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Squadron Leader Arthur Victor Clowes
RAF Nos. 563046 (NCO); 44780 (Officer)
"Darky" Clowes was born in New Sawley, Derbyshire. He joined the RAF in January 1929 in Halton. Later he underwent voluntary pilot training and at the time of the outbreak of war he served at 1. squadrons, which was armed HurricanyMk.I. Together with the other pilots of the unit, he moved to France, where he participated in the first air battles of the Strange War. He won his first victory on November 23, 1939, when a three-member swarm led by F/Lt G.H. Plinston came across a reconnaissance He 111 (F6 + FK) od 2 . (F)/ 122 a Sgt. Clowes shot him down with his commander. At the time when the German aircraft began to fall to the ground, several French fighters appeared on the scene Curtiss H.75. One of the French pilots came very close to Clowes' Hurricane (L1842/G) and crashed into its tail surfaces. The Englishman then had to make an emergency landing with the damaged aircraft. Another victory was achieved by the Clowes on March 29, 1940. Around two o'clock in the afternoon, a three-member squadron swarm started to patrol the Metz. After about half an hour of flight, RAF fighters saw nine, at that time very feared, fighters Messesrschmitt Bf 110. A fierce battle ensued, in which, after a while, the more agile Hurricanes gained the upper hand. Clowes claimed two victories after the fight, the third hundred were added by the remaining members of the swarm. German unit V. (Z)/ LG 1, however, lost only one aircraft and claimed itself two victories. However, the Hurricanes returned to their airport in good condition. At the beginning of May, Clowes was given a vacation with his family in England, where he was also caught by the news of the German attack on France. He was therefore immediately called back to the unit and from May 14 joined the combat flights. On this very first day he claimed one Bf 109 and one Ju 87. The next day added Bf 110 from III./ZG 26 and May ended the twenty-third probable victory over He 111. The last victory in France was won by the Clowes on June 14, when he shot down one Bf 109. At that time, the squadron was mainly retreating and performed a minimum of combat flights. The unit returned to England on the seventeenth, but there was no time for a longer rest as the Battle of Britain approached. Already in July, its pilots intervened in the ongoing fighting, but the squadron did not fully participate in the battle until August. Clowes won another victory on August 16, when he shot down one Ju 88 and one He 111. By the end of the month, he probably shot down three more bombers, damaged two and was awarded DFM. In September he was promoted to officer and the seventh shot down over the mouth of the Thames one Bf 110. In October he was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant (six weeks before he was only Sergeant) and the twenty-fourth he won his last victory, when together with F/Lt MH Brown and P/O A. Kershaw shot down a reconnaissance Do 215.In November, Clowes takes command of one of the squadrons 1. squadrons, which at that time began to grow MS. representation. However, their beginnings were not easy and they managed to break several Hurricanes. Clowes at that time used the well-known Huricane Mk.I P3395/JX-B with a picture of a wasp on left engine cover. Each yellow stripe on the wasp's body was supposed to symbolize one certain victory. This aircraft survived the combat deployment and was destroyed March 24, 1942, when it was used for training at one of the flight schools. The first operational tour ended for Clowes in April 1941, when he was sent as an instructor to the 56th OTU. At that time, together with S/Ldr Brown, he was the only pilot in the unit who was in continuous operational activity since the outbreak of war. In May, Clowes received a victory for 10 + 1-3 + 1-2 DFC. Clowes returned to action in December 1941 as commander 79. squadrons. But when the unit was moved to the Far East in February 1942, Clowes left it and was sent to North Africa. Here from August to November 1942 he commanded 601. squadron and after six months of rest, from June to September 1943 94. squarone. However, he did not win any more victories, moreover, during one wild party he went blind in one eye and was eliminated from the combat unit. He remained in the RAF after the war, but died of cancer on December 7, 1949. He is buried in Brampton, Cambridgeshire.
Sources: Holmes T .: Hurricane Aces 1939-1940, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 1998 Shores C., Williams C .: Aces High, Grub Street, London, 1994 Shores C .: Aces High, volume 2, Grub Street, London, 1999 Shores C., Ehrengardt C.-J. et al .: The beginning of the journey, Mustang, Pilsen, 1996
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[b:cb2965715f]Hawker Hurricane Mk.I P3395, 1. squadron, summer - autumn 1940[/b:cb2965715f] This aircraft was in the state of 1. squadron included at the end of June 1940 and struck her in the Battle of Britain. In his cabin at that time often usedal And. In. Clowes, that won the 1+1-3-2 victory and left you on the hood of the engine to paint a wasp. On her body then yellow stripes symbolize the sure victory of this pilot. Day 8. November 1940, the aircraft was předisponován to 55. Found in charles, where it 24. march 1942 destroyed the pilot learner in nepovedeném landing.
[size=9:cb2965715f]Source: Holmes T.: Hurricane Aces 1939-40, Osprey pub., Oxford 1998[/size:cb2965715f]
The author of the elevation of [b:cb2965715f]Thierry Dekker[/b:cb2965715f] http://dekkerartwork.over-blog.com/ [i:cb2965715f](used by permission of the author)[/i:cb2965715f].
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