1. Hamish Mahaddie had earned his wings and reached the rank of sergeant pilot by the outbreak of the Second World War.
45 Facts About Hamish Mahaddie
1. 2.
Thomas Gilbert Hamish Mahaddie was born in Leith, Scotland, on 19 March 1911.
3.
Hamish Mahaddie's mother was a seamstress, and sewed all his clothes in his younger days, but she died when he was still quite young.
4.
Hamish Mahaddie left school at the age of 13 and got a job working for an Edinburgh grocer, but soon became interested in the possibility of being an apprentice craftsman for the fledgling Royal Air Force.
5.
Hamish Mahaddie applied for the RAF Halton Aircraft Apprenticeship in 1927, and got it.
6.
Hamish Mahaddie did so, but remained at Cranwell for two more years servicing aircraft.
7.
Hamish Mahaddie was posted to No 4 Squadron FTS, Abu Suweir, Egypt in August 1934 and commenced pilot instruction while flying Avro 504Ns.
8.
Hamish Mahaddie earned his wings 13 June 1935 and was promoted sergeant pilot.
9.
Hamish Mahaddie returned to RAF Hinaidi and joined A Flight No 55 Squadron flying Westland Wapitis.
10.
In 1937 Hamish Mahaddie was sent back to England and posted at No 77 Squadron at Honington.
11.
Hamish Mahaddie had been piloting the aircraft, assisted by co-pilot Peter Rodney Wood.
12.
Hamish Mahaddie was taken to York Military Hospital for treatment of a number of injuries he suffered.
13.
Hamish Mahaddie was involved in a number of bombing missions which he termed "ineffective".
14.
Two young pilots Hamish Mahaddie met while at 77 Squadron who went on to have distinguished careers were Jimmy Marks and Leonard Cheshire.
15.
In May 1940 with the German invasion into France Hamish Mahaddie flew raids against the advancing German columns, and completed a total of 23 operations during the Dunkirk period between 10 May and 29 June.
16.
Hamish Mahaddie served with No 19 Operational Training Unit RAF, still flying the Whitely.
17.
Hamish Mahaddie proved to be excellent at training crews, and over the next two years he rose to the rank of squadron leader.
18.
Hamish Mahaddie was assigned to No 7 Squadron at Oakington.
19.
On 1 December 1942 Hamish Mahaddie was promoted to wing commander.
20.
Hamish Mahaddie initiated a diving turn to starboard, which resulted in the aircraft slipping into a steep, violent diving turn.
21.
One round punched through the armour plate below the pilot, but the parachute Hamish Mahaddie was using as a seat cushion absorbed the rest of the round's energy, leaving a mark on the pilot's buttock "no bigger than the size of a sixpence".
22.
On 23 March 1943 Hamish Mahaddie was promoted to group captain and assigned to No 8 Group Headquarters.
23.
Hamish Mahaddie was taken off operational flying and made "Group Training Inspector" for PFF commander Don Bennett.
24.
Hamish Mahaddie was on his own as to how he was to accomplish the finding of crews to replace the group's losses.
25.
In recruiting aircrews Hamish Mahaddie was looking for accuracy and daring.
26.
Hamish Mahaddie had to fly straight and level over the target area till the bomb aimer called "bombs gone", then hold his line of flight another several seconds for the automatic photoflash and the aiming point picture taken by the night camera, all completed at the one point in the trip where search lights and antiaircraft fire were the most intense.
27.
In both cases it was Hamish Mahaddie who was the lead bomber and who had made the error.
28.
Hamish Mahaddie admitted later that he used his lecture tour as a pretext to get onto the airbase and meet the pilots he had already identified.
29.
Hamish Mahaddie had many discussions with 8th Air Force officers both during and after the war over the conduct of the air war over Europe.
30.
Hamish Mahaddie took over the command from Group Captain J H Searby, a pilot whom Mahaddie had earlier recruited to the Pathfinder Force, famous for being the Master Bomber on the Peenemunde raid.
31.
Hamish Mahaddie was again Mentioned in Despatches on 1 January 1945.
32.
Hamish Mahaddie continued to serve in the RAF for 13 years after the war in Europe came to an end in May 1945.
33.
Hamish Mahaddie was awarded a Bar to his AFC on 7 June 1951 for his work bringing the Canberra into service.
34.
Hamish Mahaddie retired in March 1958 with the rank of group captain.
35.
Hamish Mahaddie ended up acquiring 11 Mosquitos for the picture, and the aircrews to fly them.
36.
Hamish Mahaddie soon became known amongst the film industry as a resource, both in the procurement of aircraft, maintenance teams and aircrew for the films and in consulting in the realism in their portrayals of the RAF.
37.
Hamish Mahaddie used it to fly back and forth to various locations before selling it 8 years later in 1972.
38.
Hamish Mahaddie managed to persuade the RAF to lend many of its non-flight worthy aircraft as static airfield dressing.
39.
Hamish Mahaddie persuaded the Spanish air force to co-operate in the filming of Battle of Britain.
40.
Hamish Mahaddie made a request to the Ministry of Defence asking for a select group of pilots to be seconded to the film company, the pilots preferably coming from the Central Flying School.
41.
Late in life Hamish Mahaddie traveled the world giving a talk he called "The Bombing Years" about the air war in Europe.
42.
Hamish Mahaddie presented at such venues as the Royal Aeronautical Society, RAF Association meetings, the Smithsonian, the Air Force Academy, the war colleges and at veteran reunions.
43.
Hamish Mahaddie spoke at commemorative ceremonies and wrote a memoir about his time in the RAF.
44.
Hamish Mahaddie had many discussions with Eighth Air Force officers over the bombing campaign against Germany, both during the war and after.
45.
Hamish Mahaddie was always cordial and easy to speak with, but he loved to tweak the Americans when these topics came up.