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Forgotten Hero by Stan Stokes.
Marmaduke St. John Pattle, known as Pat to his friends, was born in South Africa in 1913. Pattle came from a family with a military tradition, and upon graduation from Graemian College he joined the South African Air Force. Pattle, unfortunately, was not accepted for air crew training, and he returned to civilian life for a time. In 1936 Pattle went to England where he joined the RAF, graduating near the top of his class in pilot training. He was assigned to No. 80 Squadron which flew the Gloster Gladiator. In 1938 the squadron was moved to Egypt. When war broke out in 1939, Pattle had been promoted to Flight Commander. For the first several months of the war Pattle saw little action as his missions were routine patrols of the Suez Canal. When Italy entered the War in 1940, the situation changed dramatically, as the British were vastly outnumbered in North Africa by both Italian troops and aircraft. Pattles first victory, in a Gladiator, came on July 24, 1940. When Italy attacked Greece, No. 80 Squadron was moved north to assist the Greek army in fighting the invaders. Pattle attained several more victories before the end of 1940, and his reputation as an excellent tactician and marksman had grown. In February of 1941, Pattles squadron received the first of their Hawker Hurricanes, a vastly superior aircraft when compared to the aging Gladiators. Pattle wasted no time in adapting to his new machine, and bagged his first victory in a Hurricane on February 20. A week later the Italians mounted a massive offensive, attempting to gain as much ground as possible before Germany joined in the hostilities. No. 80, No. 33, and No. 112 Squadrons saw tremendous action during this offensive. In one 90-minute air battle during the campaign No. 80 and No. 33 attained an amazing 27 confirmed victories. Pattles score rose swiftly and steadily during this campaign, and many of his victims were CR.42 and G.50s. In April, Hitlers forces attacked both Greece and Yugoslavia. More than 1,000 Luftwaffe combat aircraft were thrown into the battle, including the high performance Bf-109. Despite the numerical superiority of the Luftwaffe, the RAF pilots fought on. Pattle destroyed two 109s in a strafing attack on April 8th, and on the next day he downed his first German bomber. Hopelessly outnumbered, and with only fifteen serviceable Hurricanes left, the RAF fought on. On April 19 Pattle and the remaining Hurricanes intercepted a flight of more than 100 German aircraft heading for Athens. Pattle downed two 110s and a 109, but his Hurricane was riddled by a 110 which had snuck up on his tail. Pattles Hurricane tumbled into the sea. While Pattles official victory total remains under some dispute, those pilots which fought alongside him during those hectic months of aerial combat, insist that Pattle, recipient of the DFC, downed more than forty enemy aircraft, making him one of the top Allied aces of WW II. |
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