At least two others of the Few had a direct involvement in events leading to awards of the VC later in the war. The German capital ship Gneisenau features in both stories, perhaps a clue as to the seriousness with which the threat of these vessels was viewed.
Ralph Walter Hillman came from Edmonton, then in Middlesex, and served as an air gunner with No 22 Squadron in Coastal Command. However, he had a spell flying with No 235 Squadron and thereby qualified as one of the Few.
In the spring of 1941 the Gneisenau, together with the Scharnhorst, was at the French port of Brest. The former was temporarily moved into a more vulnerable position and the situation was reported by the pilot of a reconnaissance Spitfire, leading to the planning of various attacks.
The first of these involved three Bristol Beauforts from 22 Squadron at St Eval in Cornwall. Flight Sergeant Hillman was in the crew of Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell, along with Sergeant J P Scott, RCAF and Sergeant W C Mulliss.
At the rendezvous outside Brest, Campbell found that the other aircraft had not arrived and he decided to attack alone, flying into a wall of anti-aircraft fire. His torpedo hit the Gneisenau beneath the waterline and caused serious damage, but, in the next moments, the Beaufort crashed into the harbour with no survivors.
The citation for Campbell’s VC recorded that: “By pressing home his attack at close quarters in the face of withering fire on a course fraught with extreme peril, Flying Officer Campbell displayed valour of the highest order.” As, indeed, did his crew.
Squadron Leader Thomas Percy Gleave was CO of No 253 Squadron when he was shot down over Biggin Hill on 31 August 1940. He escaped his Hurricane by parachute but had been terribly burned. In later life Tom Gleave would argue that 31 August was the “Hardest Day” of the Battle of Britain.
At the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, Gleave became one of the initiators of the Guinea Pig Club. He would devote much time throughout the rest of his life to the affairs of the Club and the welfare of its members. He became Chief Guinea Pig.
By October 1941 Wing Commander Gleave was partially recovered and was posted as Officer Commanding RAF Manston on the Isle of Thanet. On 12 February 1942 German ships including the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen made their “Channel Dash”, after leaving Brest, known as Operation Cerebus to the Germans.
It was from Manston that Fleet Air Arm Fairey Swordfish, led by Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde, set off to launch an attack. Tom Gleave considered the operation suicidal and, from Esmonde’s demeanour, he gathered that the former RAF office felt the same.
Gleave positioned himself at the end of the runway and saluted each Swordfish as it took off.
Not one returned, though five survivors were rescued from the sea. Gleave immediately submitted a report in which he recommended Eugene Esmonde for a posthumous VC, as well as awards for the survivors.
The speed with which higher authority accepted the VC nomination was such that Gleave later said that he bitterly regretted not having put forward more names for the ultimate award.
“Unique” is always a dangerous claim but is this the only example of an RAF officer making a successful VC recommendation for someone in the Royal Navy?
Geoff Simpson, FRHistS
