James MacLachlan
James Archibald Findlay MacLachlan was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. MacLachlan was credited with 16 German and Italian aircraft shot down in approximately 250 missions—7 were at night of which two were achieved over Malta in 1941 and 5 over France in 1942.
Born in Cheshire and one of four brothers educated at Monkton Combe School in Somerset, MacLachlan joined the RAF aged 17 in March 1937. He progressed quickly through flight training and was granted a commission as acting pilot officer on 3 May 1937. He completed his flight training in early 1939 and had considerable time to gain experience in operational types upon the outbreak of the Second World War. When the Battle of France began in May 1940 he was serving with No. 88 Squadron RAF flying the Fairey Battle light bomber he was credited with two enemy aircraft damaged and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Surviving the battle he transferred to fighter pilot school in the summer 1940. During the Battle of Britain he served with No. 73 Squadron RAF and No. 145 Squadron RAF. He achieved a probable victory during the battle. In late 1940 he transferred to Malta in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations and joined No. 261 Squadron RAF. By February 1941 he had achieved eight victories and was awarded a Bar to his DFC. MacLachlan was wounded in action on 16 February 1941. His arm was so severely damaged it was amputated, but he returned to operations in November 1941 with an artificial limb.
MacLachlan joined No. 1 Squadron RAF as squadron leader and led night fighter operations in defence of Britain. In May 1942 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order after claiming five more victories flying with Karel Kuttelwascher. Coupled with the two over Malta it qualified him as a night fighter ace. By July 1942 MacLachlan's tally stood at 13 enemy aircraft shot down including 7 at night. MacLachlan left the squadron for a position at the Air Fighting Development Unit. In October 1942 MacLachlan departed to conduct lecturing tours to the United States. He returned to Britain with the ADFU in mid-1943. In June he joined No. 132 Squadron RAF on cross-Channel patrols over Europe. MacLachlan achieved his last 3 victories during these operations—all in one mission—to bring his final tally to 16.
On 18 July 1943 the P-51 Mustang in which he was flying was hit by German flak or suffered engine failure and crashed over France. The Germans reported him as a prisoner of war but he died in a military hospital from his injuries. MacLachlan was awarded a second Bar to his DFC on 30 July 1943 in absentia. During the course of his combat career he flew the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire and P-51 Mustang.
Early life
James MacLachlan was born on 1 April 1919 at Styal in Cheshire, the second of six children of Hugh MacLachlan and his wife Helen. The MacLachlans lived in the family home in Styal, where Hugh was employed as an oil and chemical manufacturer until his premature death in 1928 from peritonitis. Following their father's death the family moved to Southampton to be close to Helen's parents. Her father Archibald Orr-Ewing was connected with the Plymouth Brethren, China Inland Mission and the missionary field. His influence resulted in James being enrolled at King Edward's evangelical school for two years. After completing his preliminary education James became a boarder at Monkton Combe School near Bath, Somerset in September 1931, aged 12. James' brothers, Hugh Jnr, Gordon and Archie would later follow him through the same school.MacLachlan was not academic although he did excel at poetry. He attracted trouble at school by writing scurrilous rhymes about his contemporaries and members of staff. He played rugby and enjoyed rowing but was not generally a sporting child. He enjoyed wildlife and animals. School encouraged in him a fascination with biology, and he regularly supplied rabbits and other specimens to the laboratory. He was not appointed a prefect and did not rise to a notable rank in the School Officer Training Corps. James preferred to engage in carpentry and metal work. He and his friends built and manufactured a.22 pistol in the workshops which they test-fired.
Keen to acquire a real firearm, he obtained a service revolver but shot himself in the hand. Eager for adventure, MacLachlan contemplated his future. At 17 he travelled to Scotland in May 1936 for a holiday near Comrie and Crieff. While there he went for a five-shilling flight at the RAF Leuchars open day which, according to his mother, made up his mind to become a pilot. He gained his School Leaving Certificate and entered the Royal Air Force on a short service commission one month short of his 18th birthday in March 1937.
