Wing Commander Vashon James "PK" Wheeler, (16 September 1898 – 23 March 1944) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and

Royal Air Force 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 ...

officer who served as an infantry officer in both the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the North Russia intervention, and then as a fighter and bomber pilot in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

Vashon James Wheeler was born in September 1898 near Ludlow,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

. His father, James Volant Wheeler, a landowner and barrister, named his son Vashon after his great grandfather Admiral Sir James Vashon. His mother was Sybil Grace Wheeler (née Tyrrwhit). Vashon received his early education from a private school in Bournemouth before moving on to the prestigious

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. During his time at Eton, the young Wheeler enrolled in the school

Officer Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

unit and received his first taste of military life. He evidently enjoyed the military way as following the annual OTC summer camp of 1915, Wheeler went missing and was eventually tracked down by his father and housemaster at the Guards Depot Caterham,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. He had lied about his age in order to enlist as a soldier in the

. He was soon discharged in order to resume his studies.

First World War

Wheeler did not have to wait long to come of age and soon left Eton for Sandhurst, where due to the expediencies of war, he completed a much shortened course of officer training. He was subsequently commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

The Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

on 16 August 1916 and shipped out to the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

where he served with the 1st Battalion as part of the 11th Brigade, 4th Division. Wheeler was wounded on three separate occasions, although not seriously. At the time of the armistice he had been promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

North Russia intervention

Following the armistice Wheeler decided to remain in the army but reverted to his substantive rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. He transferred to

The Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

and became a platoon commander in the 45th Battalion. This unit was sent to Russia to support the anti communist White Movement in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. Wheeler landed at Arkhangelsk with his battalion on 6 June 1916 and was soon in action. The 45th Battalion war diary records 230 enemy killed, 350 enemy wounded and 1200 enemy captured for the loss of only 2 officers and 5 men from the unit between June and the end of August. The tide soon turned however, and the battalion was involved in some vicious fighting with the communist forces in early September before being evacuated on 10 September. It was in this short time space that Wheeler distinguished himself repeatedly in combat, gaining two awards for gallantry in the space of seven days. He received the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for an action on 2 September and shortly afterwards was awarded a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to his Military Cross for collective actions on 7, 8 and 9 September. The ''

London Gazette London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

'' citations for the awards were published on 21 January 1920 and read as follows: Military Cross Bar to Military Cross Wheeler was also honoured by the White Movement for his efforts, receiving the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...

. Wheeler paid for these awards with his own pound of flesh, losing two fingers on his left hand due to a painful wound received during the fighting. By the end of the campaign Wheeler had again been promoted to captain.

Inter-war years

After returning from Russia, Wheeler spent a further 10 months in the army before deciding to leave for pastures new in July 1920, he was granted a small disability pension in compensation for the loss of his two fingers. Wheeler spent the next 10 years of his life in a variety of interesting jobs overseas. He spent a year working in the office of an Indian tea plantation, spent time labouring on an Australian sheep farm and took odd jobs in Rhodesia, eventually taking ownership of his own sheep farm in New Zealand. Wheeler agreed to the sale of this farm when he was offered a very favourable price by a gentleman who wanted a find a place for his son to live, some place where he could keep a low profile. The gentleman's son had supposedly been accused of committing "...a rather nasty crime". After returning home to England, Wheeler decided to spend a portion of the proceeds gained from the sale of his farm on a course of flying lessons at

Heston Aerodrome Heston Aerodrome was an airfield located to the west of London, England, operational between 1929 and 1947. It was situated on the border of the Heston and Cranford areas of Hounslow, Middlesex. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Ne ...

. The missing fingers on his left hand evidently posed no hindrance as he soon gained his pilots licence and eventually gained a commercial pilots B Licence. This allowed him to fly passengers and make a living from flying as an airline pilot, this he did for the duration of the 1930s.

Second World War

By 1939 Wheeler was working for an Egyptian-based airline, on the outbreak of war he immediately returned home to England with the intention of joining the

. Knowing that his age (41) would likely bar him from any operational flying role, he decided to utilise the same trick that he had used so successfully back in 1915, he lied about it. This resulted in his application being successful, and 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 ...

in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

in January 1940.

First posting

For his first posting he spent four months acting as the resident staff pilot to a Bombing and Gunnery School in Wales, duties included towing targets, transporting senior officers and performing other routine flights. Wheeler soon tired of this unexciting work and by April 1940 he had applied for and was granted a transfer to

No. 271 Squadron RAF No. 271 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was operational for two periods; a few brief months between 27 September 1918 and 9 December 1918 operating flying boats to protect shipping from German U-boats, and between 28 March 1940 and 1 December 19 ...

which flew the Handley Page Harrow and Bristol Bombay in the transport role. At that time the squadron was heavily involved in supporting the British Expeditionary Force in France, and subsequently assisting in its evacuation after the German Blitzkrieg in May 1940.

Coastal Command

In July 1940 Wheeler was posted to Coastal Command and

No. 500 Squadron RAF (Translation: "Whither the fates may call") , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries= , decorations= , battle_honours= Channel and North Sea, 1939–41 Dunkirk Biscay ports, 1941 Atla ...

at RAF Detling, flying the

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

in the general reconnaissance role. Over the next four months he flew the Anson on 22 convoy escort and anti U-Boat patrols over the English Channel and the North Sea. During this time he had two memorable encounters with the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. On the first he managed to successfully chase a Junkers Ju 88 away from the convoy he was escorting, on the second he narrowly escaped death after being attacked by several Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters.

