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A Soldier in the Cockpit: From Rifles to Typhoons in WWII (Stackpole Military History) ReviewAuthor Ron Pottinger spent much of World War II planning rhubarbs and searching for doodlebugs -- and no -- he wasn't gardening. He was flying Hawker Typhoons on dangerous interdiction missions over German occupied Western Europe.
Often by moonlight, two "kites" (Typhoons armed with 4 lethal 20mm cannon and two 250 lb. bombs) would "do a trip" in search of targets of opportunity at extreme low level. Coastal shipping, E-Boats, canal locks, barges, as well as industries and trains were his favorite prey.
Crossing the sea down on the deck to avoid detection was not all that safe at high speed. Even in daylight, poor weather could mask obstacles such as chimneys -- and at such low altitude it was easy to get lost. At that level, any German gunner could get lucky, and there was little altitude to bail out when seriously hit.
W/O Pottinger knew this type of flying was very dangerous, but he kept on looking for anything worthy of attack. Many such pilots were lost with mediocre results.
The Hawker Typhoon was developed as an interceptor but its power was disappointing at high altitude and the fuselage had problems -- the tail sometimes broke off. Nevertheless, it proved to be extremely fast at low level. In fact, it was faster than the Fw-190 or Messerschmitt Bf-109. Heavily armed with 4-20mm cannon, it was a natural strafer.
"Soldiers In the Cockpit" is W/O Pottinger's memoir of his service in World War II. But how does an infantrymen in the British Army get to fly a hot fighter-bomber? The R.A.F. lost many fine pilots in the Battle of Britain and soldiers were being recruited for flying school. W/O Pottinger didn't train in gloomy Scotland however, but in sunny Florida, U.S.A. Here, he flew the Stearman PT17, Vultee BT13A, and the AT6A Harvard. In "The Wide Blue Yonder", he narrates his stateside training with humorous stories of living in the swamps, chasing girls, and nail-biting flights.
The Luftwaffe had several nasty surprises for the R.A.F. such as the Messerschmitt Me-262 jet, and the diabolical V1 Doodlebug flying bomb. W/O Pottinger's squadron was soon upgraded to the new Hawker Tempest. The 24-cylinder fighter was among the fastest allied aircraft at all altitudes and proved an excellent interceptor of the doodlebug -- 638 V1's were downed by Tempests. After the Allies invasion of France, the new Tempest really began to pay off.
Fighter nerds hoping to read about the Typhoons knocking out 175 German tanks in one day at the Falaise Gap, or the strafing of roads choked with armored columns during the Battle of the Bulge will be disappointed -- W/O Pottinger was not there. His main assignment was supporting General Montegomery's Operation Market-Garden, in Holland.
On New Years Day, W/O Pottinger's luck ran out and he was shot down over Paderborn, Germany while strafing a train.
To be honest, only one-third of this book is fighter plane action. In the final fifty pages he narrates his bailout, capture and imprisonment in various POW camps until finally transferring home after the war.
W/O Pottinger has not set out to write a complete history of the Hawker Typhoon and Tempest operations. Rather, he has given us an intimate look at his own experiences in World War II -- much in diary form. The book works best when W/O Pottinger has his feet on the ground. As should be apparent now, Ron Pottinger was an "ordinary working-class chap" who wants us to know that the war was unglamorous and a dirty business.
"Soldier In the Cockpit" has numerous photographs taken during the war by the author. There were no maps included. This book will be of most interest to the fans of POW stories and wartime biographies.
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