wCdr Norman Ryder and the Kenley Wing
 

Just finished reading Anthony Copper's latest:

Paddy Finucane and the Legend of the Kenley Wing: No.452 (Australian), 485 (New Zealand) and 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadrons, 1941

Over and above the fact that once again he has taken a microscope and a scalpel to air operations (producing another must for the home library - you won't read this once, it's a reference book for further research and discussion), he also introduces a number of topics.

On his last mission (31 October 1941) Norman Ryder appears to have gone on a suicidal flight into enemy territory. He left the escort formation alone and flew towards enemy territory. Not suprisingly he was shot down by Flak and after a brief captivity escaped and evaded and followed with a distinguished career in the RAF post war.

Given subsequent events he obviously was not planning to surrender so therefore what happened? Did his radio go u/s and he lead an attack without realising his wingmen hadn't heard him. Was he in the "twitch" state where he no longer cared whether he lived or died (he had survived a year of air combat, shot down twice and ditched in the channel)? Are there any memoirs where he is mentioned as a POW to indicate his mental state?

As I say, Cooper's book is superb. I though Darwin Spitfires was a great piece of research but this is as good if not better.

Re: wCdr Norman Ryder and the Kenley Wing
 

Hi Keith,
Ryder escaped but only remained at large until 1943 when he was recaptured
in Poland, however after the war he did have a distinguished career in the RAF at least until the late 60's.
I note that in "One of the Few" John Kent includes a letter from Al Deere about Ryder's loss.
I agree Cooper's book on Kenley is superb, a must buy.

Hope you are coping well with the current emergency
Regards Bruce Lander

Re: wCdr Norman Ryder and the Kenley Wing
 

Thanks Bruce, we are ok here, I hope you are the same.

I will search out my copy of John Kent's book. Cooper's new work will have me reading Al Deere's autobiography again too.

Deere seems to have had a very poor time as a squadron commander. I remember reading in that book that he was censured by a senior officer for the losses incurred in an action while leading by 403 Squadron in 1942.

best regards

Keith

Re: wCdr Norman Ryder and the Kenley Wing
 

Hi Keith,
Correct , Deere took over 403 after a period off ops and had no experience
of the change of the current situation plus the introduction of the Fw.190, also 403 was in a sorry state having just had a disastrous beating and lost it's C/O.
Deere is quite open about his failings in his book in this action and obviously when he wrote it in 1959 it still weighed heavily on him.
Its fascinating to see books today which give a very different picture of the air war and the RAF Super Heroes to the ones that were published in the 50's etc ie :- Reach For The Sky, Fly For Your Life, Tiger Squadron to name but a few.

Regards

Bruce Lander

Re: wCdr Norman Ryder and the Kenley Wing
 

I would say it was more shit luck for 403 to be the last squadron out after the proverbial hornet's nest was poked; considering 222 was not engaged, and 331 managed to get deliver two attacks towards the end. What was 222 doing? From the looks of things, the Jafu controller(s) had set their planes up for the perfect bounce once the North Weald Wing had reached its limit and was on the way out.

It is unfortunate this incident weighed on Deere considering W/C Scott-Malden was the one leading the parade. Did he ever write about this operation?

Stephen

Re: wCdr Norman Ryder and the Kenley Wing
 

Yep to your comments on Deere, Bruce. He is honest and straight forward at a time when, as you say the truth was still too gritty. I got "Fly for your life" as a school prize when I was ten! It's got some details that go against the super-hero bios. When Tuck almost shoots two sergeant pilots who had broken off an attack it shows the stress he was under. When he took over 257 squadron it had also had a bad time and he wanted to sack a lot of the pilots. If I remember correctly 257's I/O believed he was overconfident and too judgemental. Tuck's relationship with Bader is also unvarnished. I have never read "Reach for the sky" but the film was pretty much a Bader commercial. I think that "Tiger Squadron" also has not dated well. Jones touts 74 squadron's record without mentioning that a lot of their claims were unconfirmed even during the Battle of Britain. As you know subsequent biographies and autobiographies paint a very different picture. 74 squadron looks more like the model for Derek Robinson's "Piece of Cake".

regards

Keith