The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

90 years of the RAF BBMF 2008

The Bomber | The Fighters | Other Types

THE NIGHT REAPER
Flt Lt Karel Kuttelwascher DFC*
and Hurricane IIc BE581

Since 2005, BBMF Hurricane PZ865 has appeared in the markings of Hurricane IIC BE581, as flown by the Czech fighter ace Flt Lt Karel Kuttelwascher during night intruders operations with the RAF's legendary No 1(F) Squadron in 1942.

Karel Kuttelwascher joined the Czechoslovak Air Force in 1934 at the age of 18 and clocked up some 2,200 flying hours before the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939. Three months later, he made a dangerous and daring escape into Poland by hiding in a coal train. From there he was able to make his way to France where, flying Morane-Saulnier MS406 and Dewoitine D.520 fighter aircraft with the French Air Force, he fought in the fierce but brief Battle of France, claiming a number of German aircraft. When France fell, 'Kut' managed to escape to Britain via Algeria and Morocco and immediately joined the beleaguered RAF. On 3 October 1940 'Kut' joined No 1 Squadron, just in time to earn his place as one of 'The Few', thereby becoming one of the 87 Czechoslovaks to fly with the RAF during the Battle of Britain.

'Kut' or 'Old Kuttel' as his squadron colleagues sometimes affectionately called him, served a full two years with 1 Squadron. During the early 'circus' operations in 1941 he shot down three German Me Bf 109s and was credited with another as a 'probable'. In July 1941, 1 Squadron moved to Tangmere, 3 miles east of Chichester, and it was from here that they commenced night intruder operations on 1 April 1942. 'Kut's experience and skill, plus his total professionalism and dedication to his craft, not to mention a burning determination and commitment to shoot down as many Luftwaffe aircraft as possible, then came to the fore. Night intruder operations required a pilot with cunning, cool nerves and good eyesight, and the ability to capitalise on a chance that would last only seconds and turn it into a kill. The single-seat Hurricanes were not radar equipped, so targets could only be found visually. The pilots flew long sorties of 3 to 3½ hours (with long-range drop tanks fitted) often in poor conditions and completely alone. 'Kut' flew all his night intruder sorties in Hurricane IIc BE581. For at least some of this period of night intruder operations the aircraft retained its standard grey/green camouflage, whilst the underside was painted black. The squadron and aircraft codes JX-E were painted in red as was the spinner and it wore an emblem painted on the starboard side of the engine cowling, depicting a scythe in yellow and across it a banner in red carrying the name 'Night Reaper'. A more appropriate name would be difficult to imagine as, in a brief 3-month period, 'Kut' shot down 15 enemy bombers over their own bases in France (including three in one night on 5 May) and damaged a further 5, earning himself a DFC and bar in the process, and all this in only 15 night missions. 'Kut' also shot up several German 'E' boats and steam locomotives on nights when he had ammunition to spare on the way home.

Quite remarkably, the rest of the war was relatively uneventful for 'Kut'; whilst flying Mosquito night intruders he never even sighted another German aircraft. At the end of the war, he returned briefly to Czechoslovakia but in 1946, on the day that the communists effectively took control of his homeland, he flew back to Britain where he became a captain with British European Airways. His premature death came in August 1959 after a heart attack – he was only 42.

Painted in the livery of BE581, BBMF Hurricane PZ865 commemorates a dangerous and productive time in No 1 Squadron's history (22 enemy aircraft destroyed and 13 damaged) and the remarkable courage and effectiveness of one of the many Czechoslovakian fighter pilots who served so valiantly with the RAF during WWII.

THE NIGHT REAPER Flt Lt Karel Kuttelwascher DFC* and Hurricane IIc BE581

THE NIGHT REAPER
Flt Lt Karel Kuttelwascher DFC*
and Hurricane IIc BE581