Fighter Command

In November 1940 Pilot Officer Wheeler was posted to Fighter Command and No. 85 Squadron RAF at RAF Gravesend, which at that time was a night fighter unit under the command of Squadron Leader Peter Townsend. Wheeler flew 71 combat missions with No. 85 Squadron and flew the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

Douglas Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was or ...

and

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...

during this time. He claimed two aerial victories whilst flying the

with 85 Sqn. 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 ...

on 6 May 1941 and a Junkers Ju 88 two nights later on 8 May 1941. Both combats were over the sea off

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. His ...

. In September 1941, the by then Acting Squadron Leader Wheeler was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. His ''London Gazette'' citation reads: By December 1941 Wheeler was promoted to

acting wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historic ...

and took command of

No. 219 Squadron RAF No. 219 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was founded in 1918 and disbanded in 1957 after four separate periods of service. During the First World War it served as a coastal defence unit, and through most of the Second World War and the 1950s it op ...

at RAF Tangmere flying the

. From June 1942 he was 'rested', taking the post of Station Commander at RAF West Malling until Wing Commander

Cathcart Wight-Boycott Air Commodore Cathcart Michael Wight-Boycott, (18 August 1910 – December 1998) was a British fighter pilot during the Second World War and a senior Royal Air Force officer during the post-war years. In 1961, Wight-Boycott became the 10th Com ...

assumed the role in December 1942. On 29 December 1942 Wheeler assumed command of

No. 157 Squadron RAF No. 157 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron active as a night fighter unit in the Second World War. History Formation and First World War No. 157 Squadron Royal Air Force formed on 14 July 1918 at RAF Upper Heyford and was eventually eq ...

then at

RAF Castle Camps RAF Castle Camps was listed as being in Cambridgeshire as it is close to its namesake Cambridgeshire village. It is very near the Suffolk border and the airfield straddled the Essex and Cambridgeshire county border. Construction of the statio ...

flying the

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...

NF MkII in the night fighter role. Wheeler completed 29 defensive patrols with the squadron before flying the units first ever offensive Intruder operation on 23 March 1943 in the Paris area. He went on to fly a further 14 Intruder missions before his time with 157 Sqn came to an end in August 1943. Although he never managed to increase his tally of enemy aircraft further, he had some success at destroying ground targets such as trains during these missions. In recognition of his efforts with 157 Sqn he was awarded a bar to his DFC in September 1943, his ''London Gazette'' citation reads: Wing Commander Wheeler was then posted as Station Commander to RAF Honiley in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. This was a night fighter station which at that time hosted No.63 Operational Training Unit (OTU). This OTU instructed pilots on Airborne Interception techniques using the

and Bristol Blenheim.

Bomber Command

Wheeler soon grew frustrated when it became apparent that Fighter Command was intent on keeping him desk bound due to his advanced years (45). Following a rather one sided argument with his

No. 9 Group RAF No. 9 Group RAF was a group of the Royal Air Force. History The group was first formed on 1 April 1918 in No. 2 Area. The next month it was transferred to South-Western Area and then disbanded on 15 May 1919. Its next incarnation was as part ...

Commander, Air Vice Marshal

Leslie Norman Hollinghurst Air Chief Marshal Sir Leslie Norman Hollinghurst, (2 January 1895 – 8 June 1971) was a British flying ace of the First World War and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. Early life and First World War Hollinghurst was born in Muswell H ...

, Wheeler decided to offer his services to

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...

instead. As the bombing campaign against Germany was reaching its peak, his services were gratefully received. Following some conversion training and a short spell with No. 20 OTU at RAF Lossiemouth to pick up a crew, Wheeler took command of

No. 207 Squadron RAF ("Always prepared")Halley 1988, p. 268. , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , equipment = Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning , equipment_label = Aircraft , battles = , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = ...

flying the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

from

RAF Spilsby Royal Air Force Spilsby or more simply RAF Spilsby is a former Royal Air Force station during the Second World War and the Cold War located in the rural village of Great Steeping, near the market town of Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England. Halpenny, ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

on 26 February 1944. Wheeler, in his typical lead from the front manner, flew with the squadron on its very next mission. This was a raid on

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

on 1 March 1944. And so he continued, unlike some squadron commanders who only flew on the easy raids, Wheeler flew on every single mission that 207 Sqn was tasked for. This did not go unnoticed by the aircrews, Navigator Flight Sergeant Jack Briggs sums up the general feeling towards Wheeler at this time:

Final flight

Wing Commander Wheeler took off on the night of 22/23 March 1944 in Lancaster serial number ME666, coded EM-A, to join a raid against

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. It was to be his 158th operational mission. Arriving at the target area a little ahead of schedule Wheeler began flying circuits until the

Pathfinder Pathfinder may refer to: Businesses * Pathfinder Energy Services, a division of Smith International * Pathfinder Press, a publisher of socialist literature Computing and information science * Path Finder, a Macintosh file browser * Pathfinder (w ...

force had marked the target. Just as the target markers were falling, Wheelers Lancaster was hit by a large calibre flak shell. Immediately engine power was lost and some of the control surfaces became unresponsive. Struggling to maintain control, Wheeler ordered the crew to bale out, only the navigator, rear gunner and mid-upper gunner managed to escape the stricken aircraft before one of the wings fell off and the aircraft exploded. The wreckage came down in woodland near to the small town of

Bad Schwalbach Bad Schwalbach (called Langenschwalbach until 1927) is the district seat of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Geography Geographic location Bad Schwalbach is a spa town some 20 km northwest of Wiesbaden. It lies at 289 to 465&nbs ...

, about west of

. The bodies of Wing Commander Wheeler and his crew are buried in the British Military Cemetery at Durnbach in Bavaria.

References

External links

www.london-gazette.co.ukwww.vashonmedia.com