come during the Battle of the Somme, in which No. 20 was to earn its spurs and in which one of its most distinguished pilots won the Victoria Cross. THE POSITION REVERSED. Sergeant Thomas Mottershead was attacked at a height of 9,000 ft by a patrol of Fokkers, and after a short time his petrol tank was pierced. A sheet of flame leapt up, and, though his observer tried to extinguish the fire, his efforts were unavailing. Mottershead at once brought the machine down, though long tongues of flame hissed all round him, and he only managed to retain consciousness through his observer turning the fire extinguisher upon him. With amazing calmness he chose a suitable landing ground within his own lines, and brought his plane to it. The machine collapsed as it touched the ground, and the pilot was pinned underneath, to be pulled out, still alive but horribly burned, by the observer. He died later, but his presence of mind and bravery undoubtedly saved the life of his observer. One of the most spectacular exploits of the squadron took place in the following summer. The third battle of Ypres was in full swing, and it was decided to attempt an ambush on a large scale on the German aircraft. A formation of No, 20 was to go up as “ bait ” for the whole army wing, while another squadron was to make a wide detour to the east and another was to fly at a great height overhead. The solitary flight went up into an empty sky, and rapidly attracted the attention' of various enemy _ patrols. Soon it was beset by overwhelming numbers of German machines, and for three-quarters of an hour it maintained a running fight above the trenches until aid arrived. This magnificent effort drew a telegram of appreciation from headquarters. Another famous occasion in the history of the squadron took place in June, 1917. A flight of seven F.E.s fell in with about 15 Albatrosses led by a red Scout. As battle was joined the German flight leader fiercely attacked one of the British machines, mortally wounding its pilot. As the F.E. turned for home, hotly pursued by the red Albatross, another British machine, piloted by Lieutenant H. A. Satchell. observer Second-lieutenant Lewis, dived to its assistance.

THE BRITON SUCCEEDS

There ensued a battle royal. The German pilot speedily showed himself to he of outstanding skill and bravery, and for 15 minutes the two machines dived and zoomed, banked and sideslipped, the roar of the engines punctuated by the rattle of machine guns as each pilot employed all his arts to gain the commanding position. Finally Lieutenant Satchell obtained the position he desired, and the Albatross lay momentarily exposed to the observer. The latter had been waiting for this moment, and he did not miss his opportunity. Bullets from his Lewis gun tore through the wing of the red machine, which, already damaged, now broke up in the air and crashed. The pilot was later learned to have been Lieutenant Karl Schaeffer, the German “ ace,” who at that time had 30 victories to his credit.

A still more famous pilot was to experience to his cost the fighting qualities of the British airmen when faced with overwhelming odds. Six F.E.s of No. 20 wore surprised on patrol by Richthofen's “ circus.” Four Sopwith triplanes of No. 210 Squadron came to their help, but their aid was more than offset by the numerous German planes that joined in. In the spectacular “ dog-fight ” that followed the British planes wore outnumbered four to one, but they gave a good account of themselves. Two F.E.s went down to crash, the observer in a third was killed ; four German machines went down in flames or out of control before the deadly attack of the triplanes, and still more fell before the accurate fire of the F.E.s.

Among the latter was an all-red Albatross sent down by Second-lieutenant A, E. Woodbridge, observer to Captain

D. C. Gunnell. Since this machine was not actually seen to crash it was not claimed as a victory, but information came later that it was piloted by none other than Richthofen himself. A bullet from Woqdbridge’s Lewis gun had lodged in his head. Temporarily blinded and paralysed, the German “ace” had gone down in an uncontrolled spin, but. pulling himself together, he managed to make a landing; but he was unable to fly again for six weeks after this flight. Throughout the war the strategy and tactics of the R.F.C. were governed by the assumption that the aeroplane is predominantly an offensive weapon. The correctness of this assumption had been amply proved during the battle of the Somme, when, though the Germans concentrated most of their air force for the battle, orders were given that they were not to cross the Allied front unless clouds or other factors rendered a surprise possible. The R.F.C., on the other hand, constantly attacked, and the work accomplished by the two air forces for the infantry and artillery has been computed to be in the ratio of 100:4. MASS BOMBING RAIDS.

Apart from the work done, however, there is always the consideration of moral effect. Towards the end of the war, in particular, much use was made of aircraft to demoralise the German troops, by low-flying and bombing raids. From March, 1918, onwards, No. 20, though essentially a fighter squadron, seldom sent out a machine on offensive patrol without one 1121b bomb on board. One of the most spectacular of the mass bombing raids that were such a feature of the fighting in 1918 was the attack on Courtrai station, in which No. 20 took part. Seventy-two machines in all were engaged, and each squadron in turn, loaded with their heavy bombs, swooped down to 100-150 feet over the doomed junction. Eye-witnesses have described the results as terrific. Main lines and sidings were transformed into tangled masses of steel; goods sheds were destroyed, and masonry and equipment were hurled high into the air by the enormous explosions; a leave train, just about to depart with its complement of soldiers, was blown up with 700 casualties, and the whole railway system centring upon the junction was dislocated. Re-equipped in September, 1917, with Bristol Fighters (F.2b’s) the squadron was to obtain in the following year its record number of 56 enemy aircraft crashed in one month. The fighter squadrons had the most spectacular part to perform in the war in the air. but No. 20’s record speaks for itself, and places bevond question its position among the 'immortals. During its 21 months at the front its “ bag ” of aircraft and balloons totalled 613, and two V.C.s, 29 M.C.s. 19 D.F.C.s, and numerous other decorations veie among its honours of war.