bentley priory - Spink

THE BENTLEY PRIORY BATTLE OF BRITAIN TRUST APPEAL CHARITY AUCTION
the leg, 6.5.1941, when his Hurricane was shot up by a
Me.109: ‘Myself Badly Shot Up, 3 109s Shot Down’
(Recipient’s Log Book refers), he went on to claim a shared
Z.1007bis on the 25th July with Sergeant Forth, the latter
stating in his combat report that he saw pieces fall away from
the enemy aircraft after Thompson attacked it, while another
squadron pilot saw the aircraft fall burning into the sea 20
miles off Malta. Having then claimed a Macchi 200
confirmed on the 26th July, he shared in a S-79 on the 27th
July, and ended the year with a probable Me.109 on the 29th
December: ‘Mix up with 6 Me.109s. I confirmed destroyed.
Shot up by A.A. and landed on one wheel’ (ibid).
Promoted Flying Officer, 24.8.1941, Thompson had a more
serious encounter with the enemy at the start of 1942, when,
on the 25th January, after having damaged a Ju.88, he was
jumped by three Me.109s: ‘Wing was split up at 18,000 feet
by 12 Me.109s. On my own at 15,000 feet. Spotted 4 Ju.88s
over Hal Far. Attacked and probably destroyed one. Was
attacked by 3 Me.109s. Engine Packed up at 3,000 feet.
Tried to force land but caught fire at 500 feet and baled out.
Hit ground with a hell of a bump!!!’ (ibid). Admitted to
Tarfa Hospital with shrapnel wounds, where, on the 30th
January, he learnt of the award of his D.F.C., he was
discharged at the beginning of February and evacuated to
Egypt.
Group Captain P.D. Thompson, by Cuthbert Orde
The Battle of Britain
Commissioned Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force Volunteer
Reserve, 24.8.1940, Thompson was posted to No. 32
Squadron (Hurricanes), based at Acklington, in September
1940, where he undertook his first operational sorties, before
moving south to No. 605 Squadron (Hurricanes) at Croydon
early in the following month, where he first came into contact
with the Luftwaffe. Under the command of Squadron Leader
C. R. “Gerry” Edge, D.F.C., No. 605 Squadron patrolled on
a daily basis over Kent and Surrey at the height of the Battle.
On the 20th October Thompson damaging a Me.109 southeast
of Ashford, before returning to base with a badly shot up
propeller. He next damaged two more Me.109s in combats
over Faversham and Folkestone on the 1st and 13th
November, and gained a Do. 17 probable off Orfedness,
26.3.1941. Embarking for Malta in H.M.S. Ark Royal in the
following month, his flying log book recorded a tally of ‘three
and a half destroyed, three probables and three damaged’ at
this time.
Malta 1941-42
Piloting one of 24 Hurricanes that took off from Ark Royal,
27.4.1941, to provide desperately needed additional fighter
cover for Valletta harbour, Thompson was posted to No. 261
Squadron after his arrival at Hal Far but, a few days later, he
transferred to No. 185 Squadron (Hurricanes) under
Squadron Leader P. W. “Boy” Mould, the commencement
of a protracted period of active service in which he flew well
in excess of 150 sorties, the majority in the immediate
defence of the island, but others, too, on offensive sweeps
against Sicily and Italy. Slightly wounded by a shell splinter in
Third and Fourth Operational Tours
Having served as an instructor at an Operational Training
Unit (O.T.U.), Thompson embarked on a lengthy period as
a test pilot on Kittyhawks and Tomahawks in Ismailia,
following which, in March 1943, he returned to an
operational footing as a Flight Commander with No. 601
Squadron (Spitfires) in the Western Desert, and completed at
least another 30 operational sorties - largely as escort to
Kittyhawk and Bostons units, before sustaining burns on
crashing on take-off on the 26th April: ‘Crashed taking off at
Mellaha!! A trifle burnt.’ (ibid). Returning to the Squadron
three months later, now based at Lentini West in Italy, his
first flight back was a ‘Shopping expedition to Malta’ (ibid),
before completing another 50 operational sorties by the end
of the year, many of which were long range straffes, and on
the 3rd November he was credited with destroying a brace of
S-79s on the ground at Ancona airfield: ‘Ancona Aerodromeself
2 SM.79s Destroyed’ (ibid). Returning to the United
Kingdom, Thompson attended a course at the Fighter Leader
School at Milfield and on one occasion a week after D-Day
flew a Spitfire IX as escort in a strike by 220 Lancasters on Le
Havre: ‘Terrific Bombing’ (ibid).
In July 1944, with nearly 600 hours operational flying under
his wing, Thompson was appointed to the command of No.
129 (Mysore) Squadron (Mustangs), operating out of
Brenzett, a command that required him keeping the
Maharajah of Mysore abreast of the unit’s activities, the latter
having paid for 18 Spitfires when No. 129 Squadron was
formed. This, his fourth operational tour, commenced with a
flurry of “Diver Patrols” (anti-V-weapon sorties), in which he
claimed three as destroyed and two more as shared. He also
flew “Ranger” operations over occupied France: ‘Paris
looked just the same!!’ (ibid), and in support of the Arnhem
operations in September: ‘Escort 1st Airborne Army. Anti-
Flak for Gliders but Hun Gunners kept very quiet.
Thousands of A/C- Magnificent!!...Dropping supplies to
Paratroopers at Arnhem. Filthy weather...Bombing Arnhem.
Big dog fight with 50+ Fw.190s and Me.109s’ (ibid).
Thompson married Miss Marie-Kathleen Allman, 2.12.1944,
and after a brief honeymoon in Sussex was back to escorting
Lancasters on bombing raids over Germany, as the Allied
advance into North-West Europe continued apace, right up
until his participation in the Rhine crossing in March 1945,
by which stage he had added over 60 more sorties to his
wartime tally, had amassed over 760 hours of operational
flying, and been mentioned in despatches.
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