S P PITFIRE ILOT ‘Flight Lieutenant Crook reads like a Battle of Britain blog. This diary of a Spitfire pilot puts the reader in the cockpit, fighting for the nation’s survival. The reader shares his elation at winning the battle of the skies, but also his sorrow at the loss of so many friends. One colleague accurately describes his pilot’s wings as “a one way ticket”. The reader will share the excitement of a scramble which takes just ninety seconds from deckchair to Spitfire on the move. To relive the triumphs, the fun and the downs of a Battle of Britain pilot read this book.’ – Air Marshal The Lord Garden, K.C.B. Flight Lieutenant D. M. Crook, D.F.C. by Captain Cuthbert Orde Spitfire Pilot A Personal Account of the Battle of Britain First published in paperback by Grub Street, 4 Rainham Close, London, SW11 6SS Originally published in hardback by Greenhill Books Copyright this edition © Grub Street 2008 Copyright text © David M. Crook 1942 Copyright introduction © Richard Overy 2006 On 609 Squadron © Sandy Hunter 2006 Copyright preface © Rosemary Loyd 2006 The right of David M. Crook to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. British Library Cataloguing-in Publication Data Crook, D. M. (David Moore) Spitfire pilot : a personal account of the Battle of Britain 1.Crook, D. M. (David Moore) 2.Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Squadron, 609 3.Britain, Battle of, Great Britain, 1940 4.World War, 1939–1945 – Aerial operations, British 5.World War, 1939–1945 – Personal narratives, British 6.Spitfire (Fighter planes) I. Title 940.5’4211 ISBN-978-1-906502-04-1 EPUB ISBN: 978-1-909808-79-9 Publishing History Spitfire Pilot was first published in 1942 (Faber) and is reproduced now, complete and unabridged, with an extended plate section and new introductory material Designed and typeset by MATS Typesetters Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Ltd. Bodmin, Cornwall Grub Street only uses FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) paper for its books C ONTENTS List of Illustrations Preface On 609 Squadron Introduction Spitfire Pilot August 1939–July 1940 August–September October–November I LLUSTRATIONS Original Plates Frontispiece: A portrait of the author (Reproduced by kind permission of the artist, Captain Cuthbert Orde) 1st July 1940: Johnny, Michael, Pip and Gordon August 1940: Johnny, Mac, Michael, Geoff, the C.O., Noel, D.M.C. and Shorty 13th August 1940: D.M.C.’s Spitfire being rearmed after the fight above Weymouth 13th August 1940: Some of the Squadron just after the Weymouth fight (Photograph by Wing Commander F. J. Howell, D.F.C., lent by his father, Mr. H. Howell) September 1940: D.M.C. and Geoff 15th September 1940: The wreckage of the Dornier at Victoria Station (Planet News Ltd. photograph) September 1940: Just about to take off for one of the London battles 30th September: The Me. 109 (From D.M.C.’s camera gun film) The Drone The crew of a Heinkel (Photograph found on a German prisoner) Frank and Sydney (News Chronicle photograph) New Plates Glenwood the family home Beckside David with his brothers and sisters David at Thornwick Bay David aged seventeen David before take-off David between sorties David beside his Spitfire R6699 Johnny Curchin, Frank Howell and David Tadeusz ‘Novi’ Nowierski Shorty, Geoff Gaunt and David David with Dorothy, family and friends David and Dorothy Marriage Announcement Three generations of the Crook family Dorothy, David and baby Nicholas David and Rosemary David’s three children Dorothy’s favourite picture of her husband, David P REFACE B y all accounts my father, David Moore Crook, had two overriding passions in his life – his flying and his family. I say ‘by all accounts’ because he died in December 1944. Spitfire Pilot therefore is the voice of the father that my brother, sister and I do not remember, and yet whom we feel to know so well. The book started as a personal diary, kept with the intention of recording impressions and emotions at the time, as a sort of time capsule. Some of David’s fellow officers persuaded him to try to have it published, but this was not in his mind at the time of writing, and the wording remains true to the original document. David was the eldest child of Clifford and Winifred Crook, born on 24th November 1914 in Huddersfield, where he grew up at Glenwood, the family house so often mentioned in his