Clive Caldwell

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Clive Robertson Caldwell, DSO, DFC and bar, Polish Cross of Valour, July 28, 1910-August 5, 1994 was the leading Australian fighter ace of World War II. Caldwell is officially credited with 28.5 kills in over 300 operational sorties.

He was born in Lewisham, Sydney and educated at Sydney Grammar School. When World War II broke out, Caldwell joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), with the intention of becoming a fighter pilot. As he was just over the age limit for fighter training, Caldwell altered details on his birth certificate. He was accepted and joined the Empire Air Training Scheme.

1 Middle East & North Africa
2 South West Pacific
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Middle East & North Africa

Caldwell served initially with a British unit, 250 Squadron, Royal Air Force in the Middle East campaign and North African campaign, flying Tomahawks and Kittyhawks. Press officers and journalists popularised the nickname "Killer", which Caldwell disliked, because of his habit of shooting up any enemy vehicles spotted when returning from a sortie, thereby using up all his remaining ammunition. He also became known for developing a method of practising aerial gunnery deflection by using the shadow of his own aircraft over the desert surface.

On August 29, 1941, while on a mission over northwest Egypt, Caldwell became separated from other members of his squadron and was returning to base. He was attacked by two Bf 109s. One of his attackers was one of Germany's top aces, Leutnant Werner Schroer of Jagdgeschwader 27, in a Messerschmitt Bf 109e-7 known as "Black 8". (Schroer would eventually be credited with 114 Allied planes in only 197 combat missions.) Although Caldwell's Tomahawk was hit by more than 100 7.9 mm bullets and five 20 mm cannon shells, he shot down Schroer's wingman, and heavily damaged "Black 8", causing Schroer to disengage. Caldwell went on to achieve 22 victories while flying the P-40, 10 of which were Bf 109s. Two were Macchi C.202s. ^[1]

On December 5, Caldwell shot down five Junkers Ju-87 (Stuka) dive bombers in matter of minutes. His report of that action reads:

I received radio warning that a large enemy formation was approaching from the North-West. No. 250 Squadron went into line astern behind me and as No. 112 Squadron engaged the escorting enemy fighters we attacked the JUs from the rear quarter. At 300 yards I opened fire with all my guns at the leader of one of the rear sections of three, allowing too little deflection, and hit No. 2 and No. 3, one of which burst into flames immediately, the other going down smoking and went into flames after losing about 1000 feet. I then attacked the leader of the rear section...from below and behind, opening fire with all guns at very close range. The enemy aircraft turned over and dived steeply...opened fire [at another Ju 87] again at close range, the enemy caught fire...and crashed in flames. I was able to pull up under the belly of one of the rear, holding the burst until very close range. The enemy...caught fire and dived into the ground. ^[2]

On December 24, 1941 Caldwell mortaly wounded another Luftwaffe ace, Erbo Graf von Kageneck (69 kills).

In 1942, Caldwell gained command of 112 Squadron, which at that time included a number of Polish aviators. It was for his work here that he was awarded the Polish Cross of Valour.

[edit] South West Pacific

During 1942, Australia came under increasing pressure from Japanese forces, and Caldwell was recalled by the RAAF, to take command of 1 Fighter Wing — comprised of No. 54 Squadron RAF, No. 452 Squadron RAAF and No. 457 Squadron RAAF. The wing was equipped with the Spitfire Mk Vc, and in early 1943 was posted to Darwin, to defend it against Japanese air raids. Although the Japanese pilots were often reluctant to engage Allied fighters over Darwin, due to the distance from their bases in the Dutch East Indies, Caldwell claimed 6.5 Japanese aircraft shot down.

Later in 1943, Caldwell was posted to Mildura, to command No. 2 Operational Training Unit (2 OTU). By 1944, with the Japanese forces retreating north, Caldwell was again posted to Darwin, this time commanding 80 Fighter Wing, equipped with the Spitfire Mark VIII.

In 1945, while serving at Morotai in the Dutch East Indies, with the Australian First Tactical Air Force, as CO of No. 80 Wing, Caldwell led the "Morotai Mutiny", in which several senior flyers resigned in protest at what they saw as the relegation of RAAF fighter squadrons to dangerous and strategically worthless ground attack missions. Caldwell was disciplined and demoted as a result. An investigation resulted in two senior officers being relieved of their commands, with Caldwell and the other officers cleared and ranks reinstated.

After the war, Caldwell became a partner in a cloth importing business in Sydney.