Page 74 - All About History - Issue 27-15

FORGOTTEN HEROES OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

After the campaign, Sergeant
Lacey was promoted to Pilot
Officer. He ended the war with a
final tally of 28 confirmed kills,
and four probable kills

Lock shot
down 26
enemy
aircraft
during the
campaign

Eric Lock

ANA NATIONALITY: ENGLISH
RANK: PILOT OFFICER, 41 SQUADRON
James Lac The highest-scoring RAF
ace of the entire Battle of
NATIONALITY: ENGLISH Britain, who managed to
RANK: FLIGHT SERGEANT, 501 SQUADRON shoot down three enemy
This farm worker’s son aircraft in one brief sortie
from Yorkshire took huge By the start of
risks to bag 18 kills and September, combat
become the highest-scoring Type B flying helmet 06 had been so intense
Made from leather, lined with
lower-rank pilot of the chamois and with a layer of cotton that many pilots
Battle of Britain padding between, each helmet was had already notched
customised by the airbase tailor so up more than five
that the earpieces fitted the wearer.
By 30 August, as the kills, giving them the coveted title of
campaign neared its ‘Fighter Ace’. On 5 September, 21-year-
05 height, 23-year-old old Eric Lock from Shrewsbury joined
James Lacey was
them when he added to his tally by
heading back to the shooting down three enemy planes
coast after a in a matter of minutes.
dogfight that had left his plane His combat report reads: “We
riddled with 87 bullet holes. While intercepted a formation of enemy
still over the sea, though, his engine aircraft, attacking the bombers first
gave out. Lacey had bailed out before, I engaged a He111, which I followed
but this time he was determined to down until it crashed. I climbed back
get his Hurricane home. up to 8,000 feet, saw another He111,
Figuring that he had just enough engaged that and set his starboard
altitude, he decided that he would engine on fire. I closed in to about
glide back to land – a distance of 75 yards and fired two long
some 15 miles. Incredibly, his gamble bursts. Smoke came from the
paid off. Not only did Lacey reach fuselage. I was then attacked
land, but he also managed to put his by a Me109 who wounded me
planedownperfectlyontherunway in the leg. As he banked away,
at RAF Gravesend. he stall-turned. I fired at him.
Life vest
“Iwaslucky,”Laceylaterrecalled. Being shot down over the Channel was a He exploded in mid-air.”
“Iwasshotdownninetimesinthe real risk, so pilots wore a cotton and rubber The understated tone of
16weekstheBattleofBritainlasted. inflatable life vest. Pilots nicknamed it a Lock’s report belies the true
‘Mae West’ in honour of the notoriously
Ioncejumpedfromaplanethatwas buxom Hollywood star of the day. terror of the deadly game of
burning end to end, and once from cat and mouse that was being
onethathadnotailleft.Waitingto played out in the clouds. By the
go up terrified me. Waiting for that C-2 Parachute time his squadron intelligence
Pilotswouldgrabtheirparachutes
Tannoytosay‘scramble!’.Itcould and strap them on shortly after being officer had typed this report up,
© Kevin McGivern make me physically sick. I didn’t have scrambled. Shoulder, waist and leg straps Fighter Command had lost more than
metatasinglepointandclippedintoa
butterfliesinmystomachbackthen,I
500 planes while nearly 250 pilots
quick-release clasp on the chest.
had vultures.”
had lost their lives.
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