Early RAF career
On 1 March 1937 he arrived at the No. 10 Elementary Training School and Reserve Flying Training Centre at RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire. It was run by the British Aeroplane Company. He was assigned to B Flight. MacLachlan was uncomfortable with the military banter and the use of religious profanities. He also complained about the bills applicants were forced to pay. Mess bills were reportedly £ 2 10s per week and laundry 5s. Most of his salary was expended on these necessities.MacLachlan was not given time to settle in. His first flight was in a Tiger Moth on 2 March 1937 in which he gained a 45-minute experience in an open-cockpit. He flew solo for the first time on 9 March after rapidly coming to grips with his trainer. He wrote, "You will be glad to hear I went solo today...Mr Sharp did a slow roll. It was pretty grim when we were upside down with nothing but 6,000 feet of air between us and the ground.....I simply love flying." MacLachlan was the youngest trainee of the group and after 23 solo and 28 hours dual flight he passed as an average grade pilot on 27 April. He had come second overall in his examinations. He travelled to RAF Uxbridge the following month. There, he was commissioned acting pilot officer service number 39639 on 18 May 1937. He was posted to No. 3 Flying Training School at Grantham in Lincolnshire. He flew the Hawker Hart and the Hawker Audax for the first time on 20 May 1938. He enjoyed the speed of the aircraft immensely and indulged in his passion for motor cars by buying an Austin 7 from a Nottingham dealership with his first pay cheque for £14 7s.
Despite getting lost on navigational exercises he passed as an "above average" pilot and his probation was passed. MacLachlan made his choice as to the type of squadron he wanted to fly with. He chose from a list of medium bomber or light bomber squadrons and proceeded to the No. 3 Advanced Flying Training School in Gloucestershire. At the school he practiced dive-bombing and level bombing attacks and exercised in close air support operations and rounded off his training at RAF Penrose near, Pwllheli North Wales at the No. 5 Armament Training Camp. On 26 November 1937 MacLachlan once again passed as an "above average" pilot. He was promptly posted to No. 88 Squadron RAF at RAF Boscombe Down. MacLachlan's logbook read 92 hours flying to his credit.
MacLachlan did not like the bomber training. In a letter to his mother he described his grievances, "We have started bombing today. It's awful! You have to lie on your belly and look through the trapdoor in the bottom of the plane . All the hot oily air from the radiator blows straight into your face. It makes me feel quite sick!". He was enthusiastic about describing the mathematical problems associated with aerial bombing and the use of cameras to judge accuracy rather than using live-munitions, but MacLachlan was more enamored with air-to-air gunnery. He wrote of his training, "I have been doing air-to-air gunnery with the front guns today. It is super!" Live ammunition was used at the end of the training. MacLachlan was permitted to train using 16 bombs, which cost £1 1s each.
Number 88 Squadron was a new unit and part of the expansion schemes of the late 1930s designed to increase the number of aircraft in response to the threat of the German Luftwaffe. He joined the squadron on 6 December 1937 and it was re-equipped with the Fairey Battle. He flew the aircraft for the first time on 30 December. On 1 March 1938 his commission as pilot officer was confirmed and in May 1938 he joined the No. 7 Armament Training Station in Northumberland to engage in formation flying, aerial gunnery and bombing practice. It also practiced mock attacks on the British Army 2nd Infantry Division. By the time war broke out in September 1939, MacLachlan had two years of experience of flying the machine.
Second World War
On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. MacLachlan's squadron moved to France on 2 September, and Britain and her allies declared war the following day. 88 Squadron formed part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force commanded by Air Vice-Marshal Patrick Playfair. On 12 September 1939 88 Squadron was based southeast of Rheims. At this time the Luftwaffe was heavily engaged in Poland and only a few small-scale skirmishes were fought with a thin German fighter screen left to guard western Germany against a French attack. On 20 September elements of the squadron were intercepted by Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters from Jagdgeschwader 26 over the border. Four Fairey Battle aircraft were shot down. On 30 September 150 Squadron lost five Battles on unescorted missions into German airspace. It quickly became clear to the crews that the Battle was too slow and too poorly armed to defend itself and operations were shut down. The squadron took measures to increase its defensive power by adding a third machine gun in the back of the cockpit for the observer to use.On 26 October MacLachlan was promoted to flying officer, and undertook an attack mission. During the course of the flight his wingtip made contact with the ground but he was able to return to base. The squadron settled down into winter quarters until March when they were reassigned to the French border region with Spain. On 1 April he celebrated his 21st birthday and took the opportunity of driving from Perpignan across the frontier into the Pyrenees to celebrate it. On 9 April the squadron was put on alert when the Germans invaded Denmark and Norway and the squadron were soon relocated to northern France at Mourmelon. On 10 May the Phoney War came to a close with the German invasion of Western Europe.