Air battle over Malta hots up

25th February 1941: Always outnumbered and exhausted by daily operations in defence of the island, RAF Hurricane pilots begin to feel the strain

High oblique aerial view of Hal Far airfield, Malta, taken at 5,000 feet from the north-west

Two Fairey Fulmar Mark Is of No. 803 Squadron from HMS FORMIDABLE, photographed from a third while flying to HMS EAGLE during February 1941. This detachment augmented EAGLE’s Fighter Flight in providing cover for a Malta convoy.

For Flying Officer Derek Whittingham, it might have been the Battle of Britain all over again. He had just qualified on Hurricanes when he was posted to No.151 Squadron on 20th July 1940. He was shot up and made a forced landing, wounded, on the 29th July, on his second sortie of the day. He did not fly again until November 1940. He was ‘posted overseas’ in December and eventually arrived on Malta on 29th January 1941, flying his Hurricane in from Egypt.

Only days before fellow pilot J A F MacLachlan had been shot down and badly wounded. MacLachlan joined No. 261 Squadron RAF in Malta, as a flight commander, and was shot down on 16th February 1941, as a result of which his left arm was amputated. He quickly returned to operations after being fitted with an artificial limb, flying with No. 73 Squadron in North Africa, but in July 1941 returned to the United Kingdom to take command of No. 1 Squadron (seen here). The Hurricane is sporting his personal emblem showing his amputated arm waving a ‘V’ sign. He was again shot down in 1943 and became a prisoner-of-war, by which time his score had risen to 16.5 victories.

In less than a month, flying with No 261 Squadron, Whittingham¹ saw the same struggle developing over Malta that he had seen over southern England just six months before. Large formations of Luftwaffe bombers, sometimes accompanied by dive-bombers, were making regular attacks on Malta. They were escorted by Me 109s, which easily outnumbered the RAF Hurricanes.

On 23rd February, one of 261 Squadron’s Flight Commanders “cracked up” - so Whittingham was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and took his place.