HALLOWES, HJL (#14)

Pilots of No. 43 Squadron RAF based at Wick, Caithness, standing in front of one of the unit’s Hawker Hurricane Mark Is.
Left to right: Sergeant J Arbuthnot, Sergeant R Plenderleith, Sergeant H J L Hallowes, Flying Officer J W Simpson, Flight Lieutenant Peter W Townsend [Signatory #12], Pilot Officer H C Upton.

Rare original colour photograph. (Battle of Britain: Portraits of the Few)

First enemy aircraft shot shot down in England: “This Heinkel was first picked up by the Danby Beacon Chain Home system at 09.03hrs whilst sixty miles out to sea. Allied fighters were scrambled to intercept these aircraft flying at around a thousand feet and located them at 09.40hrs. This Heinkel had just made an attack on a trawler when it was intercepted by three Hurricanes piloted by F/Lt Peter Townsend (L2116) [Signatory #12], F/O Patrick Folkes (L1723) and Sgt Jim Hallowes (L1847) of 43 Squadron based at Acklington. Townsend made the first attack and damaged the HeIII’s starboard engine, his attack also killed one of the German crew, Uffz Leushake. Folkes was next to attack, his bullets also found their mark damaging the fuselage and hitting another German crewman in the stomach, Uffz Meyer, who later died from these injuries. Hallowes positioned himself clear but heading off any possible escape which the Heinkel’s crew may have hoped for. During the attacks that followed another airman, Uffz Missy, was shot in the leg, these injuries would later result in his leg being amputated. The Heinkel was by now severely damaged and was on it’s way down, the Luftwaffe pilot had no choice but to make a forced landing on land. The aircraft flew very low across Whitby and out into the countryside beyond. By all accounts it had been shot at until it was on the ground, where upon it ploughed through a snow covered field, a hedge and a tree and came to rest near the farm cottages at Bannial Flat Farm, Whitby. Locals had already started to follow the stricken bomber even before it was on the ground, it was apparently so clear that it would crash soon after. Unfortunately with one airman dead and the other dying soon afterwards it was the first enemy aircraft to crash on English soil.” (Yorkshire Aircraft)

There are three They Were There signatories in this photograph: No 43’s last days with the Fury. (L to R) Sgt J Hallowes [Signatory 14];  Fg Off G Christie;  PO Frank Carey (adjutant) [Signatory 27], Sgt J.I. Kilmartin [Signatory 35],; FO J Rotherham, C Hull; FL  Pennington-Legh; FO  Sullivan; FO Carswell, SL R Bain; FL F Rosier [Signatory 17]; FO J Simpson; FO P Folkes; FO P Cox; FO F Berry.

ROYAL AIR FORCE FIGHTER COMMAND, 1939-1945. (C 3193) Stills from camera gun footage taken from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark V flown by Sergeant Miroslav Liskutin [Signatory #130] of No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, as he shot down a Dornier Do 217 over the English Channel, while on patrol over a convoy of returning vessels from the Dieppe raid. Copyright: © IWM C3193

Flight Sergeant Robert Mehew “Zip” Zobell, from Raymond, Alberta, and a member of 401 Squadron, RCAF, returned from Dieppe with a wound on his forehead and his Spitfire damaged by enemy fire. According to the original caption, “his only complaint was that the medical officer would not allow him to fly during the rest of the day. ‘I missed a lot of fun,’ he said bitterly.” Photo: DND Archives, PL-10629

An Aerial Battle by Francis Dodd (6 September, 1940). “Artist Francis Dodd was born in Holyhead in Anglesey, Wales. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art where he was awarded a travelling scholarship, venturing to France and Italy. He was commissioned as a war artist in both the First and Second World Wars and became a member of the Royal Academy in 1935. He lived in Blackheath, London, until his death in 1949. “a black cat sits on a garden wall seemingly unaware of the recent aerial dogfight which has taken place in the skies above. The aircraft themselves are not visible but their weaving white contrails reveal the tight manoeuvres made between the RAF Fighter Command and German Luftwaffe. Dodd’s scene conveys the simultaneous proximity and distance of the Battle of Britain; aerial combat is evident in the sky but life goes on below. History The RAF pilots who fought during the Battle of Britain were supported by thousands of servicemen and women on the ground. In this painting, numerous barrage balloons are shown floating above the trees. Operated by RAF Balloon Command, barrage balloons were used to protect cities from air attack. They forced German aircraft to operate at higher altitudes, reducing the accuracy of their bombing and bringing them within range of anti-aircraft guns.”

Dieppe Raid by Charles Fraser Comfort (1946) Copyright Canadian War Museum