diary. Writing, reading and diary-keeping were part and parcel of family life; indeed three of his family read English at Oxford. Clifford Crook had inherited a business which he developed into a very successful sports goods manufacturing company, of which the Mitre football was the most famous product. During World War II the whole of the Huddersfield factory was turned over to supplying the aircraft industry. As business fluctuated in the early days of their marriage David’s parents experienced ‘both feast and famine’. Family values reflected their situation and their church-going Yorkshire backgrounds. These included the importance of strength of character, the Ten Commandments, lifelong learning, prudence with money – and good table manners! This rather austere description does not do justice to the sparkle within the family. Clifford’s 1959 obituary described him as a man of abundant vitality and philanthropy, with a gift for inspiring others. The family’s early holidays were spent by the sea at Thornwick Bay, and it was here that my father first became fascinated by flight as he watched the sea birds skimming over the coastline. Other holidays were in Switzerland or in the Lake District. David loved the outdoors, sometimes in quiet contemplation of the countryside – and at other times in adventurous pursuits such as rock climbing or tackling the Cresta Run with his father and brothers. It was while he was still at school that David took his first flying lessons. David and his brother Paul, along with their great childhood friend Geoff Gaunt, were educated at The Leys, Cambridge from the mid-1920s. Friendships forged at that time included those with Maurice Berry and Gordon Mitchell. In later years Paul was to marry Maurice’s sister, Katharine, and Geoff and Gordon were to join 609 Squadron with David. After leaving school David joined the family business, working his way up from the bottom and in due course becoming a director. However he harboured aspirations of eventually moving from industry into politics. Meanwhile his love of flying persisted, and in 1938 he joined the Auxiliary Air Force and was assigned to 609 (West Riding) Squadron. It was at this time too that he met Dorothy ‘D.’ Middleton, daughter of an Anglican clergyman, who was nursing at St Thomas’s Hospital. Eight months later they were to marry by special licence on the eve of the declaration of war. A year later he wrote in his diary: ‘I am not including anything personal about Dorothy or myself, except to say that, despite the war and all its inevitable worry and anxiety, this year since our marriage has been by far the happiest year of my life. And that is saying a very great deal, since all those years have been so happy.’ It is a great bonus now to be able to read his diary in conjunction with the letters he wrote and the stories that family and friends recall, giving such an insight into the man he was. In writing this piece I owe particular thanks to Derek Price, who flew with David; to David Darley, Hugh Mulligan and Mark Crame of 609 Squadron Association, to my aunt Katharine Crook, and especially to my brother Nicholas Crook and sister Elizabeth Tapsell for papers and photographs. Many have commented on David’s gifts of leadership, and for including and encouraging those on the perimeter. He was also the most devoted and practical father. After the Battle of Britain he was posted in November 1940 to become an instructor, and he records at the end of the book his dismay at having to leave behind his beloved R6699 Spitfire on 609 Squadron. In private notes he wrote ‘This has been the most exhilarating, exciting and yet tragic six months.’ In the same week he describes the joy of greeting his firstborn child Nicholas, of which he wrote: ‘That was the best moment I ever had.’ In April 1944 David joined an Advanced Flying Unit and by November was on his way back to an operational squadron, to be Squadron Leader from January 1945. However, before taking up that post, he was one of eighteen pilots who were posted to Scotland for training in high-level photographic reconnaissance. Before leaving he came home where Dorothy had recently given birth to my younger sister, Elizabeth ‘Wizzie’, and Nicholas was celebrating his fourth birthday. A few days later David wrote home to reassure Dorothy that the rumours of dangers associated with the course were unfounded, that he was