Clive Caldwell
Clive Robertson Caldwell | |
---|---|
Group Captain) | |
Commands held | No. 112 Squadron RAF (1942) No. 1 Wing RAAF (1942–1943) No. 80 Wing RAAF (1944–1945) |
Battles/wars | World War II
|
Awards | Krzyż Walecznych (Poland) |
Clive Robertson Caldwell,
Early life
Caldwell was born in the Sydney suburb of Lewisham, and educated at Albion Park School, Sydney Grammar School and Trinity Grammar School. He was at Sydney Grammar School from June 1924 until May 1927, but did not complete his Leaving Certificate there (he rowed in the 4th IV and was a member of the Games Committee). He learned to fly in 1938 with the Royal Aero Club of New South Wales. He was employed as a commission agent when World War II broke out, and he joined the Citizen Air Force division of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 27 May 1940,[4] with the intention of becoming a fighter pilot. As he was over the age limit for fighter training, Caldwell persuaded a pharmacist friend to alter the details on his birth certificate[5][6] to July 1912.[4] He was accepted by the RAAF and joined the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS; also known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and similar names).
World War II
Middle East and North Africa
Caldwell's first, brief combat posting was a British
After struggling to acquire the skill of
The squadron returned to North Africa. On 26 June 1941, while escorting bombers attacking
On 4 July 1941, Caldwell saw a German pilot shoot and kill a close friend,
While flying to his base alone, over northwest Egypt on 29 August 1941, Caldwell was attacked by two Bf 109s, in a simultaneous approach at right angles. His attackers included one of Germany's most famous aces, Leutnant Werner Schröer, also of JG 27, in a Bf 109E-7. Caldwell sustained three separate wounds from ammunition fragments and or shrapnel. His Tomahawk was hit by more than 100 7.92 mm bullets and five 20 mm cannon shells, but he shot down Schröer's wingman, and heavily damaged Schröer's "Black 8", causing Schröer to disengage.[13] Suitable claim for that day 29.08.41 Ltn. Werner Schroer (6.) of 1./JG 27, Curtiss P-40 N.W. Sidi Barrani at 18.10 (Film C. 2036/II Nr.81357/42). On 23 November, Caldwell shot down an Experte, Hauptmann Wolfgang Lippert, Gruppenkommandeur (Group Commander) of II./JG 27, who bailed out. Lippert had struck the stabiliser and following capture had his legs amputated but 10 days later, a gangrene infection set in and he died on 3 December.[14][15] For this action, Caldwell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.[16] Caldwell claimed five Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) dive bombers in a matter of minutes on 5 December. For this he was awarded a Bar to his DFC.[1][17][18] His report of that action reads:[13]
I received radio warning that a large enemy formation was approaching from the North-West. No. 250 Squadron went into line astern behind me and as No. 112 Squadron engaged the escorting enemy fighters we attacked the JUs from the rear quarter. At 300 yards I opened fire with all my guns at the leader of one of the rear sections of three, allowing too little deflection, and hit No. 2 and No. 3, one of which burst into flames immediately, the other going down smoking and went into flames after losing about 1000 feet. I then attacked the leader of the rear section...from below and behind, opening fire with all guns at very close range. The enemy aircraft turned over and dived steeply... opened fire [at another Ju 87] again at close range, the enemy caught fire...and crashed in flames. I was able to pull up under the belly of one of the rear, holding the burst until very close range. The enemy... caught fire and dived into the ground.
