Page 72 - All About History - Issue 27-15

FORGOTTEN HEROES OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Geoffrey Wellum

NATIONALITY: ENGLISH
RANK: PILOT OFFICER, 92 SQUADRON
Hewasjust18whentheBattleofBritainstarted,andofficiallytheRAF’s
After
recovering youngest fighter pilot
from his
wounds, Geoffrey Wellum’s first sorties as a “I clamber for height and I have an uninterrupted
Nicolson
returned to Spitfire pilot had come in May view. It’s magnificent yet appalling. Junker and
active service. 1940, covering the evacuation of Heinkel bombers split up, their formations largely
In 1945, a plane 03 the British army from Dunkirk. He decimated, as they head back towards the coast. A
he was in
crashed off the then flew several sorties a day Junkers goes down well and truly on fire.
Indian coast. from his base at Biggin Hill, Kent, “Yet another plummets to the ground. Three of
His body was
never found during the opening part of the Battle of Britain, the crew bail out and only one chute opens, the
protecting shipping in the Channel. Nothing, other two Roman candle. I can see the man at the
however, could prepare the teenager for what he end of one quite clearly, arms and legs thrashing as
was to witness on 13 August 1940, when the he plunges earthwards.
Luftwaffe sent 1,500 aircraft to destroy RAF bases. “A Spitfire spins down and a Hurricane dives
In his 2009 memoir First Light, Wellum vividly away, a long trail of black smoke behind it and, at
James recalls the spectacle he encountered. “Within its base, a bright angry red flame. I am transfixed.
I don’t see anyone bail out. Yet another aircraft
seconds we’re among them,” he wrote, “each man
Brindley for himself, fighting his own private battle. Things goes down in a steep dive. A large one, looks like a
move terribly quickly. There seem to be hundreds of Heinkel. My God he’s shifting for a big plane and,
aeroplanes with everybody shooting at everybody oh goodness, streaming out behind is a man on the
Nicolson else. I am taken by surprise by the sheer size of this end of a parachute, caught up round the tail and
battle in this tremendous arena. Wherever I look the flailing about like the tail of a kite. He may be a Hun,
NATIONALITY: ENGLISH sky is full of aircraft. but I wouldn’t wish a death like that on anyone.”
RANK: FLIGHT LIEUTENANT, 249 SQUADRON
Fighter Command’s sole recipient
of the Victoria Cross, not just of the
Battle of Britain, but of the whole of
World War II
Despite the extraordinary heroism
of The Few, just one of their ranks
02 received Britain’s highest military Decorated for
honour, the Victoria Cross. When
heroism, the huge
you’re fighting alone high above psychological strain
the clouds, finding witnesses to of aerial warfare
eventually told
corroborate individual acts of valour can be tough. on Wellum (back
In James Nicolson’s case, however, his heroics row, right). He was
withdrawn from
happened low enough to be seen by astonished
combat operations
observers on the ground. in 1943
By 16 August, the German raids were relentless.
British losses were mounting and things were
getting desperate. Around noon a wave of German
planes descended on Southampton. Hurricanes
from 249 Squadron were scrambled to intercept
them. Among the pilots was 23-year-old Nicolson.
Moments into the fray he was jumped by German
fighters. Shells smashed into his plane, hitting his
left eye and foot. The petrol tank was also hit. Fuel
poured into the cockpit where it was ignited by
the engine. With his cockpit ablaze, Nicolson slid
back to bail out, but at that moment an enemy
bomber swung in front of him. Despite his plane
fast becoming a fireball, Nicolson climbed back into
his seat. With only one good eye, up to his waist
in flames and his hands blistering on the controls,
he closed in on the German plane. Only when he’d
destroyed it did the badly burned Londoner bail
out, landing unconscious outside Southampton.

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