Group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

Walter Myers Churchill, (24 November 1907 – 27 August 1942) was a

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 ...

pilot and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

during

World War II 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 ...

. Churchill was the elder brother of

Peter Churchill Peter Morland Churchill, (14 January 1909 – 1 May 1972) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer in France during the Second World War. His wartime operations, which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in German concentrat ...

and

Oliver Churchill William Oliver Churchill, (1914–1997) was a Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer during the Second World War. Shortly after the Italians had switched allegiance to the Allies in September 1943, he was parachuted into German occupied Cor ...

, both of whom were

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

officers during the Second World War.

Early life

Churchill was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, Netherlands, on 24 November 1907 to

William Algernon Churchill William Algernon Churchill (1865 – 23 December 1947) was an art historian and British diplomat. Family and early life He was born in Algiers the son of Henry Adrian Churchill (1828–1886) who was an archaeologist and British diplomat, and ...

, a British diplomat, and singer Violet Churchill (née Myers). William served as a British consul in Mozambique and

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

in Brazil prior to Walter's birth, and in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Milan, Palermo, and Algiers in Walter's youth. William was also an art connoisseur, and author of what is still the standard reference work on early European paper and papermaking, ''Watermarks in Paper''. Churchill was named after his uncle Walter Myers, an eminent physician and bacteriologist who died in 1901 aged 28. He was educated at

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

,"Deaths." Times ondon, England3 August 1943: 6. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 3 April 2013. and in 1926 read

Modern Languages A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

. He then became an aeronautical engineer with

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following ...

Motors, Coventry, after which he started an aviation precision engineering company, Churchill Components (Coventry) Ltd, in 1937, which supplied machined parts such as exhaust valves for radial aero-engines to Armstrong Siddeley. After being blitzed out of Coventry in 1941, the company re-located to

Market Bosworth Market Bosworth is a market town and civil parish in western Leicestershire, England. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 1,906, increasing to 2,097 at the 2011 census. It is most famously near to the site of the decisive final battle of ...

.History of JJ Churchill Ltd
/ref> The company worked for

Sir Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with inventing the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 for ...

, the jet-engine pioneer, and it machined compressor blades for the gas-turbine engines in the early 1940s.

Royal Air Force

Churchill 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 Auxiliary Air Force on 11 January 1932 and appointed to No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron. He was promoted to

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 ...

in June 1937 and transferred from the AAF to the Auxiliary Air Force Reserve of Officers in January 1939. He was recalled to No. 605 Squadron and full-time service in August 1939, and commanded the squadron from June to September 1940, when he was succeeded by

Archie McKellar Squadron Leader Archibald Ashmore McKellar, & Bar (10 April 1912 – 1 November 1940) was a flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. McKellar grew up and joined the family business in his native Scotland, but i ...

. Churchill later served with No. 3 Squadron and No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron and took part in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

as a

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

.Battle of Britain Memorial
/ref> On 11 September 1940 his Hurricane was badly damaged in combat over Maidstone but he was able to land at Croydon, slightly wounded. During his tenure as Squadron Commander with 71 (Eagle) at

RAF Debden Royal Air Force Debden or more simply RAF Debden is a former Royal Air Force station located southeast of Saffron Walden and approximately north of the village of Debden in North Essex, England History The airfield was opened in April 1937 ...

, he instructed his pilots to land the outdated Brewster Buffaloes with their tail wheels unlocked, causing damage to the aircraft after which

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

were issued to the squadron. Churchill was an 'ace' pilot credited with seven "kills", and was awarded a

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

and a Distinguished Flying Cross. W M Churchill grave 1

He also evaluated various makes of fighter aircraft for the RAF and played a key role in getting

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 Griff ...

aircraft to the defence of Malta. In August 1942, he was posted to command RAF ''Ta Kali'' in Malta as group captain. He planned the first attacks Sicily and led the first raid on 23 August. Four days later, leading a raid on

Biscari Acate ( Sicilian: ''Acati'' or ''Vischiri'') is a small town and ''comune'' in the south of Sicily, Italy, part of the province of Ragusa. It is located in the Dirillo River valley, from Ragusa. Until 1938 it was called Biscari, and its hist ...

airfield near

Gela Gela (Sicilian and ; grc, Γέλα) is a city and (municipality) in the Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province of Cal ...

in southern Sicily he was killed when his Spitfire was hit by flak and crashed in flames. He was buried at the Syracuse War Cemetery.Commonwealth War Graves Commission listing
/ref> Extract of letter from

Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Keith Park Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, (15 June 1892 – 6 February 1975) was a New Zealand-born officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). During the Second World War, his leadership of the RAF's No. 11 Group was pivotal to the Luftwaffe's defe ...

, Air Officer Commanding, RAF Mediterranean to his widow: The company continued under the management of his wife, Joyce, and subsequently that of his second son, James. The company is now known a
JJ Churchill Ltd.
and is managed by James's son, Andrew.

Honours and awards

* 31 May 1940: Flight Lieutenant Walter Myers Churchill is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross: * 31 May 1940: Flight Lieutenant Walter Myers Churchill DFC (90241) is appointed a

Companion of the Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typic ...

References

Bibliography

* Cull, Brian. ''Spitfires over Malta – The Epic Air Battles of 1942''. London: Grub Street, 2005. .

External links

Battle of Britain Fighter Command Order of Battle

{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Walter 1907 births 1942 deaths Military personnel from Amsterdam Royal Air Force group captains The Few British aviators Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) People educated at Sedbergh School Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Eagle Squadrons Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Burials at Syracuse Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery British expatriates in the Netherlands British expatriates in Italy British expatriates in Algeria