Billy Drake
Billy Drake | |
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Second World War
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Awards | Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) |
Drake flew
Early life and education
Drake was born in London, to Gerda Browne and Dr Dennis John Drake on 20 December 1917. Gerda was one of fifteen children of Irish
Billy was christened as such soon after birth; he was not given the name William. Drake's father traded and travelled around the southern
Drake was sent to Prior Park, a Catholic-run preparatory school, which was appropriated by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1921. Drake's formative years were unremarkable and he developed an interest in history and architecture. Drake's father taught him to use a shotgun at the age of twelve, beginning his interest in marksmanship and shooting. The family then moved to Switzerland and Drake completed his elementary education at the Kollegium Maria Hilf boarding school, run by German–Swiss Catholics. Drake rapidly learned the German language during this period. Drake was one of the few English pupils at the school which was dominated by Italians and Germans. Two years later Drake moved to the French–Swiss Institut Florimont school in Geneva, where he learnt French.[4]
When Drake returned to England the threat of future war was present, a consequence of
RAF career
In the summer, 1936, Drake stumbled across an advertisement in Aeroplane for applicants to join the
Drake joined the RAF on a SSC in July 1936, having only just reached the minimal service age requirement of 17. He was sent to
Drake was sent to
On his return, Drake met Francis Ronald Swain who held the world altitude record and who later became his commanding officer. Drake flew the Hawker Audax and Hawker Fury from 2 February 1937. On 14 May he survived a crash when the Fury he was flying went into a spin after ground crews had overloaded it. On 19 May Drake completed gunnery training at Armament Practice Camp and was ready for a squadron posting.[7]
He joined
World War II
On 3 September 1939 Britain and France declared war on
On 19 April 1940 Drake scored his first victory. The squadron was scrambled to engage high-flying aircraft that they could not reach. During the flight Drake spotted nine Messerschmitt Bf 109s. During the subsequent dogfight he claimed one destroyed and one probable over Metz. The second Bf 109 was pursued into Germany at low–level and Drake reported he crashed into a hill near Gau-Bickelheim. The squadron claimed three; German sources state two were lost. The German fighters belonged to 7. Staffel Jagdgeschwader 53. A Leutnant Sievers was killed and the anonymous second pilot apparently ran out of fuel escaping from Drake, which the German record asserts as the cause of the crash.[10] Fighter Command records list only one claim for Drake made over Thionville.[11]
Battle of France and Netherlands
On 10 May 1940 the
Four pilots of A Flight intercepted a reconnaissance aircraft of 7./
The airfield came under attack as A and B Flight returned. A hangar was destroyed and three French labourers and their horses were killed.[15] On 11 May, 1 Squadron fought inclusive engagements with Kampfgeschwader 2 and other German formations.[16] On 12 May, 1 Squadron flew as fighter escort for Fairey Battle squadrons in the Battle of Maastricht. The French and British made a vain attempt to destroy the bridges. Drake wrote; "all we saw were 10/10ths [reference to cloud coverage severity] and Bf 109s".[12] Drake stated there was little he could do, "so we pissed off".[12]
The following day Drake was on a combat air patrol but was forced to leave his formation because of oxygen failure.[17] On the return flight he spotted three Dornier Do 17s he thought were unescorted and claimed one shot down. Lining up a second Drake was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and was forced to bale out.[18] Drake was credited with one bomber destroyed. The claim against the second Dornier was unconfirmed.[19][20] The Bf 110 belonged to either I./Zerstörergeschwader 52 or V (Zerstörer)/Lehrgeschwader 1.[21] Drake was wounded by splinters in the leg and back. He was operated on to repair the damage and evacuated to Paris, then Le Mans and finally was flown back to England in a Fairey Battle.[22]
Battle of Britain and Channel Front
Drake returned to duty on 20 June 1940 as a flying instructor to No. 6 Operational Training Unit (OTU), at RAF Sutton Bridge during the Battle of Britain.[2] Sutton Bridge is on the Lincolnshire coast, in Eastern England. During this time Drake met, and in some cases trained, future aces. Among the foreign contingent were Antoni Głowacki, František Fajtl, Stanisław Skalski, and Witold Urbanowicz. Of these pilots, Drake remarked that there was little they could learn from him.[23]
Drake made repeated requests to be returned to operational duty. Eventually, he was sent to
Drake volunteered for
