Discovering my Father: The Wartime Experiences of Squadron Leader John Russell Collins DFC and Bar (1943-1944)

By Michael Collins

The story of a highly decorated Royal Air Force Squadron Leader, flying Hawker Typhoons with 245 Squadron, who was killed in action during the battle of Normandy in 1944.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781716949692

Michael Collins

Michael Collins was born in Rome in 1930. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy, he entered the newly independent Air Force, becoming a fighter pilot and experimental test pilot. He was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in 1963. On his first mission, Gemini 10, he set a world altitude record and became the nation’s third spacewalker. His second flight was as command module pilot of the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon in July 1969. He is retired major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and has received numerous decorations and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Collier Trophy. He is now retired and lives in South Florida. Carrying the Fire is his memoir.

Book preview

by

John Michael Collins

The Wartime Experiences of

Squadron Leader John Russell Collins

DFC & Bar

(1913 – 1944)

Discovering my Father

Published by Typhoon Books, Frodsham, Cheshire, UK.

Copyright © John Michael Collins 2022

The moral right of the author is asserted.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

First Published August 2012

Second revision April 2017

e book edition 2022

ISBN 978-1-716-94969-2

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

My acknowledgements must go to the many veteran pilots and aircrew of the 2nd Tactical Air Force whom I have met in the past 30 years. Some I have spoken to in depth, others I have only spoken to briefly, but all of them are or were remarkable men, born survivors.

Amongst the names I remember are:

Then there are present day enthusiasts such as Chris Thomas, Chris Woodcock, Anthony Knight, Ken Rimmel and David Raw. Chris Thomas is the author of many books on the Hawker Typhoon and Hawker Tempest.

More thanks go to my Aunt Margaret and posthumously to my mother and Uncle Norman who have provided insights into the years when they knew my father. Also to my sons who have listened to my stories with great patience.

Finally to my wife Pauline, who has helped me in this research, travelling all over the UK and Normandy for 30 years and supporting me so well with this emotional story.

Credits

Wartime Black and White Photographs:-       Crown Copyright 1944 & Imperial War Museum

Extracts from Squadron Record Books:-      National Archives at Kew

Geoffrey Murphy picture:-                  Geoffrey Murphy

Stills from Black and White movie:-            Imperial War Museum

Bill Millin Postcard:-                        Bill Millin

Typhoon Cockpit:-                        Crecy Publishing Ltd

At Noyers Bocage 1994:-                  Roy Crane

Extracts from ‘The Guns of Normandy’:-      Constable Ltd

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

I was four years old when my father was killed and so this is a very personal story and it can become quite emotional for me to tell it, but I tell it because I would like the airmen of the RAF in the Second World War to be remembered; not that their sacrifice was any greater than that made by the other sections of the armed forces but because my father gave his life in that service, the Royal Air Force.

His story is not unique, similar ones can be told about the thousands of men and women who fought and died in the Second World War, and many readers could have a similar story to tell about their fathers, grandfathers and uncles.

Even with his Distinguished Flying Cross award in 1943 and then being posthumously awarded it again in 1944 (described as the DFC and Bar), he was just one of many with similar decorations. In fact 20,354 first time DFCs were awarded, 1,550 Bars and 45 double Bars. About 20,000 RAF pilots were killed during the war and 151 Typhoon pilots died in the Normandy campaign alone between June and September 1944.

This story is about how I discovered the many details of my father’s flying career and how even over 68 years later it is still developing. It is an illustrated summary of the research that I have done in the last 23 years and it is based on the documentary evidence I have been able to unearth over that period and the personal stories of the veterans I have been lucky enough to meet.

Whilst creating this summary, I have realised that the records of the two Squadrons my father served in (3 & 245), describe such a wealth of detail of 24 months intense flying, that they would provide material for a much longer publication if transcribed in full detail. That must be for another day.

I am starting to realize from this research, that for whatever reasons, my father, his aircraft and his Squadron have become legendary to the many enthusiasts who follow the work of the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Normandy in 1944.

The poignancy of the whole story hinges around the emotional impact that the events of 1944 had on my mother and me. There was the pride my mother experienced when he was praised in the newspapers, given promotion and an award for gallantry; then the excitement they experienced when they attended prestigious functions in London and Kent. The final devastating blow came when he was killed, followed by the struggle to overcome the loss and get on with the rest of our lives in post war Tyneside.

I know that my father wrote very frequently to my mother, possibly daily, but he would not have been able to tell her much about the detail of what he was doing because of the censorship that took place. So looking back I think even she would have been amazed at what I have discovered about him and it is sad that much of what I have found I cannot