The citations for both the original DFC and the Bar were published in the same issue of the
On 24 December 1941, Caldwell was involved in an engagement which mortally wounded another Luftwaffe ace, Hpt. Erbo Graf von Kageneck (credited with 69 air victories) of III./JG 27. Caldwell only claimed a "damaged" at the time, but postwar sources have attributed him with the kill.[20]
In January 1942, Caldwell was promoted to
Caldwell scored another striking victory in February 1942, while leading a formation of 11 Kittyhawks from 112 Sqn and 3 Sqn. Over Gazala, he sighted a schwarm of Bf 109Fs flying some 2,000 ft higher. Caldwell immediately nosed into a shallow dive, applied maximum power and boost, then pulled his Kittyhawk up into a vertical climb. With his P-40 "hanging from its propeller," he fired a burst at a Bf 109 flown by Leutnant Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt of I./JG 27, who was lagging behind the others. Stahlschmidt's fighter "shuddered like a carpet being whacked with a beater" before spinning out of control. Although the Kittyhawk pilots thought that the Bf 109 had crashed inside Allied lines, Stahlschmidt was able to crash-land in friendly territory.[23]
When Caldwell left the theatre later that year, the commander of air operations in North Africa and the Middle East,
While on a tour of the United States, Caldwell visited Curtiss-Wright in Buffalo, New York. On 6 August 1942, he was invited to come on an acceptance re-flight of a Curtiss C-46 Commando, the latest transport aircraft destined for overseas use. The aircraft was also loaded with Curtiss executives, and flown by Chief Production Test Pilot Herbert O. Fisher. The landing gear became stuck in a three-quarters down position, and after an extended eight-hour attempt to release the gear, Fisher calmly belly-landed the C-46. With the weight of the aircraft gently pushing the gear back into the wheel wells, a minimum of damage resulted. Caldwell had taken over as the co-pilot on the eight hours of circling over Buffalo, receiving certification that he was checked out on the C-46, under the tutelage of Fisher. Finishing his tour at Curtiss-Wright, Caldwell went on to visit the North American Aviation factory and was able to personally evaluate their new P-51 fighter, then in development.[24]
South West Pacific
During 1942, Australia came under increasing pressure from
Caldwell claimed two kills in his first interception sortie over Darwin, a
Caldwell scored what was to be his last aerial victory, a Mitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah" of the 202nd Sentai, over the Arafura Sea on 17 August 1943.[12] He claimed a total of 6.5 Japanese aircraft shot down.[26]
Later in 1943, Caldwell was posted to
In April 1945, while serving at
Prior to the "mutiny", Caldwell had been charged over his involvement in an alcohol racket on Morotai, where liquor was flown in by RAAF aircraft and then sold to the sizeable US forces contingent in the locality.
Personal life
On 13 April 1940 Caldwell married Jean McIver Main, whom he had known twelve years, a daughter of
Later years
After the war, Caldwell was involved as a purchasing agent obtaining surplus aircraft and other military equipment from the US Foreign Liquidation Commission in the Philippines. The aircraft and equipment were exported to Australia in 1946. After the successful conclusion of this venture, Caldwell joined a cloth import/export company in Sydney and shortly after became its managing director. He became a partner in 1953 and later served as chairman of the board. The firm, Clive Caldwell (Sales) Pty Ltd, achieved considerable success under Caldwell's direction and expanded through subsidiaries worldwide.[33]
Although in later life Caldwell "spoke modestly" about his wartime service, upon his death in Sydney on 5 August 1994,[34] many Australians "mourned the passing of a true national hero".[35]
Honours and awards
- Distinguished Service Order (DSO) – awarded 14 October 1943[18]
- Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar (DFC*) – both awarded 26 December 1941[16]
- 1939–1945 Star – campaign medal
- Air Crew Europe Star – campaign medal
- Africa Star with "North Africa 1942–43" Clasp – campaign medal
- Pacific Star
- Defence Medal
- War Medal 1939–1945 – campaign medal
- Australia Service Medal 1939–45– campaign medal
- Polish Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – permission to wear granted 2 August 1942[22]
References
Notes
- ^ a b c d Stephens 2006, pp. 81–83.
- ^ Watson 2005, p. 4.
- ^ Alexander 2006, p. 85.
- ^ a b "Clive Robertson Caldwell". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ Alexander 2006, p. 8.
- ^ Watson 2005, pp. 21–22
- ^ Alexander 2006, p. 25.
- ^ Alexander 2006, pp. 28, 32, 230.