On 20 November 1940, Drake claimed a Do 17 damaged at 09:00 near Calais, France.[25] On 6 December Drake claimed a shared probable Do 17 over the French coast again and on 27 December his logbook shows a second probable claim. The book was annotated for army observers confirmed the crash. Sergeant Arthur Charles Leigh of No. 611 Squadron RAF also claimed Do 17 damaged near Sheerness at 11.05.[26][1]
Prior to the action of 27 December, Drake was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). The citation, dated 20 December 1940, read, "In October this officer carried out reconnaissance which proved of great value. He has at all times displayed fine qualities of leadership and perseverance. He has destroyed at least four enemy aircraft."[27]
On 7 January 1941 Drake claimed a
West Africa, North Africa and Italy
Drake was posted to West Africa to form and command No. 128 Squadron RAF at Hastings, Sierra Leone. While there he claimed a rare victory for the squadron over a Vichy French Air Force bomber. Drake intercepted the unarmed aircraft, which was probably on a reconnaissance flight. He flew alongside and motioned to the pilot to land. The French airman refused and Drake shot it down. The Glenn Martin 167F crashed near Freetown. The Vichy pilots rarely made an appearance over British territory.[30]
In the port, Drake saw the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse sailing to their destruction in the Pacific War. In January 1942, Keith Park, former air officer commanding No. 11 Group RAF, passed through on his way to Egypt to take up the post of commanding officer there. Park and Drake had met before and upon learning Drake was commanding 128 Squadron, he requested that the Squadron Leader be sent out to Egypt as a member of his staff. Subsequently, in March 1942, Drake was ordered to Air HQ Middle East, based in Cairo.[31]
Soon after his arrival, Drake was posted as a supernumerary Squadron Leader to No. 260 Squadron RAF. The post served as training to allow Drake time to familiarise himself with the air tactics and the art of fighting and commanding in a desert environment.[32] On 25 May he succeeded Clive Caldwell as commander of No. 112 Squadron "Shark's Squadron", flying the P-40 Kittyhawk, from RAF Gambut, Egypt.[33] 112 Squadron had been rested since 15 May.[34]
Drake regarded the orientation to close air support as a time-consuming adjustment. He learned to attack in a 35 to 40-degree dive and practiced strafing. The 250 lb bombs were fitted with extension rods which detonated the bomb above the ground to cause maximum damage to vehicles and personnel.[32] Drake remarked of the air war:
With bombs slung underneath our aircraft and our attention focused largely on the ground, we could have been perceived as highly vulnerable. However, I do not recall any feelings of inferiority to the Bf 109s. Many flight commanders had flown in the Battle of Britain, and were used to seeing Messerschmitts being about. We were also by now aware that there not a great many of them available in North Africa.[32]
The Squadron leader's first success came on 6 June 1942. Above
The squadron targeted airfields after the battle. On 12 June 1942 claimed one Bf 109 destroyed and another damaged. On 17 June Drake carried out an attack on
On 1 September 1942, a day in which the Desert Air Force suffered heavy losses, Drake claimed two Junkers Ju 87s.[41][42] On 13 September Drake claimed a Bf 109 destroyed.[43] Leading 112 and other P-40s from the 239 Wing, Drake engaged Bf 109s from I. and III./JG 27 and III./JG 53. 112 Squadron claimed one, a probable and two damaged. Only two Bf 109s from JG 27 were lost. Drake probably shot down Unteroffizier Karl Könning, piloting Werknummer 7334 from 3./JG 27.[44] One 112 Squadron P-40 crashlanded.[44] Drake followed this up with a shared victory against a Ju 87 and a probable against another on 1 October.[45] The aircraft were from Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 which reported losses.[46] On 22 October, on the eve of the Second Battle of El Alamein, Drake claimed a probable Bf 109.[45] Another was credited on 26 October.[47]
On 19 November Drake claimed a Bf 110. This was probably a Bf 110F-2, Werknummer 5071 of 7./Zerstörergeschwader 26. Oberleutnant Hans Kollowrat and Unteroffizier Herbert Gries became prisoner of war.[48]
Drake was awarded a Bar to the DFC on 28 July 1942 and the Distinguished Service Order on 4 December 1942. He scored 13 aerial victories in P-40s.
After being promoted to
Staff officer
In November 1943, Drake returned to England and commanded
He later served as a staff officer and
Later life
Upon retirement, Drake spent 20 years in the Algarve coastal area of Portugal, where he managed properties and ran a bar in the old town of Albufeira near to the marina which was called "Billys Bar". The bar still exists today and is now called the "Arte Bar". In later years he lived in Teignmouth, Devon. He was twice married and was survived by two sons from his first marriage.
In 2004 Drake was the subject of a documentary in the BBC Two Ancestors series. Titled Billy and the Fighter Boys, it focuses on his experiences with No. 1 Squadron in France in 1940, and includes the excavation of the crash site of the Hurricane he baled out off on 13 May (viewable in full in the UK here).[49]
Drake died on 28 August 2011.
