Peter Moore at 253
Squadron had a rest from ops on 23 October. Then, between 24 and 26 October,
flew six nil report sorties, all in Hurricane L1666. On 27 October, he carried
out two more non-eventful sorties but this time he had replaced L1666 for V7301, which now became ‘his’ Hurricane.
Peter dubbed V7301 ‘Matilda’ in homage to one of his
homeland’s favourite bush songs and unofficial anthem. In fact, during his time
with 253 Squadron—until he was posted to 616 Squadron on 29 March 1942—he was
allocated eight Hurricanes and he dubbed all of them Matilda. Their fates make
interesting reading.
He lost V7301
when he was shot down in her. He lost Matilda II, in which he had done over a
100 trips, when she was crashed by a new pilot who had spun in on the approach
from a few 100 feet, but fortunately was not killed. Matilda III was replaced
when 253 Squadron was allocated Hurricane Mark IIs. He lost Matilda IV, which
had twelve guns, through engine failure when a fellow pilot forced landed at
another aerodrome. Matilda V also had twelve guns and Peter thought her ‘a
wizard’ but she was sent to Russia. VI and VII were old ones that he had only a
while before they had to have overhauls and Matilda VIII was ‘a four cannon
job’ with much more power. The majority
of Peter’s flying career was spent on Hurricanes and overall, he thought them
‘wizard’. He was obviously fond of his Matildas. But like many pilots, he did
not regret the change to Spitfires when he went to 616 Squadron.
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Photo is of
Peter and (probably) Matilda VIII, taken after he was commissioned in January
1942 and before his posting to 616 Squadron in March 1942.
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