Patterson, Ron

Ronald (Ron) Patterson

RAF, Squadron 152

Number  409218, Flight Lieutenant, RAAF

DOB 24/11/1921. Discharged 31/8/1945

Early training in Wagga, Australia 1942. Served in combat from April 1943 to November 1944 in a number of theatres of war. First flying combat in Algeria, then Tunisia over to Malta. Then to Sicily and up the boot of Italy. He was then transferred out East to India and then flew with the first Spitfires in Burma.

Aircraft he flew were the Spitfires II, Vc, IX and VIII. and as he said, "The Spitfire a marvelous aircraft to fly." Although trained on Masters with a top speed of approx 200 mph he was unleashed into Spitfires with a top speed of 300-350 mph. Ron was in his element.

Arriving in North Africa, Ron's first mission was to dive bomb a German cruiser on a sandbar in Tunis harbour. The Spitfires were equipped with a 250 pound bomb under each wing. Later he was to strafe German motor transport on the Tunisian roads.

Photo: Ron and a Spitfire Mark II during training at Eshott in northern England in late 1942.

With the North African war won, the squadron was posted to Malta in June 1943, in preparation for the imminent Allied invasion of Sicily. Ron narrowly avoided being shot down by friendly naval anti aircraft fire during the assault as he was chasing a German fighter aircraft, a Focke-Wulf Fw-190. The squadron was providing aerial cover for the naval armada down below in the Mediterranean, and Ron peeled off to go after the Focke-Wulf. The German was not hit by the naval anti-aircraft fire, but Ron's plane was damaged so badly that it never flew again.

Ron said that, "Our base was raided by the Germans. One night they bombed the hell out of us and we lost half our planes". Sicily proved a hard fight. The Spitfires were involved in beachhead patrols and escorting the bombers.  After moving to the mainland unit was noted that his squadron of all the Allied air force units in the invasion of Sicily and the mainland compiled the highest strike rate. On July 25 th Ron shot down his first enemy aircraft, a transport plane accompanied by a wing of fighters. It was one of eleven aircraft shot down by the squadron that day. Due to his success he was promoted to a commission as Pilot Officer.

As the squadron accompanies allied forces for the invasion of the mainland of Italy Ron's aircraft engine failed. I was rapidly losing altitude and not looking forward to landing in the drink. We had always been warned not to crash-land on water. It was imperative to bail out beforehand; otherwise the weight of the Merlin engine aided by the aircraft's long slender nose would drag the Spitfire front-on to the seabed. It would sink in seconds and take you with it.

It was conventional flying wisdom that, if time permitted, the safe way to for Spitfire pilot to bail out was to stand up in the cockpit and kick the stick forward, which in turn makes the plane pitch forward, the force throws you out of the cockpit and clear of the plane.

Just as Ron prepared to jump the first time, the engine spluttered back to life. The reprieve was short lived as ten minutes later the engine failed again and again he made plans to parachute out. Again the engine started and again stopped however he was able to glide in for a landing with wheels down onto a narrow airstrip cut between grape vines. "It was just fate, I was pretty lucky to get down", was Ron's modest summation of the outcome.

After the invasion the 152 was one of the first fighter squadrons to land on enemy territory, stationed at Asa, one of the airfield on the Salerno beachhead. It was not until April 1945 that victory was achieved. The men of 152 Squadron however sailed for Egypt in November 1943. In Cairo along with No 81 Squadron they re-equipped with Spitfire VIII's. They were to fly them to India, where no Spitfires had been used in combat, only Hurricanes.

After a long flight of thirteen hops to India, led by a Mosquito to navigate, they landed in India finally arriving near Calcutta on 30 th November and were posted to Alipore. On the way they lost one of the pilots when he misjudged the runway taking off from Bahrain and crashed into the sea.

The squadron commenced combat duties against Japanese airfields and Ron shot down the squadron's first Japanese aircraft, a Dinah. He hit the twin engine reconnaissance aircraft at around 33,000 feet - the highest altitude strike achieved in the Japanese theatre of war. This victory was shared with Flight Lieutenant Bob MacDonald. He was promoted to Flying Officer in early February 1944.

The No 152 was posted to Chittagong on the North-east coast of the Bay of Bengal where they were engaged in fighter patrols, making offensive sweeps against the Japanese airfields located inside Burma. It began patrolling the Imphal plain as well as escorting transports and bombers. As Japanese aircraft decreased the unit also attacked enemy supply lines and carried out small scale attacks on ground targets of opportunity.

At this stage of the war Ron was to be grounded, due to eye trouble, and amongst other duties organized the transport of ground staff and other personnel. At this time his much admired squadron leader, Bruce Ingram, had died. Ron was devastated by the news. Every man has heroes and Ron thought Ingram was first class.

Photo: Ron is welcomed back home by his family and his lovely wife Lorna. Left to right: Dudley Carter, Gwen (his fiancé), Ron, Lorna, Ron's father and mother.

In Burma the squadron became known as the Black Panther of Burma and the emblem of the big  black cat was painted on the side of the Spits. Awaiting the arrival of spectacles until he could fly again Ron was feeling tired. He was now Flight Lieutenant and was posted from the squadron to non-combat duties in Madras and then Karachi. He then sailed home from Bombay just before Christmas 1944.

Other airforce duties were to be completed as an instructor where he was instructing combat hardened bomber pilots who were back from England. Eventually at the age of twenty three and 2 stone lighter and tired from combat and the stress of war Ron's duty was at an end. However, he was not discharged but was put on RAAF Reserve until 1963 .

Ron's next set of adventures were to follow with a successful marriage to his beloved Lorna, children and a career with the Ford Dealership he started, Courtney & Patterson in Victoria, Australia.

Abridged from the book "A Business of Trust"  by Richard Yallop.