Product Description

This book is an in-depth study of England's most famous fighter station during the year of the Battle of Britain. It looks at the political upheaval within Fighter Command that saw the removal of Dowding and Park and their replacement by Sholto Douglas and Leigh-Mallory. The ongoing 'Big Wing' controversy and the resulting change in tactics during 1941 are examined. The main part of the book is a chronological account of the squadrons of the Biggin Hill Wing with particular emphasis on the pilots. The units covered include No.'s 66, 72, 74, 92, 124, and 609 Spitfire Squadrons and 264 Defiant Night Fighter Squadron.

The author's research is based on combat reports and squadron Operation Record Books and first-hand accounts written by the participant pilots in the battles over southern England and northern France. Extensive appendices will include Air Combat Claims of the Wing, Operational Aircraft Losses, Details of Selected Operations and The Great Escape - the marked influence of ex Biggin Hill pilots on the escape from Stalag Luft III in 1944.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2023541 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

---

Customer Reviews

A year at Biggin Hill
Peter Caygill's latest work focuses on Biggin Hill's part in Fighter Command's 1941 offensive operations as it tried to wrest the initiative from the Luftwaffe. The Big Wing "formula" is applied to this task and the results, as analysed by the author, are interesting if not surprising.

Following a brief history of Biggin Hill to the familiar, but necessary for context, conflict between 11 and 12 Groups and the subsequent ascendancy of Sholto Douglas and Leigh-Mallory, the Wing's operations are reviewed in great detail. Following a fascinating and lively chapter on 264 Squadron's Defiant night-fighter ops (some of the earlier daytime scores for this unit are impressive) during their brief stay, the Wing's offensive operations really begin to get into gear as finer weather conditions prevail. Like any good unit history, fascinating characters come and go and there are many familiar names - Malan, Wellum, Richey, Duke, Sheen - in the thick of the action in the air and on the ground. The author has excelled in blending details gleaned from squadron ORBs and combat reports into seamless accounts of each month's frenetic activity. These accounts are ably supported by fascinating extracts from the ORBs themselves, individual pilots' memoirs/anecdotes and often seemingly obscure biographical details from both sides.

Fighter Command's campaign is initially successful but the pilots are pushed hard. Don Kingaby's (92 Sqn) logbook, for example, is recorded as listing 23 shows over France in the first three weeks of April! Escorting small numbers of bombers to entice the defending Germans up for a fight met with varying degrees of success but the defenders soon became adept at waiting to pick off stragglers and aircraft heading home on their own. As the RAF had done during the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe used new radar installations to good effect. These, coupled with the superior climbing performance of the Me 109F and, late in 1941, the new Fw 190A, enabled the Germans to dictate when and where they engaged the escort Wings. By the end of the year, it was clear the Germans had, with just two JGs, regained the initiative and, in Fighter Command, questions were being asked as to the effectiveness of the 100+ Circus operations flown.

Unlike the RAF in the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe was not forced into the air by large bomber formations that threatened material damage. The organisation of the various escorting Wings also proved difficult at times with missed rendezvous and incorrect altitudes flown - often ending in substantial losses. However, by now Fighter Command could replace the aircraft and pilots with considerable ease compared to the summer of 1940. While RAF losses were considerably higher than the defending Luftwaffe fighters, Fighter Command proved itself capable of taking the fight across the Channel and set the ground work for the offensive operations that were to prevail over Occupied Europe in the years to come. Of course, you could argue whether so many squadrons were needed in the UK when North Africa, Malta and the Far East were screaming out for fighters.

Well-written and with the "serious work" interspersed with moments of humour and high jinks typical of RAF aircrew, The Biggin Hill Wing 1941, is a fascinating look at one airfield's, and its resident squadrons', contribution to Fighter Command's broadening priorities.

The Biggin Hill Wing at War!
The Biggin Hill Fighter Wing, established in March 1941, is one of the most famous RAF units in history. During the RAF's misguided 'Leaning into France' offensive in 1941, the Wing, led by the legendary 'Sailor' Malan, was one of the mainstays of the campaign. Author Peter Caygill details the Wing's eventful life and times in this entertaining and insightful volume from Pen & Sword Books.

Following the Battle of Britain, RAF brass decided to go on the offensive, launching small groups of bombers into France protected by masses of RAF Hurris and Spits. These 'Circus' ops were designed to give the RAF air supremacy over northern France, attrite opposing Luftwaffe units and ensure that those units weren't sent to aid the German war effort on the Russian Front. In point of fact, none of these goals were achieved and the RAF lost hundreds of valuable fighter pilots with little to show.

Whatever the end results, Malan, Don Kingaby, John Mungo-Park, Jamie Rankin, Bobby Oxspring, Paul Richey, 'Vicki' Ortmans and other Biggin Hill pilots, which initially consisted of 66, 74 and 92 Squadrons, found themselves engaged in bitter combats over France. In these dogfights, the Luftwaffe held the advantage thanks to their GCI network and their newly-introduced Bf 109F - and later FW 190 - fighters. The Wing claimed some 170-odd kills by year's end but almost 90 pilots were KIA or POW by year's end. Yet, as the RAF brass were well aware, overclaiming was rampant during the Circus missions. (The RAF claimed around 500 victories by December 1941 yet Luftwaffe loss reports confirm less than 200 of that total. Fighter Command, in turn, lost 572 Hurris/Spits with 435 pilots KIA/POW).

Caygill does a marvelous job of setting the stage for Circus ops, detailing the Wing's combats and, especially, presenting the individual pilots as living, thinking human beings.

In short, THE BIGGIN HILL WING 1941 is not only a compelling history of a famous fighting unit and a controversial air campaign but also a great read as well. Recommended.