266 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF
By Mitch Stirling
'Hlabezulu', an Ndebele expression, describes 266 (Rhodesia)
Squadron perfectly... deadly 'Stabbers in the Sky'. It's impossible
to write about them in words that adequately describe the bravery of
those young men, who were boys. And as the years slip by I'm
becoming more and more aware of the fact that the survivors of the
squadron - and a whole generation of World War 11 pilots - will be
gone before too many more years go by. It is their time. Even the
name 'Rhodesia' has been consigned to the history books these days
and it is a sobering thought that within the next 70 years, or so,
the last born and bred Rhodesian will have departed. The price paid
by all our Rhodesian 'boys' in defence of King and Country was
enormous and the Hawker Typhoon pilots of Hlabezulu were no
exception. Their role as a low-level attack squadron made them
particularly vulnerable to ground fire and anti-aircraft barrages.
Said one Tiffie pilot, "The flak was so thick that we could have put
wheels down and taxied on it"...
The Typhoon was a fearsome beast with a 2 000 hp Napier Sabre engine
that would torque violently on take-off. Urgent demands had been
made by RAF Operations for a 400 mph high-performance fighter/bomber
to counter the Focke-Wulf Fw190 and this resulted in serious
aerodynamic problems in the early design of the Typhoon. The
integrity of the prototypes was very doubtful; whole tail sections
were departing the airframe in high-speed or violent manoeuvres.
In-all, 21 young RAF pilots and 25 aircraft were lost to initial
teething problems and, over the years, modifications had to be added
to new-model Typhoons and retro-fitted to the older ones. Stiffening
the elevator controls and changing to a bigger tailplane and a four-
blade propeller solved most of the problems. But the complex
sleeve-valve engine cylinders presented another problem in cold
weather start-up, and the primitive cockpit presented yet another.
Early Typhoons had a car-door-type cockpit with a wind-down window
and an external rear view mirror. Lack of ventilation and heat from
the engine made things very uncomfortable for the driver... and
carbon monoxide seepage from the Sabres was deadly. Extended exhaust
stubs were tried, unsuccessfully, to deflect fumes... so oxygen
masks became standard operating procedure for the pilots from
start-up to shut-down. All of this made things very difficult for a
pilot trying to get out in a hurry and it was not until the welcome
addition of a sliding bubble-cockpit in 1943 that things improved.
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Ken Rogers in Mae West.
Spade-type column and control grip with firing button Diagnostic white nose-cone and black and white stripes on the underbelly. Chin-mount radiator and air scoop were other distinguishing features of the Tiffie. 
Spade-type column and control grip with firing
button
The Typhoon ( a total of 3317 were built ) entered service operation
in 1941 and by the following year 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron had set up
base at RAF Duxford in support of the Normandy invasion. By this
time the aircraft had matured into a lethal fighting machine that
could take on the Fw190 with confidence. It was agile and quick and,
with its 4 belt-fed 20mm Hispano cannons and 8 armour-piercing or HE
rocket projectiles, it had found its niche. It was a highly
successful destroyer of enemy bridges, tanks, trains, shipping and,
on one occasion, the Nazi HQ admin and office buildings in
Dordrecht, Holland. That particular raid eliminated numerous senior
Nazi officers - the biggest single hit on German high ranks for the
duration of the war. One observer on the ground watched the Typhoons
as they carefully avoided a school building next door and hit their
target with 'pin-point' accuracy. Anti-aircraft gun emplacements and
machine gun nests were also designated targets and Bomphoons were
engaged as well with their 500kg and 250 kg bombs and incendiaries.
They destroyed the Gestapo HQ at Enterpestraat in Amsterdam and were
involved in 'dropping' the Bridge on Lek at Vianen. Stacked in the
sky in 'Cab Ranks', Typhoons could supply continuous support to
ground troops.
 
Ken Roger's log book showing attack on Nazi HQ. Signed Sq/Ldr J.H. Deall DFC.
Alfred Mells from Gatooma was credited with the first 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron kill on 9 August 1942 when he shot down a Ju88 off the Norfolk coast. But many other Rhodesians in the squadron lost their lives. Two fellow pilots were killed operating out of Exeter when they were jumped by Fw 109's over the Channel - Johnny Small and Brian Biddulph kia. There is some speculation that Brian may have spun-in, but Ken Rogers maintains he lost the tail of his aircraft in a tight, evasive turn - which would be consistent with the problems of elevator flutter and buffeting. Brian and his brother John (killed in a Hampden bomber in 1942) were big childhood 'shamwaris' of Ken Rogers. Roy Downes (CAA and Air Rhodesia) remembers them well from his own childhood days in Salisbury when all their parents were great friends. The name Biddulphs, of course, is synonymous with their parents' removals business
266 (Rhodesia) Squadron kia list reads: 21 young men lost in the
space of four years. The poignant epitaph on Dougal Drummond's
headstone in the Commonwealth Cemetery at Guidel, France, says it
all...
I REGARD DEATH AS A POSTING: WE ALL COME TOGETHER IN THE END
 With thanks to Stan Rogers for photographs and log book entry. And to John Wynne Hopkins for the photo of headstone. End Thanks to Mitch (Air Rhodesia) for sharing this article and photographs with ORAFs. Thanks also to Stan Rogers and John Wynne for the use of their material.
Comments are always welcome, please mail them to Eddy Norris at orafs11@gmail.com
Recommended reading.
Tribute to Group Captain Charles Green Visit: http://www.ourstory.com/thread.html?t=177274#114969 Charles Green Entered into rest. Visit: http://www.ourstory.com/thread.html?t=235200#210199 Visit: http://www.ourstory.com/thread.html?t=326617 John Deall Entered into rest. Visit: http://www.ourstory.com/thread.html?t=300001#316867
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