Peter Townsend (RAF officer)

Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, (22 November 1914 – 19 June 1995) was a British Royal Air Force officer, flying ace, courtier and author.

From 1928 to 1932, Townsend was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, then an all-boys private school.

Townsend joined the Royal Air Force in 1930 and trained at RAF Cranwell.

He was commissioned a pilot officer on 27 July 1935.

On graduation, he joined No. 1 Squadron RAF at RAF Tangmere flying the Hawker Fury biplane fighter.

In 1936 he was posted to No. 36 Squadron RAF in Singapore, flying the Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bomber.

He was promoted to flying officer on 27 January 1937, and returned to Tangmere that year as a member of No. 43 Squadron RAF.

Townsend was promoted to flight lieutenant on 27 January 1939.

In a memoir, Townsend recounted 605 Squadron's arrival at Tangmere, just before the outbreak of war.

Townsend says that

"Things hummed at Tangmere Cottage, just opposite the guard room, where [605's commanding officer John Willoughby de Broke and his wife Rachel] kept open house. There we spent wild evenings, drinking, singing, dancing to romantic tunes . . . we danced blithely, relentlessly towards catastrophe. . . . With one chance in five of survival - not counting the burnt and the wounded - only a handful of us would come through [i.e., survive to the end of World War II]."

Enemy aircraft had been shot down in 1939 by the RAF from over Scotland's Scapa Flow naval base during the Luftwaffe's first raid on Britain.

The first enemy aircraft to crash on English soil during the Second World War fell to fighters from RAF Acklington in Northumberland on 3 February 1940, when three Hurricanes of 'B' flight, No. 43 Squadron, shot down a Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 of 4./KG 26 near Whitby.

The pilots were Flight Lieutenant Townsend, Flying Officer "Tiger" Folkes and Sergeant James Hallowes.

Two more He 111s were claimed by Townsend, on 22 February and 8 April, and a sixth share on 22 April.

Townsend was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in April 1940:

"Flight Lieutenant Peter Wooldridge Townsend (33178) In April 1940, whilst on patrol over the North Sea, Flight Lieutenant Townsend intercepted and attacked an enemy aircraft at dusk and after a running fight shot it down. This is the third success obtained by this pilot and in each instance he has displayed qualities of leadership, skill and determination of the highest order, with little regard for his own safety."

By May 1940, Townsend was one of the most capable squadron leaders of the Battle of Britain, serving throughout the battle as commanding officer of No. 85 Squadron RAF, flying Hawker Hurricanes.

On 11 July 1940, Acting Squadron Leader Townsend, flying Hurricane VY-K (P2716) intercepted a Dornier Do 17 of KG 2 and severely damaged the bomber, forcing it to crash land at Arras.

Return fire from the Dornier hit the Hurricane coolant system and Townsend was forced to ditch 20 mi from the English coast, being rescued by HM Trawler Cape Finisterre.

He was mentioned in despatches the same month.

On 31 August, during combat with Messerschmitt Bf 110s over Tonbridge, Townsend was shot down and wounded in the left foot by a cannon shell which went through the glycol tank and exploded in the cockpit.

He continued to lead the unit on the ground even after this wound resulted in his big toe being amputated, and he returned to operational flying on 21 September.

Townsend was promoted to the substantive rank of squadron leader on 1 September 1940.

A Bar to his DFC was awarded in early September 1940, for leading his squadron in protecting convoys during July and August 1940, personally shooting down four enemy aircraft and leading his squadron in destroying at least 10 enemy aircraft and damaging many others.

Part of his citation reads:

"...The success which has been achieved has been due to Squadron Leader Townsend's unflagging zeal and leadership."

Townsend oversaw the conversion of No. 85 Squadron to night operations at RAF Hunsdon in Hertfordshire during early 1941.

In May 1941, by now an acting wing commander and credited with shooting down at least 11 enemy aircraft, Townsend was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

His citation credited Townsend as an officer who had

"...displayed outstanding powers of leadership and organisation, combined with great determination and skill in air combat. By his untiring efforts he has contributed materially to the many successes obtained by his squadron."

Townsend was promoted to the temporary rank of wing commander on 1 December 1941.

He later became commanding officer of RAF Drem in Scotland in April 1942 and commanded No. 611 Squadron RAF, a Spitfire unit.

He was later leader of No. 605 Squadron RAF, a night fighter unit, and attended the staff college from October 1942.

In January 1943, he was appointed commanding officer of RAF West Malling in Kent.

His wartime record was nine aircraft claimed destroyed, and two shared, two 'probables' and four damaged.

He was equerry to King George VI from 1944 to 1952 and held the same position for Elizabeth II from 1952 to 1953.

Townsend notably had a romance with Princess Margaret, Elizabeth's younger sister.

Townsend was born in Rangoon, Burma, to doctor's son Lieutenant Colonel Edward Copleston Townsend, of the Indian Army, and his wife, Gladys, daughter of Herbert Hatt-Cook, of Hartford Hall, Cheshire; his father had married aged 42, 20 years older than his bride.

The Townsend family, of Devon, tended to send its sons into the church or the armed forces.