GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY extraordinary achievements of the Burbridge-Skelton partnership:
‘Of all the crew I knew during the war, the most interesting, to my mind, was made up of Branse Burbridge and Bill Skelton ... not only were these two the most interesting and capable young men, but they also flew what was probably the most extraordinary of all long- range escort patrols ever accomplished ... from the moment they crewed up together for their second tour of flying, Branse and Bill hit it off together both on the ground and in the air. They had the perfect and all too rare understanding that characterised the best crews, and which enabled them to work together almost as one man.
It was not only that Branse was an excellent pilot, and that Bill was a first-rate navigator: they had also developed the ability to anticipate each other’s moves, to work with a minimum of chatter and without friction and argument, and almost to read one another’s thoughts; and the months of gruelling work flying from West Malling against fighter-bombers in the raids on London had put the final polish on their individual skill and on their work as a team. In the far more exacting conditions of offensive operations, where only the master craftsman could hope for consistent success, they climbed the individual score-board in a meteoric fashion, and established a record night bag for any one crew ... ’
And it was in the latter stages of the aforementioned defensive operations from West Malling that they ‘opened their account’ with a confirmed Me. 410 south-east of Beachy Head on the night of 22-23 February 1944:
‘Pilot drew in dead astern at 400 feet range and opened fire with a long burst. The port engine on the enemy aircraft immediately burst into flames, and one parachute was seen by the Operator to leave the aircraft and pass over the top of the Mosquito. The flames spread to the fuselage of the enemy aircraft, followed by an explosion, and burning pieces fell off. The enemy aircraft turned slowly to starboard on to its back and dived vertically into the sea in flames’.
The same report also records an expenditure of 200 rounds of ammunition; a figure not without interest in view of forthcoming events.
On the night of 24-25 March, Burbridge and Skelton claimed a Do. 217 damaged after gaining numerous strikes during a spectacular combat fought from 19,000 down to 3,000 feet, debris from the enemy aircraft hitting their Mosquito; shortly afterwards vectored on to further enemy aircraft off Dover, they added a confirmed Ju. 88 to their tally, the latter crashing into the sea as Burbridge pulled his aircraft up from 1,000 feet. Better still, Intelligence later confirmed the Do. 217 as destroyed.
A little under a month later, on the night of 18-19 April, south of Sandgate, Burbridge delivered a three second burst from 300 feet against a Ju. 188 - it plunged like a stone and exploded on hitting the sea.
Ace status - D.F.C.
On the 25-26 April, the rapidly emerging “Night Hawks” attained ace status, bringing down an Me. 410 south of Selsey Bill. Their combat report states:
‘I closed in to 500 feet and identified the bandit as an Me. 410. I then drew astern and fired a long burst of about seven seconds from 150 yards range: the time was 0507 hours. There were strikes and two very bright flashes in the starboard engine of the enemy aircraft, which engine burst into flames and continued to burn steadily. Oil which streamed back over our windscreen made observation difficult, but the enemy aircraft seemed to be flying on, weaving erratically and losing height gently in spite of the bonfire in its starboard engine. I positioned myself astern again and tried to fire another burst, but the guns would not respond: this was probably due to overheating.
I flew alongside for a few moments and observed the top hatch was apparently open. The fuselage and tail plane were well illuminated by the increasing flames, so I drew away to starboard and turned in to expose several feet of cine film independently of the guns ... but further shooting was rendered unnecessary by the sudden steep dive to port of the enemy aircraft. It went straight down. I dived down after it through a layer of cloud and Flight Lieutenant Skelton and myself saw it hit the sea with a big explosion at 0509 hours ... ’
Burbridge was recommended for an immediate award of the D.F.C. Nearing double figures - Bar to D.F.C.
Having then flown in support of the D-Day landings, Burbridge and Skelton commenced a flurry of operations over Occupied France, one such, on the night of 14-15 June, resulting in the destruction of a Ju. 188, piloted by Luftwaffe “Experte” Major Wilhelm Herget, south-west of Nivelles - the latter managed to take to his parachute before the Junkers hit the ground with a terrific explosion, though not before flying debris had reduced the “Night Hawks” to one engine. A little over a week later, on the night of the 23rd, they were once more compelled to return to base on one engine - having been hit by the debris from their next victim, a Ju. 88.
Burbridge was recommended for a Bar to his D.F.C. and advanced to Squadron Leader, and now turned his attention to the V-1 menace, downing three such weapons over the south coast in July-August.
Back on regular night fighter sorties by September, and now very much in support of Bomber Command’s offensive, pilot and operator added a Ju. 188 over the Baltic Sea on the night of the 11th-12th, the latter succumbing to two bursts of fire from 600 yards range; followed by a brace of Ju. 88s over Gutersloh airfield on the 14-15 October, from one of which a parachute was deployed, and a Ju. 188 over Metz on the 19th-20th.
Four down in a night - ‘the most extraordinary of all long-range escort patrols ever accomplished’ - D.S.O.
But it was in the following month on the night of the 4-5 November that the “Night Hawks” claimed their greatest success - four enemy aircraft confirmed over the Bonn area for the price of just 200 rounds of ammunition, an accomplishment which “Jimmy” Rawnsley considered one of the most remarkable of the War:
‘The show that Branse and Bill put up on the night of 4 November 1944, I liked to think, was something that really spoke for all the men who reversed the order of things, who broke into the customer’s premises and cheerfully assaulted his assistants, who ruined his trade, and who finally wrecked the shop.’
Rawnsley continues:
‘That night Branse and Bill set out from Swannington as part of a mighty bomber effort. The main force of over seven hundred aircraft was to raid Bochum, in the Ruhr, and there were to be other smaller raids on the Dortmund-Ems Canal and on Hanover. Nearly four years had passed since that first successful A.I. combat of John Cunningham's; and what a difference those years had made. Those early night fighters of ours had fought back like stubborn full-backs defending a packed goalmouth. Now their successors were going out like an eager forward line thrusting aggressively into the enemy's penalty area.
At twenty thousand feet above the cold waters of the North Sea, Branse and Bill set course eastward for the Rhine. In the darkness with them the Pathfinders were dog-legging their way to the targets inside Germany, and then came the heavies, shaking the windows of the East Coast towns with the deep thunder of their engines as they streamed out in their hundreds. The night fighters were in their appointed places along the flanks, forming a cordon through which the German night fighters would have to pierce before they could get at the bombers. And in carefully-planned positions there were all the other aircraft of 100 Group, special aircraft loaded to the gills with all sorts of fanciful radio and radar equipment, all designed to mislead and jam the German radar screens and radio communications.
www.dnw.co.uk
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