References
- ^ a b Shores & Williams 1994, p. 231.
- ^ a b c d e Shores 2008, p. 12.
- ^ Thomas 2005, p. 102.
- ^ a b c Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Shores 2008, p. 79.
- ^ a b Drake & Shores 2002, p. 11.
- ^ a b c d Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 11–15.
- ^ Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 15–18.
- ^ Drake & Shores 2002, p. 24.
- ^ Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Foreman 2003, p. 20.
- ^ a b c d Drake & Shores 2002, p. 27.
- ^ a b Cull, Lander & Weiss 1999, pp. 23–24, 53–56.
- ^ Foreman 2003, p. 27.
- ^ Cull, Lander & Weiss 1999, p. 24.
- ^ Cull, Lander & Weiss 1999, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Cull, Lander & Weiss 1999, pp. 104, 105, 111.
- ^ Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 27–28.
- ^ Shores & Williams 1994, pp. 230–231.
- ^ Cull, Lander & Weiss 1999, p. 111.
- ^ Cull, Lander & Weiss 1999, p. 112.
- ^ Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 28–29.
- ^ a b Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Franks 2015, p. 224.
- ^ Foreman 2003, p. 310.
- ^ Foreman 2003, pp. 308–310.
- ^ Drake & Shores 2002, p. 34.
- ^ Thomas 2016, p. 8.
- ^ Drake & Shores 2002, p. 35.
- ^ Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 36–39.
- ^ Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 38–39.
- ^ a b c Drake & Shores 2002, pp. 40–45.
- ^ Shores, Massimello & Guest 2012, p. 98.
- ^ Shores & Ring 1969, p. 100.
- ^ a b Drake & Shores 2002, p. 106.
- ^ a b Shores, Massimello & Guest 2012, p. 130.
- ^ Shores, Massimello & Guest 2012, pp. 262–264.
- ^ Shores, Massimello & Guest 2012, p. 289.
- ^ a b Shores, Massimello & Guest 2012, p. 290.
- ^ Shores 2008, p. 13.
- ^ Thomas 2005, p. 40.
- ^ Shores, Massimello & Guest 2012, p. 327.
- ^ Shores 2008, pp. 13, 231.
- ^ a b Shores, Massimello & Guest 2012, pp. 347–348.
- ^ a b Shores 2008, p. 231.
- ^ Shores, Massimello & Guest 2012, p. 360.
- ^ Shores & Ring 1969, p. 196.
- ^ Shores, Massimello & Guest 2012, pp. 459–460.
- ^ BBC Genome
Bibliography
- Cull, Brian; Lander, Bruce; Weiss, Heinrich (1999). Twelve Days in May. London: Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 978-1-902304-12-0.
- Drake, Billy; Shores, Christopher (2002). Fighter Leader: The Autobiography of Group Captain B. Drake DSO, DFC and Bar, US DFC. London: Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 978-1-90230-497-7.
- Foreman, John (2003). RAF Fighter Command Victory Claims of World War Two: Part One, 1939–1940. Red Kite. ISBN 978-0-9538061-8-8.
- Franks, Norman L.R. (2015). Dowding's Eagles : Accounts of Twenty-Five Battle of Britain Veterans. Havertown: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-4423-0.
- Price, Dr Alfred (1996). Spitfire Mark I/II Aces 1939-41. Oxford: ISBN 978-1-85532-627-9.
- Price, Dr Alfred (1997). Spitfire Mark V Aces 1941–1945. Oxford: ISBN 978-185532-6354.
- Shores, Christopher; Ring, Hans (1969). Fighters over the desert: the air battles in the Western Desert, June 1940 to December 1942. London, UK: Neville Spearman. ISBN 978-0-85435-060-5.
- Shores, Christopher; Williams, Clive (1994). Aces High. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-898697-00-8.
- Shores, Christopher (2008). Aces High: A Further Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Air Forces in World War II. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-90230-403-8.
- Shores, Christopher F.; Ring, Hans; Hess, William N. (1975). Fighters Over Tunisia. London, UK: Neville Spearman. ISBN 978-0-85435-210-4.
- Shores, Christopher F.; Massimello, Giovanni; Guest, Russell (2012). A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945 Volume 2: North African Desert, February 1942 – March 1943. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-909166-12-7.
- Thomas, Andrew (2005). Tomahawk and Kittyhawk Aces of the RAF and Commonwealth. Oxford: ISBN 978-1-84176-083-4.
- Thomas, Andrew (2016). Spitfire Aces of the Channel Front 1941-43. Oxford: ISBN 978-147281-258-2.