Pat Hughes and the Kanelkampf

The Battle of Britain had not yet officially begun but the Kanelkampf was underway in early July 1940. After 14 interception scrambles on 7 July, 234 Squadron was again busy on 8 July, with continuous convoy duty and ten scrambles. Blue Section—Pat Hughes, Pilot Officer Keith Lawrence and Sergeant George Bailey—set off for their turn at shipping protection at 4.35 p.m. All was quiet as they circled the vessels. At 6.15 p.m., while Pat was flying above a cloud layer and his confrères were maintaining their guard at about 1000 feet, Keith Lawrence espied a Junkers Ju 88 diving steeply. He turned towards the convoy to intercept just as George Bailey sighted it. The Junkers then climbed through the cloud layer to escape, coming right into Pat’s range.

As the enemy aircraft continued to climb, Lawrence carried out a dead astern attack and Pat fired as well; his gun sight was set at 150 yards. The Ju 88 veered to port, and closing from 150 to 50 yards, Pat used a slight deflection, expending all his ammunition; he had fired 2492 rounds. As the Junkers emerged from the cloud, Pat broke away to port and downwards as George Bailey attacked from dead astern. ‘The enemy aircraft gradually lost height in a slow left hand turn, attempted to climb but finally landed on the water. It floated for about 20 minutes and then sank, leaving the men on the surface.’ Pat, Lawrence and Bailey speculated that the ‘apparent cause of destruction was engine failure as the aircraft appeared to be under control until it hit the water’. Whatever the reason, it was a combined effort and ‘this aircraft is claimed by this section’. It was the squadron’s ‘first confirmed enemy casualty’ with a third credit to each pilot. It was also Pat Hughes’s first combat victory and the first indication to Keith Lawrence of what would make Pat a successful fighter pilot: his ability to shoot and at hit a moving target; a ‘natural born good shot’.