- ^ Shores and Williams 1994, pp. 162–163.
- ^ Alexander 2006, p. 28.
- ^ a b c d Alexander 2006, pp. xviii–xxii.
- ^ a b Alexander 2006, p. 150.
- ^ a b Dragicevic, George. "Clive 'Killer Caldwell: Stuka party." Archived 28 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine WWII Ace Stories. Retrieved 7 March 2006.
- ^ Weal 1994, p. 72.
- ^ Weal 1994, p. 90.
- ^ a b c "No. 35392". The London Gazette. 23 December 1941. pp. 7297–7298.
- ^ a b Odgers 1984, p. 83.
- ^ a b c "No. 36215". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 October 1943. p. 4621.
- ISBN 9798531386083.
- ^ Alexander 2006, pp. 224–228. Note: Kageneck's brother and biographer, August von Kageneck, who later corresponded with Caldwell, was among those who held this theory.
- ^ Brown 2000, p. 78.
- ^ a b "No. 35654". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 July 1942. p. 3410.
- ^ Pentland 1974, p. 9.
- ^ Alexander 2006, pp. 165–166.
- ^ RAAF Historical Section 1995, pp. 128–131.
- ^ a b Alexander 2006, pp. 109–111.
- ^ Stephens 2006, pp. 123–124.
- ^ a b Alexander 2004.
- ^ Shores 1999, p. 56.
- ^ Watson 2005, pp. 228–239.
- ^ "Social and Personal". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 912. New South Wales, Australia. 10 April 1940. p. 5. Retrieved 8 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Life of Sydney". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Vol. XII, no. 8. New South Wales, Australia. 3 April 1947. p. 23. Retrieved 8 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Musciano 1966, p. 70.
- ^ "Fifty Australians: "Killer" Caldwell." Australian War Museum. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ Musciano 1966, p. 71.
Bibliography
- Alexander, Kristen. "Cleaning the augean stables". The Morotai Mutiny? Sabretache (Military Historical Society of Australia), 2004.
- Alexander, Kristen. ISBN 1-74114-705-0.
- Brown, Russell. Desert Warriors: Australian P-40 Pilots at War in the Middle East and North Africa, 1941–1943. Maryborough, Queensland, Australia: Banner Books, 2000. ISBN 1-875593-22-5.
- Musciano, Walter. "Killer Caldwell: Australia's Ace of Aces." Air Progress Volume 19, No. 3, September 1966.
- ISBN 0-86777-368-5.
- Pentland, Geoffrey. The P-40 Kittyhawk in Service. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Kookaburra Technical Publications Pty. Ltd., 1974. ISBN 0-85880-012-8.
- RAAF Historical Section, "RAAF Base Darwin", in Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 1: Introduction, Bases, Supporting Organisations. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Public Service, 1995. ISBN 0-644-42792-2.
- Shores, Christopher. Aces High – Volume 2: A Further Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Aces of the British and Commonwealth Air Forces in World War II. London: Grub Street, 1999. ISBN 1-902304-03-9.
- Shores, Christopher and Clive Williams. Aces High. London: Grub Street, 1994. ISBN 1-898697-00-0.
- Stephens, Alan. The Royal Australian Air Force: A History. London: Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-19-555541-4.
- Watson, Jeffrey. Killer Caldwell. Sydney, Australia: Hodder, 2005. ISBN 0-7336-1929-0.
- Weal, John. Jagdgeschwader 27 'Afrika'. London: Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-84176-538-4.
Further reading
- Alexander, Kristen (2018). "Caldwell, Clive Robertson (1910–1994)". ISSN 1833-7538.
External links
- Clive Caldwell at acesofww2.com
- Australian War Memorial: Who’s Who in Australian Military History
- Clive Robertson Caldwell: Record of Service – Airmen Archived 19 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine National Archives of Australia
- Record of Court Martial proceedings against Squadron Leader (acting Group Captain) Clive Robertson Caldwell Archived 19 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, National Archives of Australia