Australians and RAF Fighter Command in World War II

Role of Fighter Command

With Bomber Command and Coastal Command, Fighter Command was formed in 1936 to fly fighter aircraft. Its planes were designed for air-to-air combat.

The types of aircraft Fighter Command mainly flew were:

• British Supermarine Spitfire
• Hawker Hurricane
• North American P-51 Mustang.

Other aircraft included:

• Bristol Blenheim
• Bristol Beaufighter
• de Havilland DH-98 Mosquito.

Battle of Britain

Fighter Command became famous during the 1940 Battle of Britain.

With the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy (RN), Fighter Command successfully defended Great Britain from attacks by the German Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe was aiming to attain air superiority over the English Channel. This would allow a seaborne force to invade Great Britain from ports in German-controlled France.

What General [Maxime] Weygand [commander of the Allied armies in France] called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin... Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”

[British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, speech to the House of Commons following the surrender of France, 18 June 1940, International Churchill Society]

Extract of film made by Crawley Films Ltd (Canada) showing scenes of aerial combat during the Battle of Britain in 1940. Duration 57 seconds. AWM F10382

During the Battle of Britain, 35 Australians flew combat missions. Ten Australian pilots and 4 enlisted airmen were killed in action, and one Australian became a prisoner of war.

One of those killed was Flight Lieutenant Paterson Clarence (Pat) Hughes from Cooma, New South Wales.

Hughes was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for shooting down 2 Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters on 15 August 1940. Less than 3 weeks later, on 7 September, he was killed while intercepting a large formation of Dornier bombers and their escort of Messerschmitt fighters over Kent.

AWM P01397.001

Attacked with section astern and fired a long burst into one ME 109 which crashed on landing approx 5 miles (8 km) west of Littlestone. I climbed back to 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) and intercepted 5 ME 109s escorting a Me 110 across Dover… I attacked the rear 109 and had to fire a long burst into it as three 109s dived at me… I emptied all my ammunition into this 109 and the oil tanks burst…

[Combat report, Flight Lieutenant Paterson Clarence Hughes, No 234 Squadron RAF, 6 September 1940]

AWM REL/17986.002

1941 onwards

From 1941, Fighter Command went on the offensive. Fighter missions flown from Great Britain over occupied western Europe were either:

• escorting bombers to attack ground targets or submarine pens on the coast of France
• fighters alone attacking targets of opportunity, such as trains and trucks
• attacks designed to force German fighters into combat with the aim of reducing their numbers.

Australian pilot Keith (Bluey) Truscott flew Spitfires with No 452 Squadron. He was awarded a Bar to his DFC in March 1942, having shot down 11 German aircraft, probably destroyed another 3 and damaged 2.

In 1943, Fighter Command was disbanded and divided into the Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) and the Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF).

Air Defence of Great Britain

After the formation of 2TAF, ADGB was resurrected in 1943 to supplement Fighter Command defending the United Kingdom (UK).

After the Allied victory at Normandy in 1944, ADGB planes flew in support of the Allied armies in Europe.

RAF Second Tactical Air Force

The Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was formed on 1 June 1943, taking units from both Bomber Command and Fighter Command. It was preparing to support the Allied armies' invasion of occupied France in 1944. No Australian squadron in Fighter Command was moved to 2TAF.