Australians in the Battle of Britain. 28 October 1940. Bill Millington
Bill
Millington’s success on 25 October was a prelude to a busy end of the month,
where every flying skill would be tested.
Mid-morning on
28 October 19410, a solo Dornier Do 17 had been clocked near 249 Squadron’s
base at North Weald. It was the second of the day—the first had been despatched
by Tom Neil in an early morning attack. 249 were scrambled at 9.50 a.m. and
were patrolling above the clouds when the Dornier dropped its load and
disappeared. Bill was Blue 1, and acting as weaver.
The weaver,
usually part of a pair, flew independently above and behind the main formation,
tasked with keeping an eye out for the enemy and providing rear protection to
his confreres. Although the weavers were usually the pilots with the best
eyesight and situational awareness, it was not a highly sought-after position
as many inexperienced pilots were easily picked off because, in watching
everyone else’s backs, they could not concentrate on their own.
Indeed, according
to Australian ace Clive Caldwell, who often carried out this task in his 1941 desert
sorties, this ‘really was a dangerous position’ and more often than not, the
rest of the squadron or flight would only know that they were under attack, not
because the weaver had spotted something, but because ‘the warning came by
seeing one or both the weavers spinning past in flames’.
The hapless
pilots acting as weavers were often referred to as Tail End Charlies (Bomber
Command used the same nickname for its rear gunners). But, as Caldwell also
acknowledged, if the weavers were good, and the position used correctly, the
Charlies could be very effective.
And so, on 28
October, Bill, who had developed his eye sight and gunnery skills while rabbit
hunting in the Adelaide hills, had the honour of the most dangerous position in
the squadron. What did he make of it?
He was patrolling
in Hurricane flying in V7677 above the cloud near Hawkinge. At about 10.10 a.m.:
‘Control
reported bandit coming south west about ten miles north east of us. I sighted
the Do 17 as it broke cloud about three miles to the north east.’
The Dornier was
at about 9000 feet, and so Bill:
‘Started to dive
towards it and reported position to leader, Red 1. Two bursts of AA fire close
to e/a drew attention of Red 1 to e/a and three more aircraft were despatched.
I dived on e/a from above and behind, opening fire at about 200 yards. Bullets
could be seen penetrating rear turret and I closed to about 50 yards before
breaking away. Lack of fire from rear turret leads me to believe that rear
gunner was killed.’
Which was just
as well, because, if he were alive, he would not have been able to miss Bill at
50 yards. But back to Bill’s commentary.
‘E/A streamed
white smoke and vanished in clouds but smoke had vanished when it again
appeared. E/A escaped in clouds.
Yellow 1 [Pilot
Officer Neil] then joined me and, on instructions from Controller, we orbited
at 12,000 feet position near Dungeness.
We sighted a Ju 88
occasionally breaking cloud coming from the north, waited for it to come into
the clear and attacked from above. Yellow 1 came in behind e/a and I carried
out a quarter attack from above, allowing full deflection and, with a long
burst, fixed his starboard engine. As I was out of ammunition I made a few
dummy attacks from above to keep gunner engaged while Yellow 1 continued.
Yellow 1 killed
rear gunner and there appeared to be a small explosion in rear of fuselage. E/A
was heading south east, streaming white smoke. When out of ammunition we broke
off.’
The Ju 88 was
then sighted by Pilot Officer McConnell, Yellow 3, who ‘finished off e/a,
crashing in area 10–15 miles south east of Dungeness’.
Brave Bill
Millington had perfected his art as a fighter pilot. Not only was he prepared
to go in close for his attack on one enemy aircraft but he was willing to
continue feinting with another to keep the gunner occupied, despite running out
of ammunition, so that Tom Neil could have his chance at it.
According to
Bill’s combat report, the two attacks, with the intervening brief orbit of
Dungeness, were all over within 30 minutes. He was on the ground again at 11.10
a.m. and heard the news that he was credited with a damaged Dornier and a 1/4
share in the Ju 88. And then he was in the air again from 15.45 to 17.15 on a
squadron patrol of Maidstone.
Bill’s partner
in success, Tom Neil, told me he remembered this
occasion, as one of two ‘rather special days’ that he takes pleasure in
remembering.
‘I recall reliving these and other events with him with some glee when
we discussed them later, he being especially animated, as he appeared to enjoy
flying as my partner on that and other occasions, and often told me so.’
Bill Millington: a keen-eyed rabbit and e/a hunter.
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