Who Downed Roger Coverley?

Today, 15th September 2015, marks the 75th anniversary of what the United Kingdom remembers as Battle of Britain Day, recalling a Sunday in September 1940 when it was made clear that Fighter Command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) was still very much in being. An invasion of Great Britain was postponed two days later. Sadly, it was also the day that the body of Flying Officer W.H. "Roger" Coverley was found hanging from his parachute, caught in the top branches of a tall tree near Tunbridge Wells in Kent. F/O Coverley had been shot down eight days earlier during the first Luftwaffe daylight attack on London, his aircraft crashing near Tonbridge.

It is not this "downing" that I am interested in, but an earlier shooting down of F/O Coverley on 25th August 1940, as recorded by his commanding officer, Squadron Leader Sandy Johnstone in his book Spitfire Into War. Coverley and Johnstone were both pilots of No. 602 City of Glasgow Squadron, a well-trained and well-organised unit formerly based in Scotland. They were sent with their squadron to Westhampnett in Sussex, at the height of the Battle of Britain in August 1940 to replace a depleted Hurricane fighter squadron, and soon found themselves in action.

I read Sandy Johnstone's account in the late 1980s on the recommendation of a friend, and I remember being enthralled by this account of a close call during a sortie on 25th August:

. . . A quick glance in the mirror showed a 109 glued to my tail, when I pulled back hard on the stick, expecting it to pass underneath. But he was a wily character and clung on, while I continued to urge every last ounce of power out of the trusty Merlin. But it was too much for it. I suddenly flicked over in a violent stall turn.

   The manoeuvre must have taken Jerry by surprise, for he hesitated momentarily and, before he could get out of the way, I was almost on top of him as he presented a broadside target, which even I could not miss. I can still see the look of agonised surprise on the German’s face when his canopy shattered around him and the Messerschmitt went into an uncontrollable flat spin, from which it never recovered. I followed him down until he crashed into a spinney on the outskirts of Dorchester and burst into flames.

Earlier in this action, Sandy had also shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engined fighter, as he mentioned that the entire tail unit exploded and the crew baled out. It was noted that the squadron lost two aircraft in the engagement: Sergeant M.H. Sprague baled out over the sea and was rescued a Walrus amphibious aircraft; Flying Officer W.H. (Roger) Coverley baled out of his blazing Spitfire over Gloucestershire, but was unhurt.

In the early 1990s, I discovered the existence of the book The Battle of Britain Then and Now, and soon acquired my own copy. (The Mark V edition.) A must-have for students of the Battle of Britain! As well as an abundance of photographs, and histories of all the fighter aerodromes involved in the Battle, the book contains the daily damage and loss records from all units on both sides involved in the conflict between July and October 1940.

It then occurred to me that I could use the Luftwaffe's daily loss records to tie-in with Sandy Johnstone's account. In theory, yes, but I found that considering the number of aircraft involved -- and the number that crashed into the English Channel -- it is difficult to link losses to a particular squadron, let alone a pilot!

But what of Sandy's Bf 109 that crashed near Dorchester on 25th August 1940, and was so vividly described? Surprisingly, Then and Now has no clear record of it, although a Bf 109 was force-landed at Tatton House Farm, Buckland Ripers, near Weymouth. Could this be the same aircraft? (The claim went to a 152 Squadron pilot, with no mention of 602 Squadron involvement.) Four twin-engined Bf 110s from four different units are listed as missing around the time of the engagement, only one of which crashed on land -- so one of these could have been the aircraft that lost its tail after Johnstone attacked it? But no German aircraft are recorded as having crashed near Dorchester on this day.

The 602 Squadron losses do tally with Sandy's account: Sergeant M. H. Sprague baled out unhurt and was rescued from the sea, while his aircraft crashed into the sea off Portland. But there is a startling difference in the entry for Roger Coverley, which I reproduce in full. Spitfire P9381. Shot down in combat with enemy fighters over Dorchester. Crashed and burned out on Galton Heath 5.47 p.m. Flying Officer W.H. Coverley baled out unhurt. Aircraft a write-off.

Galton Heath appears to have been closer to Warmwell than Dorchester. It is certainly not Gloucestershire, which would be something like 100 miles away to the north west as the crow flies! Sandy Johnstone's recollections are in general remarkably accurate, but this seems like an anomaly. I hate to suggest it, but there is a hint that this might have been a blue on blue incident, but we will probably never know -- and it is not important.

What is important is that 75 years ago a group of young pilots -- supported by capable men and women on the ground -- resisted the onslaught of what had been an unstoppable force of death and destruction, and prevented a hostile invasion of Great Britain. They, The Few, are my heroes: I will always remember them and the sacrifices they made for freedom.