Birth name William Drake Rank Group captain Name Billy Drake | Years of service 1936–1963 Allegiance United Kingdom Service/branch Royal Air Force | |
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Born 20 December 1917
London, England ( 1917-12-20 ) Commands held No. 421 (Reconnaissance) Flight RAF
No. 128 Squadron RAF
No. 112 Squadron RAF
Krendi Wing
No. 20 Wing RAF Battles/wars World War II
Battle of France
Channel Front
West African Campaign
North African Campaign
Mediterranean Theatre Awards Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Died August 28, 2011, Teignmouth, United Kingdom Battles and wars Battle of France, Western Front | ||
Hurricane pilot billy drake wwii
Group Captain Billy Drake, (20 December 1917 – 28 August 2011) was a British fighter pilot and air ace. He scored 20 enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed, six probable and nine damaged with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Drake flew Hawker Hurricanes, Supermarine Spitfires and Curtiss P-40s (Tomahawks/Kittyhawks), with squadrons based in France, England, West Africa, North Africa and Malta. He was the top-scoring RAF P-40 pilot and the second-highest-scoring British Commonwealth P-40 pilot, behind Clive Caldwell.
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Early life
Drake was born in London, to an Australian mother and a British father. He was educated in Switzerland. His given name at birth was Billy, not William.
RAF career
Drake joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) on a Short Service Commission in July 1936. He joined No. 1 Squadron at RAF Tangmere in May 1937, flying the Hawker Fury before converting to the Hawker Hurricane.
Following the outbreak of war, the squadron was sent to France. On 20 April 1940, during the Battle of France, Drake scored his first kill, a Messerschmitt Bf 109. Subsequent victories over France included a Dornier Do 17 and Heinkel He 111. While attacking another Dornier, Drake was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and wounded with shell splinters in the foot, ending his participation in the campaign.
On 20 June 1940, Drake was posted as a flying instructor to No. 6 Operational Training Unit, at RAF Sutton Bridge. He returned to operational duty, with No. 213 Squadron RAF, on 2 October 1940 at RAF Tangmere. Three weeks later, he was appointed commander of No. 421 (Reconnaissance) Flight RAF (later part of No. 91 Squadron RAF) on Spitfires, flying specialised low-level reconnaissance patrols over the Channel and the French coast. He claimed a further two kills and two probables (all Do 17s and Ju 88s). Drake was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 7 January 1941.
He then returned to instruction duties in early 1941, with No. 53 Operational Training Unit, at RAF Heston and as Chief Flying Instructor at RAF Llandow until September 1941.
In December 1941, Drake was posted to West Africa to form and command No. 128 Squadron RAF at Hastings, Sierra Leone, flying Mark II Hurricanes. Soon afterwards, he shot down a Vichy French Glenn Martin 167F bomber, near Freetown.
In April 1942, Drake was posted to Air HQ Middle East, and at the end of May he succeeded Caldwell as commander of No. 112 Squadron, flying P-40s, from RAF Gambut, Egypt. On 1 September 1942, a day in which the Desert Air Force suffered heavy losses, Drake shot down two Junkers Ju 87s.
Drake was awarded a Bar to the DFC on 28 July 1942 and the Distinguished Service Order on 4 December 1942. He scored 13 aerial victories in P-40s.
After being promoted to wing commander in January 1943, Drake briefly assumed a staff job in Cairo, before becoming commander of the Krendi Wing at RAF Krendi on Malta, flying Spitfires. In July 1943, he made his last claim of the war, a Macchi MC.202 of 4 Stormo, Regia Aeronautica, over Sicily.
In November 1943, Drake returned to England and commanded No. 20 Wing RAF, operating Hawker Typhoons with the Second Tactical Air Force. He was later sent on liaison duties to Fort Leavenworth in the United States. On 22 October 1943, he was awarded the American Distinguished Flying Cross. Drake later served as deputy station commander at RAF Biggin Hill, and finished the war as a staff officer at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. He was credited with 24.5 aerial kills—another pilot was given half of one kill—and he reportedly destroyed a dozen more enemy planes parked on the ground.
He later served as a staff officer and air attaché at British embassies, retiring from the RAF as a group captain on 1 July 1963.
Later life
Upon retirement, Drake spent 20 years in the Algarve coastal area of Portugal, where he managed properties and ran a bar. In recent years, he lived in Teignmouth, Devon. He was twice married and is survived by two sons from his first marriage.
Drake died on 28 August 2011.