15th September 2024
Today is Battle of Britain day, a commemoration of Winston Churchill’s the few. Many people more knowledgeable than me have hypothesized and theorised on the way that the Battle of Britain should have, could have or would have gone under other circumstances.
On the day in 1940 after almost 10 weeks of continual air combat over Great Britain, the battle came to a climax. Many of the claims made by both sides over the course of the battle were inaccurate or exagerated, but there is no doubt it is considered a British victory.
The battle delivered the required outcome, with the German Operation Sea Lion (the invasion of Britain) being postponed – as it turned out indefinately. But RAF fighter command was one component of the RAF, others were in action on this day in 1940.
Bomber Command VC
What follows is the citation for 18 year old Paisley man John Hannah, the youngest Victoria Cross of the second world war. For his actions on the 15th of September 1940, the day that RAF Fighter Command blunted the tip of the German spear.
The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the VICTORIA CROSS on the undermentioned officer in recognition of most conspicuous bravery :-
652918 Sergeant John Hannah :-
On the night of 15th September, 1940, Sergeant Hannah was the wireless operator/air gunner in an aircraft engaged in a successful attack on an enemy barge concentration at Antwerp. It was then subjected to intense anti-aircraft fire and received a direct hit from a projectile of an explosive and incendiary nature, which apparently burst inside the bomb compartment.
A fire started which quickly enveloped the wireless operators and rear gunners cockpits, and as both the port and starboard petrol tanks had been pierced, there was grave risk of the fire spreading. Sergeant Hannah forced his way through to obtain two extinguishers and discovered that the rear gunner had had to leave the aircraft. He could have acted likewise, through the bottom escape hatch or forward through the navigators hatch, but remained and fought the fire for ten minutes with the extinguishers, beating the flames with his log book when these were empty.
During this time thousands of rounds of ammunition exploded in all directions and he was almost blinded by the intense heat and fumes, but had the presence of mind to obtain relief by turning on his oxygen supply. Air admitted through the large holes caused by the projectile made the bomb compartment an inferno and all the aluminium sheet metal on the floor of this airman’s cockpit was melted away, leaving only the cross bearers.
Working under these conditions, which caused burns to his face and eyes, Sergeant Hannah succeeded in extinguishing the fire. He then crawled forward, ascertained that the navigator had left the aircraft, and passed the latter’s log and maps to the pilot. This airman displayed courage, coolness and devotion to duty of the highest order and by his action in remaining and successfully extinguishing the fire under conditions of the greatest danger and difficulty, enabled the pilot to bring the aircraft to its base.
Of the first five Victoria Crosses awarded to members of the Royal Air Force, four were awarded to Bomber Command personnel.
There are too many stories like this in any war, where people are defending something they hold dear. The bravery and actions of the wartime generation are to be remembered, the people of that generation – nearly all gone now should be celebrated for what they were and the legacy that they left behind.