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Squadron Leader Christopher Riddle
Christopher John Henry Riddle, known throughout his life as Jack, was born in Buckinghamshire on 4th April 1914. He attended Harrow School from 1928 to 1931. He joined 601 Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force in early 1938 and was called to full-time service in October 1939. When 601 was formed in the early Thirties as part of the bolstering of Britains air defences its founder, Lord Edward Grosvenor, stipulated that all the pilots should be members of the London club Whites (as he was). With war looming this tradition could not be allowed to inhibit the induction of suitable candidates but Jack did have to run the gauntlet of dinner with Sir Philip Sassoon, who held a senior position in the Air Ministry and was Honorary head of 601. Presumably he reported favourably on Jack. In the early stages of the Battle of Britain, 601 were required to mount early-morning standing patrols over convoys in the Channel. If there was no enemy activity these could be extremely tedious. As the time approached for the patrol to return to Tangmere each pilot would radio in turn his requirements for breakfast - egg, sausage, bacon....etc etc.... This practice came to the attention of a senior officer who forbade this frivolous use of official channels. Jack said that it was rumoured that Churchill had heard of this for permission to continue the habit arrived, this supposedly gave German eavesdroppers the impression that our airmen were well fed and ready to do battle. Over Dunkirk, on 27th May 1940, Riddle probably destroyed a Me110. He shared a Me110 on 11th July and a Do17 on 4th September. In January 1941 Riddle was posted to HQ 10 Group as a Sector Controller. Later in the war he was in the Far East at HQ Air Command South East Asia, in Ceylon and later Singapore. Riddle was released from the RAF in 1946 as a Squadron Leader. He was later with an international trading group and his main work was buying Baltic timber for the Australian market. Riddle later had his own textile company. Jack Riddle passed away on 8th August 2009, aged 95.
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Glorious Summer by Robert Taylor Throughout the long hot summer of 1940 the destiny of the British Isles, indeed the future of Europe, lay in the hands of a small band of young RAF fighter pilots. Against them stood the vast aerial fleets of an all-powerful Luftwaffe, gloating and confident from its victories in Poland, France and the Low Countries. Lying in wait across the Channel, anticipating an easy victory by its air force, were the armies of the most powerful tyrant the world had ever known. With Europe already succumbed to Nazi rule, Britain was alone, the last bastion among the free nations to stand against an evil empire bent upon world domination. The battle, the first ever to be fought entirely in the air, would change the course of history, whatever the outcome. Outnumbered more than five to one at the outset, the odds were so heavily stacked against the RAF, the task looked hopeless. But as the ferocious aerial battles continued through the long summer months, the tactical skills, devotion and raw courage of the RAF's young flyers, gradually turned the tide. By September end, the battle was won and the defeated Luftwaffe retired to its plundered territories to lick its wounds. Image shows nearest, young Pilot Officer Geoffrey Page, later to become one of the RAFs most highly decorated fighter aces, powers his Mk I Hurricane over the country lane at the edge of the airfield, as he and his fellow No 56 Squadron pilots make their third scramble of the day. |
| Squadron Leader Christopher Riddle Aircraft details |
| Squadron Leader Christopher Riddle Squadron details |
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