Born on 4 August 1919 in Streatham, south London, Pat Hancock was educated at Croydon High School and Wimbledon Technical School. He went on to work as a laboratory assistant.
He joined the RAF on a short service commission and began training in February 1939. On 7 November he joined the recently reformed No 266 Squadron at Sutton Bridge.
He was posted to No 1 Squadron in France on 12 May 1940. After two days he was detached to No 501 Squadron but did not fly, spending his days moving around in lorries. Hancock rejoined No 1 on 18 May and on 6 June he probably destroyed a He 111. The squadron was withdrawn from Nantes and took up residence at Northolt.
Flying from Northolt on 16 August, Pilot Officer Hancock returned to base with two longerons of his Hurricane severed in an attack by a Bf 110 over the South Downs. On the 30th he damaged a He 111. He was posted away to No 85 Squadron, moved to No 615 Squadron in January 1941 and rejoined No 1 Squadron at the end of the month.
On 14 April he embarked on HMS Argus at Greenock and sailed for Gibraltar, where, on the 24th, pilots and aircraft were moved to HMS Ark Royal. Hancock led seven Hurricanes off to Malta on the 27th, to join No 261 Squadron at Hal Far.
He became ‘B’ Flight Commander in No 185 Squadron when Flight Lieutenant I B Westmacott, another Battle of Britain veteran, was wounded.
Hancock probably destroyed a He 111 in the early hours of 6 June, shared a BR 20 on 25 July and shared a SM 79 on the 27th. He received a Mention in Despatches for a dawn attack on Italian launches that were bringing frogmen to Grand Harbour, Valletta.
He was posted away to Air HQ, Cairo on 17 September and became an instructor at Gordon’s Tree, Sudan. There were further postings before Hancock did a refresher course and was attached to a South African Air Force Squadron before joining No 250 Squadron as a Flight Commander. Hancock damaged a Ju 88, a Bf 110 and a Mc 202 on the ground on 20 July 1942, shot down a SM 79 on the 27th and damaged a Mc 202 on the 31st.
Hancock took command of the squadron and earned an immediate DFC for an operation in which he led 12 Kittyhawks of 250 and six from No 405 Squadron to Benina airfield. Intelligence had reported that converted bombers from Crete were delivering petrol for the Afrika Korps.
After a flight through bad weather and low cloud, the Kittyhawks arrived as seven enemy bombers were still in the circuit and five others had already landed. No 250 Squadron accounted for the bombers still in the air, Hancock destroying a He 111. The Kittyhawks then strafed the airfield, destroying three SM 79s on the ground and also a He 111, destroyed by Hancock. All the Kittyhawks returned safely.
Hancocok later had secondments with the Turkish and Egyptian Air Forces.
Hancock returned permanently to the UK in January 1946 and became Station Commander at RAF Aberporth and CO of No 595 Squadron. He commanded No 11 Squadron in Japan from November 16 1946. Later he served at HQ No 12 Group, OC Flying, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya and was OC Flying and a squadron commander at Butterworth, Malaya.
His final posting was as CO RAF High Wycombe, the HQ of Bomber Command and he retired from the RAF on 12 August 1958, as a Squadron Leader, retaining the rank of Wing Commander. In 1978 he began a long stint as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. He was made OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 1991. After a long period of poor health Hancock died on 23 February 2003.
An author who knew Pat Hancock well told the Memorial Trust: “Pat deserves considerable credit for the fact that the lives of The Few are so well documented. He was enormously helpful to those seeking information, while guarding the privacy of BBFA members.”
