Graham Hulse

[keith A]

This pilot served with 122 Squadron and 81 Squadrons in 1942-1943, but in November 1943 81 Squadron was withdrawn to serve in the Far East. I think that this pilot transferred to 93 Squadron at this time. Duncan-Smith mentions a pilot called Sgt Hulse being shot down in the Spring of 1944 but evading, and the chance of two Sergeant-Pilots called Hulse being in that theatre at that time must be very slim.

Given that two of his "damaged" claims have subsequently been confirmed by records to have been destroyed, and that he made three confirmed claims in Korea when air combat was limited, did he make any claims with 93? In the period January-April 1944 his squadron (if indeed he did serve with 93) made 20 cliams. 11 of these can be attributed to Andrews (4) and Bunting (4) and Taylor (3), but who claimed the others?

TOE does give details but they are still quite slim, and it seems possible to me that he may have been even more successful in WW2.

[Boris Ciglic]

He claimed a damaged Bf 109 on 23 April 1945 near Zagreb as Flt/Lt in 213.Sqn. His oponent (Croat pilot) actually crash-landed near Velika Gorica and the plane was a write-of so this should be upgraded to confirmed.

[keith A]

An interesting development. Hulse served in 94 Squadron from late 1944 until joining 213. According to the new Osprey source he made a damaged claim against a Bulgarian Bf109 in November 1944. Does anyone have details of this combat?

94 Squadron seem to have made a number of claims in 1944. Does anyone have a list of them?

[SteveB]

Keith

You need to do some searching on here or over at RAF Commands. I am pretty sure Chris Goss set off a lengthy thread on Hulse on one or other of these boards perhaps about 18 mths ago...

Steve

[BruceMk11]

Hi Keith,

S/L Russell Foskett (RAAF) made these claims whilst CO of 94 Sqn:

6/6/44: Ju 52

10/8/44: Bf 109 dam

At least one other RAAF pilot claimed with 94 during this period (summer '44); don't have the details on hand atm but pretty sure it was a 109.

Bruce

[BruceMk11]

Found a few more 94 Sqn claims, these by F/L Hugh McLachlan (RCAF):

31/5/44: Bf 109

8/7/44: Bf 109

Hulse's Bf 109 dam claim was made 12/11/44.

The unit's last combat was 31/3/45, when a 109 was shot down. This was thought to be Bulgarian and wasn't in fact claimed; it was shared by S/L John Slade, F/O Rodney Simmonds (Rhod), and two others. See FlyPast Jan 2010 for further details!

Bruce

[keith A]

Cheers Bruce,

I read an old article recently about RAF pilots in Korea where Hulse is stated as having three 3 kills in WW2 and 3 in Korea. I assume the kills were the probables claimed on 28 April and 16 July 1943 with the third being the Croatian Me109 in 1945, and did not include the claim for 14 July 1943?

regards

Keith

[Dénes Bernád]

Originally Posted by BruceMk11

Hulse's Bf 109 dam claim was made 12/11/44.

The unit's last combat was 31/3/45, when a 109 was shot down. This was thought to be Bulgarian and wasn't in fact claimed; it was shared by S/L John Slade, F/O Rodney Simmonds (Rhod), and two others. See FlyPast Jan 2010 for further details!

I am a bit confused. Was Hulse's claim on 12 Nov. 1944 made against a Bulgarian Bf 109?
And the shared one on 31 March 1945 was also against a Bulgarian Bf 109? Or rather a Croatian one?
Can someone shed a light on this detail?

I am actually looking for Bulgarian victories and losses, that's why the request.

Thanks,

[keith A]

the victory in November was over a Bulgarian aircraft.

best regards


Keith

[Dénes Bernád]

Thank you. Is the location and time known?