Embedded Files
Volume 2 | Issue 2 - Revolutions
Article by Sarah Marriott. Edited by Ciara West. Additional Research by Lauren Puckey.
The seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain has encouraged a number of articles, television programmes and books about the brave men who flew in exceptionally dangerous conditions to protect their homeland from foreign invasion.
Their flying skills were formidable, and their courage indisputable, but there was more to those men than just dogfights and planes. A few of the aforementioned articles have broached a topic lesser known to most – what the pilots did in their downtime for entertainment. Naturally their responsibilities were the priority, and many men were stationed at airfields in rural areas, with little to pass the time by; yet there were a surprising array of activities to keep the pilots busy between missions.
The view of the RAF prior to World War Two was far from complimentary, with the majority of the public seeing the pilots as hooligans. After their heroics in the Battle of Britain, however, their status was raised significantly, they were revered by the public and immortalised by Churchill who said ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’.
They were portrayed as dapper young men, fiercely patriotic and devastatingly charming, and this was personified by 92 squadron, who were known as the ‘playboys’.
The men of 92 were stationed at Biggin Hill during the Battle of Britain, giving them access to the pleasures London offered which were denied to most servicemen. This, however, was a mixed blessing as it meant that they were frequently called upon to defend the capital due to their close proximity. This they excelled at, with four members of the squadron being awarded the official title of ‘Ace’.
Yet they have become as equally well-known for their playboy nature as they have for their flying. Three men of Squadron 92 encapsulated this image – Brian Kingcome, Tony Bartley and Robert Tuck. Kingcome and Tuck owned petrol guzzling sports cars, using the 100-octane fuel designed for the planes to speed to London for evenings in bars and clubs, whilst their commanding officers turned a blind eye.
When the police paid visit to discuss their dangerous driving and the lack of licensing, they were plied with alcohol until they divulged the dates for future car checks. Naturally the cars were not used on those days.
These were not the only rules bent; a personnel officer conscripted part of a jazz band as Biggin Hill ground crew so that they could play at the air base’s parties. The parties held by Squadron 92 were well-known, and they even hosted famous singers and actors. The pilots hosted fancy-dress parties and dances in their hangers, much to the delight of their colleagues.
This behaviour did not go unnoticed. By October 1940 senior officers in the RAF were so worried about the activities of Squadron 92 that they sent an RAF psychologist to evaluate the men. The psychologist lived with them for three days, scrutinising their every move, and reporting back to high command. He admitted that the squadron’s pilots were ‘burning the wick at both ends’ but that the parties were not having an obvious effect on their fighting capability. Tony Bartley recalled that he said to the commanding officers that as long as they were shooting down planes, did it matter what they did in their own time?
Despite their hard living they were still brilliant pilots and who were constantly threatened by death. The fighting from Biggin Hill was furious, and they could be called upon to fight up to four times a day. Officially the squadron is accredited with downing 127 German aircraft. Inevitably some died and not all those who returned did so safely. Some suffered serious injuries, such as Kit Latimer whose face was badly burnt after his plane crashed.
Over the course of the war, the squadron moved from Biggin Hill, however this did not dampen their success. In 1942 they were posted to Egypt, where they were air cover for the Battle of El Alamein, whilst in 1943 11 spitfires from the squadron provided top cover at the Palm Sunday massacre, where roughly 75 Axis aircraft were damaged. Over the course of the war, Squadron 92 downed the highest number of axis aircraft in the RAF – 317. The ‘playboys’ of Biggin Hill will always be remembered for their spirited defence of Britain. The less well-known parties and rule dodging however, provide a back story to “the few we owe so much to.”
*****
“I always regarded 92 Squadron as my personal property. I led it through, what was to me, the most exhilarating and
treacherous part of the war, the Battle of Britain at Biggin Hill. I gained and lost many good friends, and in front line operations I was with 92 longer than any other squadron”
“Why can’t they just talk about Battle of Britain pilots? Why does it always have to be heroes? I think it devalues the word and denigrates all those others who were called on to face just as great odds.”
Brian Kingcome, “A Willingness to Die”.
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