Percy Frederick Morfill (11 December 1914 – April 2004) was a British flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was credited with least six aerial victories. From

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

, Morfill joined the RAF in 1933 as a metal rigger. He volunteered for pilot training three years later and on completion of his flight training was posted to No. 65 Squadron. A few months after the outbreak of the Second World War, he was posted to No. 501 Squadron. He flew in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

and in the subsequent Battle of Britain, during which he destroyed a number of aircraft. Commissioned in 1942, he spent most of the remainder of the war as an instructor in the United Kingdom and Southern Rhodesia. Remaining in the RAF in the postwar period, he continued to serve in instructing posts as well as staff roles. He left the RAF in 1958 and worked in the automotive industry until 1977, when he retired. In April 2004, he died at the age of 89.

Early life

Percy Frederick Morfill, the son of a publican, was born in

in Hampshire on 11 December 1914. He went to school in Salisbury, in the county of Wiltshire, at

Bishop Wordsworth's School Bishop Wordsworth's School is a Church of England boys' grammar school in Salisbury, Wiltshire for boys aged 11 to 18. The school is regularly amongst the top-performing schools in England, and in 2010 was the school with the best results in the ...

, following which he sat an examination for entry into the Royal Air Force (RAF) under the

Aircraft Apprentice Scheme The Aircraft Apprentice Scheme was a training programme for Royal Air Force ground crew personnel which ran from 1920 to 1966. Formation World War I saw the beginning of aerial combat. By 1 April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval ...

. He passed with the highest marks for a candidate from Wiltshire. He duly enlisted in the RAF on 3 September 1930 as an aircraft apprentice. After three years of training, he qualified as a metal rigger. After a period of service with the Fleet Air Arm at the

RAF base The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

at Gosport, Morfill volunteered for pilot training. As a successful applicant, he proceeded to No. 3 Elementary & Reserve Flying Training School at Hamble in early 1936. He then went on to No. 6 Flying Training School at Netheravon Airfield in March. Gaining his wings, he was posted to No. 65 Squadron as a sergeant at the start of 1937. His new unit operated the Gloster Gauntlet fighter, and Morfill was soon on its aerobatics team, alongside the future flying ace Robert Stanford Tuck.

Second World War

At the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, No. 65 Squadron was operating the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

fighter from RAF Northolt. It began active operations on 5 September 1939. Morfill's war service with the squadron was brief for in early 1940, he was posted to No. 501 Squadron.

Battle of France

Morfill's new unit was based at RAF Tangmere and operated the Hawker Hurricane fighter. He went with it to France following the German invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May. The squadron suffered a number of casualties when one of its transport aircraft, a Bristol Bombay, crashed on landing at Bethienville. By this time a flight sergeant, Morfill destroyed a Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter on 11 May near Tourteron and followed this up the following day with the destruction of a

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after th ...

medium bomber. Morfill flew a number of sorties during the retreat and subsequent evacuation of the bulk of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Dinard as the Germans advanced deeper into France, the squadron was forced to evacuate to

St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...

on Jersey in the Channel Islands on 18 June. From there it covered the evacuation of elements of the BEF from

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

. By 21 June, it was back in the United Kingdom at Croydon. However, Morfill had to remain at St Helier as his Hurricane developed a fault before he could fly out. As his aircraft was not serviceable, it was destroyed so it would not be of use to the Germans once they captured the Channel Islands and Morfill, along with other British military personnel, was evacuated by fishing boat.

Battle of Britain

No. 501 Squadron was now based at

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

in Kent as part of No. 11 Group, and was heavily engaged during the Battle of Britain, regularly flying three or four sorties a day through August and September. About east of

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, Morfill destroyed a

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

fighter and damaged two

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Con ...

dive bombers on 29 July. He shot down a Bf 110 on 12 August over The Downs. During a large engagement over Kent on 18 August, he bailed out of his damaged Hurricane. He claimed as damaged a Bf 109 on 24 August. He claimed a He 111 as destroyed near Dungeness on 30 August and damaged a Dornier Do 17 medium bomber on 2 September. He was one of six pilots credited with a share of a Do 17 destroyed over the Thames Estuary on 11 September. His last aerial victory, a Do 17 shot down near

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

, was achieved four days later. Morfill was recommended for the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), and this was duly announced in '' The London Gazette'' in October. The published citation read: By this time, the operational pressure on the squadron had tapered off. One of the most engaged units during the Battle of Britain, it claimed 149 German aircraft as destroyed including those shot down during the Battle of France. By this time Morfill was credited with six solo aerial victories, with one more shared and from 18 June to 31 October, he had flown 215 sorties. The squadron was transferred to No. 10 Group in December for a rest and refit, operating from Filton. At the start of the following year, he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

Later war service

In June 1941, Morfill was Posted to No. 58 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at

Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk ...

in June 1941, Morfill subsequently took training as an instructor at the Central Flying School (CFS) at RAF Little Rissington. He then returned to No. 58 OTU. At the end of the year he went back to the CFS as an instructor. Mentioned in despatches again on 1 January 1942, he was commissioned as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

later in the month. An instructing post at the Flight Instructor's School at Hullavington followed. He was promoted to flying officer with effect from 1 October 1942. In 1944, and by this time a

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

, Morfill was sent to a flying school at Norton in Southern Rhodesia on instructing duties where he remained for the rest of the war.

Later life

Morfill stayed in the RAF in the postwar period, returning to the United Kingdom and taking up a posting at the Air Ministry. He then worked on bomber development with the

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

. Granted an extended commission in July 1947, he went to the CFS and subsequently served as the chief flying instructor at the University Air Squadron at St Andrews University in Scotland. He was promoted to squadron leader in 1953, by this time serving in a posting at the headquarters of No. 63 Group at RAF Hawarden. He left the RAF in early 1958, having spent the previous two years as the commander of the Station Flight at Tangmere. Taking up employment in the automotive industry, working for Wingards, a manufacturer of vehicle accessories, Morfill eventually retired in 1977. In his later years he lived in Chichester, in West Sussex, where he died on 3 April 2004, aged 89. His remains were cremated and interred at the Tangmere Museum Memorial Garden.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morfill, Percy Royal Air Force pilots of World War II British World War II flying aces The Few Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Medal 1914 births 2004 deaths People from Gosport People educated at Bishop Wordsworth's School Military personnel from Chichester Military personnel from Hampshire