[Bernard]

Good evening,

The pilot you mention was most probably F/Lt I S Soden. DSO who was flying in France with No 56 Squadron on the 18th of may 1940 when he was killed.

There used to be a very interesting site on the web written by Eric Clayton about the story of this squadron but I am unable to retrieve its adress.Anyway here is what was written about the events of the 18th of may 1940:

Next day, the 18th May, there was again an early morning mist which soon cleared, evaporated by a bright sun shining in a blue cloudless sky. Aircraft had been checked and made ready for immediate take-off and patrols started as soon as the mist had cleared.
During one of these, a section led by Soden attacked a lone Do 17 which was finally finished off by Barry Sutton.
Between sorties, pilots rested around a small wooden hut which contained a field telephone and served as the flight office; ground crew worked on the nearby aircraft, refuelling, rearming and doing minor repairs. The field telephone was the sole means of communication between operation control and the squadron. Orders for take-off came through this line, so all were keyed up for instant response
to its shrill jangle. But flight commanders were also able to take off 'on sight' at their discretion.

As the sun rose in the morning sky, single enemy aircraft could be seen, high in the sky, their cockpit canopies glinting as they caught the sun. Several passed over the airfield high up, some wove lazily over Douai.
Some were obviously reconnaissance flights but, at high altitude, there were no means of stopping them. Others were decoys, provocatively close and designed to tempt our aircraft to engage, thereupon becoming sitting targets for Bf 109s waiting upsun. We found them somewhat unnerving.

At around 10am, a large formation of German aircraft could be faintly discerned, at perhaps 20,000 feet, some distance away in an easterly direction. Our flight commander, Ian Soden, decided to try and intercept it. Engines were started up and a flight took off in two vic formations; the first comprising Soden, Higginson and Whitehead; the second, from 229/B led by F/L Rosier. The aircraft climbed into the sun in the direction of the enemy formation and were soon lost to view.

What then happened was recounted to me by Kim Whitehead on his return from this action.
On approaching the enemy formation, Whitehead estimated it to comprise about 60 Me. 109's! B Flight had managed to gain height somewhat above the Me's and upsun. Soden gave the order to attack. He immediately dived and attacked aircraft on the edge of the formation; two of the Me's were hit, one was destroyed and the other damaged and possibly destroyed. Meantime Higginson and Whitehead manoeuvred cautiously for a more favourable position before trying to attack.

But with sixty against six, time was not on their side. Short attacks were made on the periphery of the formation which was now breaking up to attack these insolent R.A.F. Hurricanes. Discretion was clearly the better part of valour, throttles were pushed wide open and the survivors dived flat out for home. But Ian Soden did not return with the flight; his fellow pilots thought it unlikely that he could have escaped against such overwhelming odds, having committed himself so completely to the attack. He was never seen again. For this astonishingly brave action, he was posthumously awarded the DSO. His exploits were later reported in the Daily Mirror under the headlines 'RAF pilot takes on 60 single-handed'.

Because this, and indeed the whole French episode, happened before the official commencement of the Battle of Britain, no mention is made of the achievements of the participating pilots in the official roll of honour.

Following this action, pilots and groundcrew were resting at our dispersal point. Some other pilots appeared apparently waiting for a aircraft to return to the UK. One was F/L Dickie Lee of 85 Squadron, already decorated for his exploits in France. But two of them were known to us as former members of B flight; Sgt Peter Hillwood who had recently baled out of his blazing Hurricane and suffered burns to the face and hands, and F/O Ereminsky known as 'Minnie'. Both were informally asked to rejoin B Flight which they were pleased to do with their aircraft.

May be one member of this forum could find the adress of this web site.I think it was titled "What if heaven falls" and was a link from the Battle of Britain Historical Society site.

Battle of Britain was sure RAF finest hour, but Battle of France their bravest hour.


Bernard.