Flt Lt McClane, born of an English father and American mother had spent much of his childhood and early years alternating between England and the USA. At the outbreak of the war he was living just outside New York having returned to the US after graduating from Cambridge. In early 1940 he came back to England with the aim of joining the RAF and becoming a pilot, the fact he had dual citizenship removed the need for him to pretend to be Canadian!
He arrived at 112 Sqn, via various Units and promotions, then based at Fayid, just prior to the squadron being equipped with Tomahawk II’s in July 1941. He took part in the usual fighter sweeps across the desert earning the respect of fellow pilots through his courage and determination in engaging the enemy, primarily against Jagdgeschwader 27 ‘Afrika’ (JG27), in their superior ME 109’s.
However in early December his luck was about to change and after one such engagement over enemy territory he found himself completely alone with not another aircraft in sight. Deciding it was probably not a good idea to be flying around German airspace on his own he set a course for Fort Maddelena but was soon alerted to something being amiss by the smell and the fact his feet were becoming unbearably hot!
Luckily, or unluckily as it turned out, he came across a made-up road and quickly set down, extinguished the flames and discarded his now melted shoes and socks. Unfortunately however, in his haste to put down he hadn’t noticed the unit of Afrikakorps under cam nets either side of the road and was rather ignominiously captured in his bare feet, and a fully intact Tomahawk was gifted to the Germans!
The aircraft was handed over to the nearest Luftwaffe Unit, which was JG27 based around Martuba, and more specifically to Hauptman Hans ‘Zerstörer' Gruber, the Geschwaderluftkampfoffizier or Wing Air Combat Officer, for evaluation. Hpt Gruber along with the rest of the JG27 Stab (HQ for want of a better way of describing it) and II & III Gruppen had recently returned from the Eastern Front to bolster JG27 as a whole.
As Geschwaderluftkampfoffizier his role was somewhat varied encompassing Intelligence, Tactics and disseminating any new manoeuvres which would benefit pilots in air combat – which inadvertently, would lead to his demise.
Following test flights and evaluation Hpt Gruber quite liked the ruggedness of the Tomahawk so he had it painted with his code letters and rank markings and made it his ‘second’ aircraft. The insignia on the nose probably should have been the JG27 badge but as he had previously been a Staffelkaptain with 1 Gruppe and fully expected to assume command on the promotion or death of Eduard Neumann, whichever came sooner, he opted for the ‘Afrika’ insignia. As it happened Eduard Neumann would survive both Hans Gruber and the War, passing away in 2004.
Just before Christmas 1941, Gruber was informed of a new tactic perfected by Japanese pilots known as the ‘Nakatomi’ manoeuvre, a defensive procedure to counteract a high angle deflection attack (incidentally, the type of attack preferred by Hans-Joachim Marseille who by mid-December had reached his 25th victory). So, on Christmas Eve 1941, following a recent resupply of German schnapps, French brandy and Italian wine, Hpt Gruber called a ‘meeting’ for the senior pilots located around Martuba to brief them on this latest tactic. Late in the evening a rather merry Gruber decided it was time to demonstrate the ‘Nakatomi’ manoeuvre and while doing so with his usual exuberance and flair, stepped backwards and tripped over a low table followed by the low hand rail of the balcony (not so much H&S in those days!) and rather tragically, Hans Gruber fell to his death from possibly the only 3 storey building in a 50 mile radius. With the black humour of frontline pilots, the building was subsequently referred to as the Nakatomi Tower!
The Tomahawk wasn’t flown much after this, as in that short space of time, they had come to realise that no matter how brightly you painted it, flying around your own airspace in an enemy aircraft was not conducive to a long and healthy life, particularly if your aircraft (or vehicle for that matter) can only be seen in silhouette – ask the medics!
As for John McClane, he was liberated in 1943 and found he had been promoted in his absence. On his return to England he was asked to fulfil an Admin role at the RAF Hospital in Ely, an area he knew well from his days of training with the Cambridge Boat Race team on the long straight section of the River Great Ouse between Ely and Littleport. At the end of the war he was demobbed and went back to the USA, where a short while later he joined the New York Police Department.
Well done, if you’ve made it this far! All in all, I think the Tomahawk lends itself to this scheme far better than the Hurricane did to its and overall I’m quite happy with the outcome.
I must just say a quick ‘thank you’, to that fine fellow Skypirate, who sent me the 1/JG27 decals all the way from Oz – cheers and hope you’re not disappointed.
Thanks for looking.
J
