Australia's Few. 6 September 1940

Pat was at dispersal bright and early on 6 September. His first outing, commencing at 8.40 a.m., was a two hour patrol of Brooklands. B Flight, led by Pat in Spitfire X4009, had been on patrol for about 50 minutes when, at about 9.30 a.m., they encountered about 25 Me 109s in the Dover area. Pat’s combat report was short and sharp:

‘Saw enemy fighters below. Attacked with section astern and fired a long burst into one Me 109 which crashed on landing approx. five miles west of Littlestone. I climbed back to 10,000 feet and intercepted five Me 109s escorting a Me 110 across Dover. This Me 110 had one engine on fire and just after passing Dover the crew baled out and the 110 crashed into the sea. I attacked the rear 109 and had to fire a long burst into it as three 109s dived at me from the beam. I emptied all my ammunition into this 109 and the oil tanks burst, and my own aircraft’s windscreen and mainplane were covered in oil. I broke away and attacked the three 109s but had no ammunition and could not follow the first 109 I attacked which was losing height and smoking badly.’

Yet again, Pat had gone in close and hard; his combat report noted that he had fired from 150 yards closing to 50 yards. Close enough again for his own Spit to be covered in oil. His innate aggression too was apparent, in that he initially attempted to attack despite his lack of ammunition. A brave man, and a skilled shot who was credited with one Me 109 destroyed and one Me 109 probable. His personal tally was now two third shares, one third share unconfirmed, one 1/2 share, and 13 destroyed and one probably destroyed.