Clive Caldwell

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Clive Robertson Caldwell
1910–1994

Clive Caldwell in about 1942.
Nickname "Killer"
Place of birth Lewisham, New South Wales
Allegiance Flag of Australia Australia
Service/branch Royal Australian Air Force
Years of service 1940–1946
Rank Group Captain
Commands No. 112 Squadron RAF (1942)
No. 1 Wing (1942–43)
No. 80 Wing (1944–45)
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar
Krzyz Walecznych

Clive Robertson Caldwell, DSO, DFC and Bar (July 28, 1910 – August 5, 1994) was the leading Australian fighter ace of World War II. He is officially credited with shooting down 28.5 enemy aircraft in over 300 operational sorties. In addition to his official score, he has been ascribed three shared victories, six probables and 15 damaged.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Caldwell was born in Lewisham, Sydney and educated at Sydney Grammar School. He learnt to fly in 1938 with the Aero Club of New South Wales. When World War II broke out, he joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), with the intention of becoming a fighter pilot. As he was over the age limit for fighter training, Caldwell persuaded a pharmacist friend to alter the details on his birth certificate.[3][4] He was accepted by the RAAF and joined the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS; also known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and similar names).

[edit] Middle East and 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. He became known for developing a method of practising aerial gunnery deflection by using the shadow of his own aircraft over the desert surface.[1] Press officers and journalists popularised the nickname "Killer", which Caldwell disliked, from his habit of using any remaining ammunition following a sortie to shoot up enemy troops and vehicles.[1][5] He wrote in his wartime notebook: "[i]t's your life or theirs. This is war." A further reason cited for the nickname was more controversial: the shooting of enemy airmen, descending in parachutes after they had left stricken aircraft. This was against official policy, but it was nevertheless common among some German and Allied pilots. Caldwell commented many years later: "...there was no blood lust or anything about it like that. It was just a matter of not wanting them back to have another go at us."[5] He did not do this when it was unlikely that enemy aircrews could return to their bases. (Caldwell was later haunted by the memory of a Japanese pilot who survived being shot down in the sea, but could not be rescued.)

While on a mission over northwest Egypt on August 29, 1941, Caldwell became separated from other members of his squadron and was returning to base. He was attacked by two Messerschmitt Bf 109s. His attackers included one of Germany's top aces, Leutnant Werner Schroer of Jagdgeschwader 27, in a Bf 109E-7 (Schroer would eventually be credited with 114 Allied planes in 197 combat missions).[6] Caldwell sustained three separate wounds from shrapnel, and his Tomahawk was hit by more than 100 7.9 mm bullets and five 20 mm cannon shells, but he shot down Schroer's wingman, and heavily damaged Schroer's "Black 8", causing Schroer to disengage.[7] On November 23, Caldwell shot down experte Hauptmann Wolfgang Lippert, Kommandeur II./JG 27, who bailed out uninjured.

Caldwell claimed five Junkers Ju-87 (Stuka) dive bombers in matter of minutes on December 5. For this he was simultaneously awarded the DFC and Bar, an unique occurrence in the history of the RAAF.[1][8] 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.[7]

On December 24, Caldwell was involved in an engagement which mortally wounded another Luftwaffe ace, Hpt. Erbo Graf von Kageneck (69 kills) of III./JG 27. Caldwell only claimed a "damaged" at the time, but post-war sources have attributed him with the kill.[9]

In January 1942, Caldwell was promoted to Squadron Leader and was given command of No. 112 Squadron RAF, becoming the first EATS graduate to command a British squadron.[10] 112 Sqn at that time included a number of Polish aviators, and this was why Caldwell was later awarded the Polish Krzyż Walecznych (KW; "Cross of Valour"). When Caldwell left the theatre later that year, the commander of air operations in North Africa and the Middle East, Air Vice Marshal Arthur Tedder described him as: "[a]n excellent leader and a first class shot".[8] Caldwell claimed 22 victories while in North Africa flying P-40s, 10 of which were Bf 109s; two were Macchi C.202s.

[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 No. 1 (Fighter) Wing, comprising No. 54 Squadron RAF, No. 452 Squadron RAAF and No. 457 Squadron RAAF. The wing was equipped with the Supermarine Spitfires, and in early 1943 was posted to Darwin, to defend it against Japanese air raids. At first, the wing lost many planes due to the inexperience of many of its pilots, and teething mechanical problems with their newly-"tropicalised" Mark Vc Spitfires. This was viewed with concern by politicians and high commanders alike, to such extent that the Allied air commander in the South West Pacific, Major General George Kenney, considered sending the wing to the New Guinea campaign, and replacing it with US Fifth Air Force fighter units. The wing also found the Japanese pilots reluctant to engage Allied fighters over Australia, due to the distance from their bases in the Dutch East Indies. Caldwell would claim 6.5 Japanese aircraft shot down in 1943-45, including two in his first sortie over Darwin.[11][12]

Later in 1943, Caldwell was posted to Mildura, to command No. 2 Operational Training Unit (2OTU). By 1944, with the Japanese forces retreating north, Caldwell was again posted to Darwin, this time commanding No. 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 Officer Commanding No. 80 Wing, Caldwell played a leading part in 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. An investigation resulted in three senior officers being relieved of their commands, with Caldwell and the other officers cleared.[13]

In the last months of the war Caldwell was implicated in an investigation into an alcohol racket in Morotai, where alcohol was flown in by RAAF aircraft and then sold on to the sizable US forces contingent in the locality.[14] He was court martialled and reduced to the rank of Flight Lieutenant.[15] An appeal failed and Caldwell left the service in February 1946.

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

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.81-83
  2. ^ Watson, Killer Caldwell, p.4
  3. ^ Alexander, Clive Caldwell, p.8
  4. ^ Watson, Op Cit, pp.21-22
  5. ^ a b Alexander, Op Cit, pp.xviii-xxii
  6. ^ Watson, Op Cit, p.54
  7. ^ a b WWII Ace Stories - Caldwell. Retrieved March 7, 2006.
  8. ^ a b Odgers, The Royal Australian Air Force, p.83.
  9. ^ Alexander, Op. Cit., pp.224-228. Kageneck's brother, August Graf von Kageneck, who corresponded with Caldwell many years later, was among those who held this theory.
  10. ^ Brown, Russell (2000). Desert Warriors: Australian P-40 Pilots at War in the Middle East and North Africa, 1941–1943, Maryborough, Qld: Banner Books, p.78.
  11. ^ RAAF Historical Section, Units of the Royal Australian Air Force, Volume 1, pp.128-131
  12. ^ Alexander, Op Cit, pp.109-111
  13. ^ Stephens, Op Cit, pp.123-124
  14. ^ Shores, Christopher (1999). Aces High - Volume 2, London: Grub Street, p.56
  15. ^ Watson, Op Cit, pp.228-239

[edit] References

  • Alexander, Kirsten (2006). Clive Caldwell: Air Ace. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1741147050. 
  • Odgers, George (1984). The Royal Australian Air Force: An Illustrated History. Brookvale: Child & Henry. ISBN 0867773685. 
  • RAAF Historical Section (1995). "RAAF Base Darwin", Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 1: Introduction, Bases, Supporting Organisations. Canberra: Australian Govt. Pub. Service. ISBN 0644427922. OCLC 35296038. 
  • Stephens, Alan (2006). The Royal Australian Air Force: A History. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195555414. 
  • Watson, Jeffrey (2005). Killer Caldwell. Sydney: Hodder. ISBN 0733619290. 

[edit] External links

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