Paddy Finucane
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Note: Do not confuse with Pat Finucane or Patrick Finucane
Wing Commander Brendan Eamonn Fergus Finucane, DSO, DFC and two bars (1920 - 1942), known as Paddy Finucane, was an Irish RAF fighter pilot. He was a high scoring World War II flying ace - claiming thirty-two kills - and was the RAFs youngest Wing Commander in its history.
Paddy Finucane was the first child of Thomas and Florence Finucane; born on 16 October 1920 in Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland, the eldest of 5 siblings. He was educated at Synge Street CBS and later at O'Connells CBS in Dublin. His family emigrated to England in 1936.
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[edit] Royal Air Force
Finucane joined the RAF in May 1938. After flying training and conversion to the Supermarine Spitfire he was posted as a Pilot Officer to 65 Squadron at RAF Hornchurch in 1940. Finucane claimed his first victory in the Battle of Britain on 12 August 1940, a Bf109. 65 Squdron was rested at the end of August 1940 and did not return to 11 Group until November. Flying from Tangmere, by the turn of the year Finucane had claimed 4 Bf 109's and a Bf 110.
A year later (April 1941) he was awarded the DFC and posted as a flight commander to an Australian 452 Squadron at RAF Kirton-in-Lindsay, the first RAAF squadron to serve in Fighter Command. making their debut on operations in July 1941, Paddy added 17 fighter claims to his score by his twenty-first birthday in October 1941, also being awarded a DSO.
In January 1942, Paddy was given command of 602 Squadron at RAF Redhill. On the 20 February 1942 Finucane was slightly wounded in the leg during a strafing mission with his new command. Four FW 190's fell to his guns in March 1942.
He became the youngest Wing Commander in the RAF on 27 June 1942, leading the Hornchurch Wing.
By the time of his death he had claimed a total of 26 aircraft destroyed, 6 shared destroyed & 8 probably destroyed.
[edit] Death
He was killed at the age of twenty-one on 15 July 1942, when, after continuous exploits, he was leading a fighter Ramrod (cannon and machine attack by fighters) against a German army camp at Etaples France.It was always said that the Luftwaffe would never get him, and it was actually a ground shot from a single machine gun post near Pointe du Touquet which hit his Spitfire. He flew slowly out to sea, talking calmly to his comrades. Finally, when ten miles from the French coast, he sent his last message, spoken probably as his engine stopped: "This is it, chaps." He crashed from about ten feet above the sea, and his machine sank at once.
[edit] Other
A rose, Spitfire Paddy, grown by Sean McCann was named in memory of him. In November 2004, the rose was planted in the memorial garden in Baldonnel Aerodrome in Dublin (home of the Irish Air Corps) beside the garrison church. It was from Baldonnel in 1932 with his younger brother, Raymond, that he first took to air. The ceremony was attended by members of the RAF Association and the Air Corps. Corgi die cast model manufacturers have created in 1/72 scale, his Spitfire complete with the shamrock. The model depicts his aircraft in which he achieved most of his victories when he flew with 452 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force in 1941.
His name is inscribed on Panel 64 of the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede. The memorial commemorates airmen who were lost in the Second World War and who have no known grave.
His flying logbook can be viewed in the Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition in the National Museum Of Ireland in Collins Barracks, Dublin. It is on loan from the Finucane family. His uniform is on display at the RAF museum in Hendon, London.
[edit] References
- Churchill, Winston S. (1954). The Grand Alliance, Seventh impression, Volume 3, Appendix G, 644.
- Stokes, Doug (1992). Paddy Finucane, Fighter Ace: A Biography of Wing Commander Brendan E. Finucane, D.S.O., D.F.C. and Two Bars. Crecy Publishing, 220. ISBN 0-947554-22-X.
[edit] External links
- [1] biography of Brendan "Paddy" Finucane
- [2] Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- Dublin Historical Record Volume LIX. No.1 Spring 2006, The Ace with the Shamrock by Maurice Byrne. Published by the Old Dublin Society.
- [3] Irish Independent article about the rose planting ceremony
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