Our Finest Hour: The 4th Fighter Wing and the Battle of Britain

  • Published
  • By Dr. Roy Heidicker
  • 4th Fighter Wing Historian
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Seventy five years ago one of the pivotal battles of World War II was fought.  It was the Battle of Britain, in which the Royal Air Force defeated the German Luftwaffe. The 4th Fighter Wing can trace its heritage directly to this battle.

At the beginning of World War II the Nazi war machine conquered most of Europe.  Even before actual fighting began Germany annexed Austria and occupied Czechoslovakia.  In September 1939 Germany unleashed "Blitzkrieg" or "lightning war" against Poland.  It took only a few weeks to crush the Polish forces.  In 1940 the German army rolled through the low-countries and France.  Both the French and the British armies were soundly defeated.

Hitler's next target was England, which stood alone against the seemingly overwhelming might of the German Third Reich.  Reichmarshall Hermann Goering, head of the German Luftwaffe, assured Hitler his legions of planes and aircrew would easily destroy the RAF and leave England open to conquest. 

If England fell, the Germans would effectively own Europe.  Without our English allies, when the United States entered the war in 1941, there would be no place for American forces to stage their invasion of Fortress Europe.  The stakes could not have been higher.  The fortunes of war hung in the balance.  England braced for the onslaught.
Within the ranks of the RAF pilots were seven American pilots, volunteers all. Despite the fact that America was not yet at war, these brave men fought to defend England against the Nazi menace.  Three of them, Vernon "Shorty" Keough, Andy Mamedoff and Eugene "Red" Tobin, fought with the RAF in the Battle of Britain and then went to become the founding fathers of the 4th Fighter Wing.

  In May 1940 these three experienced pilots sailed from Halifax, Canada to France hoping to fly for the French against the Nazis.  By the time they arrived, however, France was being overrun and they barely escaped to England.  There they volunteered to join the Royal Air Force in their fight against the Luftwaffe.

All three were assigned to fly Spitfires in RAF 609 Squadron. Tall and lean, Tobin was seen as an American cowboy.  Mamedoff was looked at as the mad Russian, and a man you did not want to play cards with.  At 4 feet 10 inches tall, Keough needed not one, but two cushions to sit on in order to see out of the cockpit.  His squadron mates were accustomed to the sight of Shorty racing to his Spitfire carrying a cushion under each arm. Over the course of the Battle of Britain, Tobin shot down a Dornier bomber, Mamedoff also shot down a German bomber, and Keough was credited with damaging a German bomber.

On June 18, 1940, Winston Churchill spoke about the upcoming battle  in the House of Commons, "...if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of a perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "'This was their finest hour.'"

When the Battle of Britain began in July 1940 the German Luftwaffe did quite well.  The Germans vastly outnumbered the Royal Air Force in planes and aircrew.  The Germans targeted the RAF and their airfields.  Both sides suffered losses but the RAF could not sustain their losses.  Then, the Luftwaffe changed their tactics and targeted British cities, London in particular.

The tide began to turn because of the British use of radar, the perseverance of the British people, and most importantly, the courage and skill of the RAF pilots.  In September 1940 Hitler called off the invasion of England and turned his gaze East toward Russia.  The Royal Air Force, with assistance from foreign volunteer pilots, including Tobin, Mamedoff and Keough, had thwarted the designs of the vaunted German Luftwaffe.

In an August 1940 speech, Winston Churchill referred to the RAF pilots when he stated, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."  Our few, Andy Mamedoff, Red Tobin, and Shorty Keough could have returned home to the United States and spent the rest of their lives as heroes who had fought for the RAF in the Battle of Britain.  Instead, in September 1940, the three were assigned to be the initial cadre of RAF 71 Eagle Squadron.

The RAF Eagle Squadrons were composed of American volunteer pilots who chose to fly for England before the United States entered the war.  These squadrons, RAF 71, 121 and 133 Eagle Squadrons, continued to fight against the Nazis as the United States geared up for war.

In September 1942 the Eagle Squadrons became the 334th, 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons of the 4th Fighter Group.  The 4th Fighter Group did more than any American group to knock the Luftwaffe out of the skies over Europe.  By wars end, the 4th Fighter Group destroyed 1,016 German planes, more than any group or wing in any war in American history.

Unfortunately, none of our intrepid trio lived to see this.  In fact, Shorty, Andy, and Red were all killed prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the America's entry into World War II.  On February 15, 1941 Shorty crashed into the English Channel when he passed out after his oxygen mask failed.  They never found Shorty's body, only his size five boots. Red was shot down and killed on September 7, 1941 during a fighter sweep over France. 

In August 1941 Andy married his English girlfriend Alys in Epping, England.  General chaos ensued when the 71 Squadron pilots buzzed the town in celebration.  The next month Andy was transferred to 133 Eagle Squadron to become a flight commander.  On October 8, 1941 Andy and three other pilots were killed when their aircraft crashed into a mountain in the fog.  Andy, Red and Shorty, all of the Eagle Squadron, Battle of Britain veterans were gone, and the attack on Pearl Harbor was still two months away.

Because of the dedication and sacrifice of these three men, the 4th Fighter Wing traces its heritage back to the Battle of Britain.  Where are the heroes of today to fill the shoes (size five through thirteen) of these great American heroes?  The heart of these volunteers resides today in the hearts of the extraordinary Airmen of the 4th Fighter Wing.  These men and women, these few, volunteers all, stand vigilant against the abyss of a new dark age.  They stand in a long line of 4th Fighter Wing veterans reaching back to the Battle of Britain.  They join all our veterans from the Eagle Squadrons, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the wars in the Middle East and today in declaring, "This is our finest hour."