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HURRICANE P3878 (YB-W)
and HAROLD ‘BIRDY' BIRD-WILSON

Since emerging from a major maintenance programme and repaint over the winter of 05/06, BBMF Hurricane LF363 has worn the colours of Hurricane 1 P3878 (coded YB-W). Hurricane P3878 served with No 17 Squadron during the Battle of Britain and was the personal aircraft of Harold AC Bird-Wilson, then a 21-year-old fighter pilot with the Squadron.

Affectionately known throughout his career as ‘Birdy', Bird-Wilson joined the RAF in 1937, straight from school, being awarded a short-service commission in September 1937. After completing training he commenced his operational career with No 17 Squadron at Kenley flying Gloster Gauntlet biplanes. Shortly after joining the squadron, he was sent on navigation course at Brough, near Hull. Whilst on this course, in September 1938, he crashed in a BA Swallow aircraft after being caught in bad weather near Cranwell. He was fortunate to survive the accident in which the other pilot in the aircraft was killed. ‘Birdy' was badly burned and lost his nose. He underwent plastic surgery at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead and was one of the earliest aircrew ‘guinea pig' patients of the famous, pioneering plastic surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe. For some months ‘Birdy' walked around without a nose whilst McIndoe rebuilt it for him and he subsequently became the No2 member of the famous ‘Guinea Pig Club'.

By April 1940 ‘Birdy's' face was restored and having regained his fitness he quickly returned to operational flying with No17 Squadron, which by this time had re-equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. In May and June 1940, the Squadron was involved in the heavy fighting over Holland and Belgium, deploying to French airfields to cover the retreat of Allied troops from France via Dunkirk, and moving to Brittany in June, as the remnants of BEF and RAF units in France were evacuated. He was involved in several combats and shared in the destruction of two enemy aircraft. At the last opportunity ‘Birdy' escaped back to England from Brittany in his Hurricane via the Channel Islands.

During the Battle of Britain No17 Squadron flew in action over southern England. Mainly based at Tangmere and Debden the squadron was heavily involved in the fighting; unlike many other units, the squadron was never rested but fought all the way through the period of the Battle and into November 1940. In later years ‘Birdy' retained vivid memories of attacking formations of more than 100 enemy aircraft as one of a force of only 12 Hurricanes, “Your throat dried up as you got nearer. I don't believe any man who said he wasn't afraid.” “We just went ploughing in, picked our target and fought”. He also said later that he was shocked when the Battle of Britain ended in the autumn of 1940 to realise that, “There was hardly anybody left of the pilots who started out with me. All one's friends had gone.” It is sobering to look at the accompanying photograph of ‘Birdy' standing by a Hurricane with other 17 Squadron pilots as, apart from him, all his friends and colleagues in the line-up lost their lives during the war, three of them (Dennis Wissler, Cedric Williams (the CO) and David Leary) had been killed by the end of 1940 and the fourth (Jack Ross) was killed in November 1942. ‘Birdy' was the only one to survive the war and he later said about his feelings, “There was no time for tears, only sorrow and off into the next scramble”.

During the Battle of Britain, ‘Birdy' shared several kills against enemy aircraft with other pilots of 17 Squadron and was credited with two personal ‘kills' and numerous ‘probables' and ‘damageds'. On Wednesday 21 August, ‘Birdy' now a section leader flying as ‘Green 1', shot down a Junkers 88 bomber and saw it force land on the very tip of Selsey Bill. After landing he went off in the squadron car to inspect it and returned later with a trophy for the squadron, part of the Luftwaffe aircraft's tailplane, which he nailed up to the ‘B' Flight dispersal hut at Tangmere. The next day he had an emblem painted on the cockpit escape door of his Hurricane (P3878, YB-W) – three vengeful swords flying towards a Nazi eagle and swastika symbol. On the reverse of his own photograph of this ‘cockpit art' he has written, “A logo painted on my Hurricane YB-W at Tangmere during the Battle of Britain August 1940. Thought up at the spur of the moment in the 601 Squadron dispersal hut… scrambled thereafter.”

But YB-W's luck was to run out on 24 September 1940, whilst ‘Birdy's' luck just about held. The 17 Squadron formation, which he was part of, was flying over the Thames near Chatham, being vectored onto some ‘bandits' under ground control when they were bounced from above by ME Bf109s of JG26. Momentary confusion and mayhem ensued and, almost before he could react, ‘Birdy's' Hurricane was hit, fatally damaged and set on fire. He transmitted on the radio, “Mayday, Green 1 on fire” and then baled out of his burning cockpit. Then David Leary's voice was heard, “He's out. There's a parachute. I'm going to circle him to guard him down.” ‘Birdy' had become the 40 th victim of the renowned and high-scoring German fighter ace, Adolf Galland. Hurricane P3878 plummeted in flames into the water and ‘Birdy' parachuted down into the Thames with shrapnel from the guns of Galland's ME109 embedded in his body and once again suffering from burns. He was soon rescued by a Royal Navy Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB-104) and taken to a hospital in Haywards Heath. This was the end of the Battle of Britain for ‘Birdy', as it was not until November that he was able to return to flying duties. He was gazetted for the award of the DFC on the same day that he was shot down, the citation stating, “Flying Officer Bird-Wilson has shot down 6 enemy aircraft and shared in the destruction of several others. He has shown fine fighting qualities and determination in his attacks.”

This was certainly not the end of the war for ‘Birdy'. By 1941 he was a flight commander flying Spitfires with No 234 Squadron, and subsequently he commanded No 152 Squadron and No 66 Squadrons, both equipped with Spitfires. Later he commanded No122 Wing as a Wing Commander. After a long and distinguished post-war career, he eventually retired from the RAF in 1974 as an Air Vice Marshal having been awarded the CBE, DSO, DFC and bar, AFC and bar, having flown various jet aircraft types and having been the Commandant of the Central Flying School when the Red Arrows were formed. He died in August 2000 at the age of 80.

No 17 Squadron is now the Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit based at RAF Coningsby alongside the BBMF and their Typhoons proudly wear the mailed gauntlet emblem from the Squadron crest. Coningsby is, therefore, home to two types of aircraft operated by 17 Squadron, separated by 65-plus years, one (the Typhoon) demonstrating the cutting-edge technology of the 21 st century and the other representing a dangerous, crucial and venerated period in the Squadron's history.

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