The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

pilot, who not only taught him a great deal about flying but a few tricks
about being a fighter pilot as well. Now, four years on, Pete was a highly
experienced pilot having flown almost 800 hours in the RAF on numerous
types of different aircraft.
Flying over France had been an eye-opener in many ways. The
squadron had been involved in recent tests on Britain’s new RDF – or radar
– defences, so now to find themselves operating across the Channel where
there was neither radar nor ground control was something of a step back for
them. Furthermore, having reached France, it was clear that no-one had
much idea of what was going on. ‘We’d just take off and see what we could
see,’ explains Pete. ‘If you were lucky, you bumped into some Germans.
Otherwise you just flew about the sky looking at what was going on down
on the ground.’
Still at Lille-Marcq was 87 Squadron, which had now been joined by
504 Squadron from England. Bee Beamont had been passed well enough to
fly again on 14 May, but it wasn’t until the following day that he finally got
into the air. Awake at dawn as normal, he and his fellow pilots had been
shivering in the morning dew down at dispersal, but nothing happened. By
eight, they were off duty and back to the mess for a large breakfast and a
sleep until midday, when they were back on duty once more.
Not until 2.15 p.m. did the field telephone at dispersal ring with orders
for Blue and Green sections plus a further section of 504 Squadron to patrol
Louvain-Brussels at 10,000 feet. Frantically, Bee put on his parachute,
helmet, goggles, and oxygen and R/T leads and sped to his Hurricane, its
engine already throbbing. It was a lovely early summer’s day with not a
cloud in the sky as they climbed up towards their patrol area.
Like Günther Rall, Bee had much to learn about combat flying. Unlike
Günther, however, he did not experience his first combat sortie of the
campaign with the advantage of height. Instead, his flight spotted flak
bursts and the tiny specks of aircraft above them over Louvain. Ordered
into the line astern attack formation as prescribed by the RAF, they
continued to climb towards the fray. But, by now, Bee was beginning to feel
decidedly ropey again. ‘I was having quite a difficulty judging my
distance,’ he says. ‘I started to think, My God, when we get into action,
how on earth am I going to be able to cope, feeling as I do?’ Above them
was a group of Dornier 17s, all now frantically moving into a defensive
circular formation with the approach of the Hurricanes. Fortunately, Bee