Australians in the Battle of Britain. 31 October 1940. Peter Moore.

Australians in the Battle of Britain. 31 October 1940. Peter Moore.

On the last day of the Battle of Britain, Peter Moore was languishing in hospital, with his eyes bandaged.

The final Luftwaffe attacks on London on 30 October 1940 were, in Patrick’s Bishop’s words, a ‘half-hearted effort’, easily repulsed by ten patrolling squadrons, including 253 Squadron. B Flight was on readiness again and Peter flew three sorties that day. He scrambled for the first interception at 7.40 a.m. and landed at 9.35 a.m. not having sighted anything; he took off for another nil report interception at 11.40 a.m., landing only twenty-five minutes later; and he had little time to unwind or perhaps grab a hurried meal as the squadron was in the air again at 2.40 p.m. for a standing patrol at 20 000 feet on the Maidstone patrol line.

Pilot Officer Spencer Ritchie Peacock-Edwards, who had led the two earlier sorties, was again leading. He was Blue Leader and Peter was Blue Two. The squadron climbed to 19 000 feet and were joined by eight Hurricanes of 501 Squadron. Flying on a northerly course to London, 253 Squadron again varied the normal vic formation to two sections of four and one section of two with two Hurricanes weaving. The sections were flying in line astern when Control ordered them to increase height to 29 000 feet. The squadron was vectored south east and north and sighted 30–40 Messerschmitt 109s flying in two clumps at 27 000 feet, ranging from south east to north west. They appeared to be in no particular formation. Four of the Messerschmitt 109s were lagging behind. The squadron then moved into attack formation consisting of five pairs in deep echelon pair leaders in flat echelon one pair remaining up sun of leader. The tally ho was called and 253 and 501 squadrons attacked simultaneously with 253 attacking from three quarter astern and port from the sun side. When the 109s sighted the Hurricanes they dived for cloud cover at 8000 feet. The Hurricanes followed them and a general dog fight ensued.

Pilot Officer Peacock-Edwards followed one down and fired a short burst before his target disappeared into the clouds. He saw a large piece of silvery white fabric billow from the enemy aircraft as it disappeared in the cloud. He claimed this as a damaged. Pilot Officer Alan Eckford fired a 4−5 second burst at a 109. He first saw white smoke, then a little black smoke and then flames. Eckford’s 109 dived, with Eckford chasing it down. He saw the wreckage burning in a field four miles south of Meopham. The pilot had baled out and when Eckford approached him he held up his hands in surrender. Several other squadron pilots attacked the 109s and, although they thought that some had been severely damaged, there were no visible results.

Peter too struck at the enemy with little, if any effect. One of the 109s fired on him and he was struck. Oil was pouring all over the place and his Hurricane was not responding to his attempts to keep her fully under control. He attempted to bale out but he could not open the hood so realised he would have to land as best he could. He crashed Matilda—his Hurricane—in a field at Newbarn Farm, about 3.5 miles south of Gravesend, Kent. Matilda was recorded as category 2 damaged i.e. she suffered damage of such severity that she had to be sent either to a repair depot or back to manufacturer for repair. Some parts appear to have been souvenired while she awaited disposal to the repair depot and her radio mast is known to have made its way to a private collection.

And as for Peter, he too was damaged but repairable. There is no casualty record for 30 October 1940 but the 253 Squadron diarist recorded that Peter ‘suffered from conjunctival haemorrhage and contusion to the orbits’ and was admitted to the Kenley Station sick quarters. Peter returned to duty on 8 December. The medical language is a bit obtuse but it would seem he did more than ‘bang my head some’, as he admitted to his mother. Given that he admitted pulling up ‘fairly suddenly’ he would have suffered a significant facial/head impact, with at the very least bleeding, bruising and swelling or even fractured bones around his eyes. It is also possible that he lost consciousness when he hit his head. He would not have been a pretty sight when he made it to sick bay.

 

 

And so, the Battle of Britain was over. Of the ’30 or so’ Australians who had fought, 13 had died, one had been taken prisoner of war, and Peter Moore had bowed out, wounded. More were to die before the end of the war, including Pilot Officer Peter John Moore, who was listed missing in action on 3 June 1942. Des Sheen was the only one of ‘my’ pilots to survive the war. He went on to enjoy a happy marriage, a good career with the RAF and a satisfying ‘retirement’ in the British aviation industry. He died in 2001, aged 83. He ‘enjoyed every minute’ of his extensive and varied career with the RAF. ‘I was lucky all the way through with postings and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.’

And what of Peter Moore, who survived the Battle of Britain, but not the war.

Recently promoted to Pilot Officer, he was posted to 616 Squadron on 29 March 1942, flying Spitfires. On the afternoon of 3 June 1942, the squadron were ordered, along with another squadron, on an offensive sweep over Le Touquet and Boulogne in northern France. Peter was flying Spitfire VI BR191.

They were operating as top cover to 12 Group Wing and there were two 11 Group wings below them. The whole formation proceeded to Boulogne and then turned south along the French coast.

Squadron Leader Brown was leading 616 Squadron and Peter was leading Yellow Section. By the time the formation reached Berck sur Mer, 616 had climbed to 25,000 feet. The whole formation then turned north again towards the Gravelines area and at about this point about twelve Messerschmitt 109s of Jagdgeschwader 26 off Griz Nez were spotted. The 109s were roughly the same height as 616 Squadron, on the starboard side, and they turned around to attack from behind. Peter was heard on the R/T instructing his section to break formation. Yellow Two later stated that he tried to follow Peter round as he broke but he was turning too steeply and got into a spin. He then lost sight of Peter. Yellow Three and Four formed a sub-section, broke correctly inside Peter and Yellow Two, and tried to attack any enemy aircraft in the vicinity but to no avail. Nothing but indecisive combats. As for Peter, nothing further was heard or seen of him. He just disappeared. His body was later washed ashore and he was buried in France.

In 1954, Peter’s mother contacted the Imperial War Graves Commission and made a contribution towards the cost of engraving the inscription on Peter’s headstone, in Etaples Military Cemetery: ‘“A Young Man Lingers Lightly Where he Dies’ Patrick Hore-Ruthven. RIP.”’ (The quote is from Hore-Ruthven’s poem ‘To a Young Man who Died’ written for Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Keyes who was killed at the age of 24 while he was leading a commando raid on Rommel’s headquarters in November 1941. It was published in The Happy Warrior. Poems, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1943.)

 

 

 

(Etaples Military Cemetery)

In September 2011, after a long standing oversight, the Australian War Memorial included Peter on its Commemorative Roll.