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In Name Only - The Battle of Britain
Written and Researched by C.W.Sheldon
Published by Three Counties Publishing (Books) Ltd
Retail: £13.95
To purchase this publication please write to:
TCP (Books) Ltd
P.O. Box 435,
Leek
Staffordshire
ST13 5TB
United Kingdom
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The Battle of Britain
"We shall defend our island home and with the British Empire we shall fight on unconquerable, until the curse of Hitler is
lifted from the brows of mankind"
(Prime Minister Winston Churchill, 17th June 1940)
After the German invasion of France the Nazi leaders stood on the French cliffs gazing over the sea at the distant English
coastline. This was their next objective. The Battlle of France was over, Paris had fallen. England was next. But, before
the invasion barges could sail, the Royal Air Force had to be eliminated. Germany needed control of the skies for their
invasion plan, code-names 'Operation Sealion', to succeed.
The German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, was superior in numbers to the fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force who were to bear
the brunt of the battle. During that summer of 1940, the skies over the south-east England were filled with the condensation
trails of aeroplanes as Hurricanes and Spitfires deperately fought off the hordes of Luftwaffe bombers and their Messerschmitt
fighter escorts. The Germans had attacked shipping ports and radar installations on the south coast and were now trying to
destroy the RAF in the air, by drawing them into combat, and on the ground by bombing the fighter airfields.
Pilot Officer Kenneth George Bishop, Royal Air Force
The RAF were losing planes and pilots at an alarming rate despite inflicting heavier losses on the Luftwaffe. The training
programme for replacement pilots was in full swing and it was not only in operational flying against the enemy that aircrew
would be killed as the war ground on, but all too often during training flights and other aircraft crashes. This was the fate
of pilot officer Kenneth George Bishop, aged 29 from Wood Street, Leek, the eldest son of a headteacher. this gifted young
officer was killed when his aeroplane crashed barely six weeks after joining the RAF.
Ken Bishop was born at Wetton and educated at Rugeley High School and then at Leek High when his family moved to the town.
he worked for the Leek and Moorlands Building Society for ten years and then moved to the Hanley Economic Building Society
in 1937, where he took up a managerial post. He is said to have been one of the youngest Building Society Secretaries in the
country. He was a member of the Leek Amateur Dramatic Society, a keen tennis player, and loved walking in the Moorlands
around Leek. Ken had been flying since 1937 and was a member of the North Staffs Aero Club. Ironically, his age at 29 had it
seems, initally precluded him from being accepted for flying training by the RAF although he was an experienced pilot!
Few details are known of what actually happened but it is believed that Pilot Officer Bishop was killed when his aircraft
crashed during a training flight in the south of England on 4th August 1940. sadly, he would not be the last Leek man to die
in a flying accident as we will see later in this book. Ken was brought home to Leek and following a funeral during which
local people lined the streets outside the church, he was buried in Leek Cemetery. His family later moved to Sutton Coldfield
in Warwickshire.
One man who would have cause to be grateful to Ken Bishop was Sergeant John Felix Waite of RAF Coastal Command. As a young
employee of the Hanley Economic Building Society, John had a flying lesson at Meir aerodrome on his 16th birthday in 1938,
paid for by Ken as a reward for his good worh with the society. After that, flying was in his blood and he was destined
for flying duties during the war. In February 1942, though, he nearly paid for his enthusiasm with his life. Whilst flying
as wireless operator/air gunner in a Liberator on anti-submarine duties, the aircraft crashed whilst taking off from a
Coastal Command airfield in Northern ireland. Fully loaded with fuel and depth charges, the Liberator caught fire. John was
thrown clear but was badly burned. Despite the pleas of another survivor to get away before the aircraft exploded, John
went back into the burning wreck to rescue the critically injured observer. He carried the injured man to safety just before
the Liberator exploded. Although the unfortunate observer died three days later, Sergeant Waite was awarded the George Medal
for his extreme bravery.
John survived the war and rose to be the General Manager of the Hanley Economic. Ken Bishop would have been proud of his
protege's career, both in war and peace.
Pilot Officer Kenneth George Bishop is buried in Leek Cemetery, Grave 341.
Aircraftsman (2nd Class) Sidney Collier, 257 Squadron, Royal Air Force Fighter Command.
Throughout August and September, the Luftwaffe kept up its punishing attacks on fighter airfields and other targets in
England. Hitler was still hopeful of forging ahead with his plans to invade Britain before the summer was through. His
senior commanders had persuaded him that RAF could be destroyed in the air and on the ground in a matter of days. Whilst
pilots were needed to fly the Hurricanes and Spitfires during these desperate weeks, just as important were the men and
women on the ground who provided support to the tired avaitors and sweated to keep the planes serviceable and fit to fly.
One such man was 25 year old Sid Collier of 28 King Street, Leek. Sid had always wanted to be a photographer. prior to
hostilities commencing he had worked at John Martin's Photographers in Leek and hoped to carry on his chosen profession
whilst serving as a member of the ground crew in the RAF. A keen boxer and one of three brothers, Sid was the son of
George Collier, the bowling green keeper at Leek trades and Labour Club. Sadly his RAF career and any hopes of realising
his ambitions were short-lived.
On Monday 26th August 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, German bombers raided the fighter airfields at
Biggin Hill and Kenley, boith south of London, and Debden, near Saffron Waldron in Essex. Sid Collier was stationed at
Debden. As over 100 German bombers swooped on the airfield at 3:30pm, he and his colleagues ran to an air-raid shelter
only to be killed as a bomb exploded close by. Ironically some ground staff who did not follow the others to the shelter
apparently survived the bombing.
Aircraftsman Sidney Collier is buried in Leek Cemetery, Grave 10183.
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