Final Postings - Wing Commander Branse Burbridge DSO DFC - 4 February 1921 – 1 November 2016
Wing Commander Branse Burbridge became the RAF’s most successful night fighter pilot, credited with the destruction of 21 enemy aircraft, including four during one patrol.
Born on 4 February 1921 as the son of a Wesleyan preacher in East Dulwich, Bransome Arthur Burbridge was educated at Alleyne’s Grammar School, Stevenage. He was working in the City of London at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939.
As a committed Christian and pacifist, initially he registered as a conscientious objector. But later, he felt increasing unease about his position, and in September 1940, joined the RAF. By October 1941, he had completed his training as a night fighter pilot and joined No. 85 Squadron, commanded by the Battle of Britain Ace, Peter Townsend.
Flying the Havoc, an aircraft not ideally suited to operating as a night fighter; he had to wait until the following June to achieve his first success, when he was credited with probably destroying a German bomber near Ipswich. The Squadron then re-equipped with Mosquitoes in August, but further success eluded him and at the end of the year he became an Instructor at a night-fighter training unit. In July 1943, he returned to 85 Squadron for a second tour, this time on Mosquitoes, teaming up with Flying Officer ‘Bill’ Skelton. In Bill, he found an ideal partner. Both were committed Christians (Bill was later ordained an Anglican priest) and they made every effort not to aim at the cockpit of their targets in the hope that crews could escape, as a number did. He described his Navigator as ‘magnificent’ and they retained a lifelong friendship until Bill’s death in 2003.
On the night of 23 February 1944, Branse Burbridge achieved the first of his successes during the Luftwaffe’s ‘Operation Steinbeck’, known as the ‘baby blitz’ – a series of lightning hit-and-run bombing attacks on southern England. Over ensuing weeks, he and his Navigator accounted for a further four aircraft, including a Messerschmitt 410 fighter plane over Beachy Head. After a long burst of cannon fire, they watched as one of the crew bailed out, while the fighter crashed into the sea off the Sussex coast. For each ‘hit’ they were awarded an immediate DFC, and achieved further successes during the summer, including the destruction of three V1 flying bombs.
On the night of 24 March 1944, they became embroiled in a life-or-death dogfight with a Dornier 217 bomber over the Channel. Their Mosquito chased the aircraft from 19,000ft to just 3,000ft before it crashed into the sea, with W/C Burbridge pulling up with only 1,000ft to spare.
During the period of the build-up to the invasion of Normandy, and after, together with his Radar
Navigator, Bill Skelton, they flew 30 sorties over Germany to provide escort cover to RAF bombers.
Having flown in support of the D-Day landings, they then began operating over occupied France. On the night of 14/15 June, they intercepted a Junkers 88, flown by the Luftwaffe Experten (Ace) Major Wilhelm Herget, credited with 72 aerial victories; shooting the aircraft down – Herget survived. Ten days later, Branse Burbridge claimed another Junkers 88, but debris from the enemy aircraft hit his radiator forcing him to return to Base on one engine.
By September, flying a more advanced Mosquito, the pair were to achieve an astonishing run of success over Germany. It began on 11 September, when they shot down an enemy night fighter. A month later, they were supporting a Bomber Command raid on Brunswick when two more fell to their guns, from one of which a parachute was deployed. Their greatest achievement came on the night of 4 November when the two men, now dubbed by press as the ‘Night Hawk Partners’, took off to provide support for a bombing raid on Bochum. Over the Bonn area, Bill Skelton picked up on his Radar set a stream of contacts and directed his friend and pilot on to them. They soon identified a Junkers 88 night fighter and shot it down. Continuing their patrol, Skelton obtained another contact and, after a brief engagement, a second Junker was destroyed.
The two now joined the homeward-bound bomber stream to protect it from attack. Within minutes, they saw an enemy fighter, pursued it, and shot it down. This was not the end of their night’s work however, as they destroyed a fourth. Bill Rawnsley, another night fighter ace, later described this remarkable sortie as ‘the most extraordinary of all long-range escort patrols ever accomplished’. Both Burbridge and Skelton received a Bar to their DFCs and a few weeks later, they were awarded the DSO.
Their success continued as they downed a Messerschmitt Bf 110 over Mannheim on the night of 21 November, when return fire damaged their cockpit. Flying in support of RAF bombers attacking targets in Germany, they accounted for four more enemy fighters before the end of the year.
On 2 January 1945, the two men took off to support a bombing raid on Ludwigshafen in Bavaria. Skelton gained a contact and Burbridge closed in on a Junkers 88. A short burst sent it crashing to the ground. It was the crew’s 21st and final success, all of which they had gained in a ten-month spell. The following morning, Group Captain ‘Cats Eyes’ Cunningham, their former CO, telephoned his congratulations on their having surpassed his total of 20 to become the most successful British and Commonwealth night-fighter partnership of the war.
They were gazetted for a Bar to their DSOs and in March, they left No. 85. Burbridge was later awarded an additional American DFC.
Burbridge went on to become Commanding Officer of the Night Fighter Leaders School, and in May, took his brother Jarvis, who also served under Bomber Command and recently returned from a PoW camp; for a flight in a Mosquito. He met Major Herget, whom he had shot down a year earlier, and invited him to be a Guest Speaker at his Unit. He took him also on a flight in a Mosquito and, before departing, Herget countersigned his host’s flying Log Book acknowledging the victory.
Burbridge left the RAF in December 1945 to read History at St Peter’s College, Oxford. He considered entering the Church … which is hardly surprising when we learn that both he and Bill Skelton both conducted services in the church at Swannington. But in 1948, instead he joined the staff of Scripture Union (SU), pioneering the work of the Inter-School Christian Fellowship. His goal was to create extra-curricular Christian groups in secondary schools, where young people could meet to encourage one another in their faith. He was to gain the respect of many head teachers who acknowledged the value of SU’s ministry in schools. Christian groups mushroomed as a consequence. A gifted artist and musician, he used creative methods of communication to engage with the youth culture of the 1960s and, under his leadership, SU produced a range of educational resources for young people.
In addition, Burbridge developed holiday activities for young people and launched residential courses for sixth formers, in a wide variety of academic disciplines, exploring the relevance of Christian faith to science and arts-based studies.
By the mid-1970s, he had taken up a part-time role with the Oxford Pastorate, an Anglican chaplaincy serving the University. Now, his work took on a global focus as often he travelled with his wife, continuing his ministry to school pupils and students in many different countries.
The final phase of Burbridge’s life was deeply affected by worsening dementia, but despite this, he taught his family and friends much about living gracefully and patiently with a declining body and mind. After the death of his wife Barbara in 2012 – they had been married since 1949 – he needed specialist care and, to provide necessary funds, his family reluctantly sold his medals. His son commented at the time: ‘We value him more than the medals’. The money realised allowed Burbridge to live out the rest of his life in comfort … until his death on 1 November 2016. He is survived by a son and a daughter.
One Man's Tribute - Wing Commander Branse Burbridge DSO DFC
Courtesy: Paul Burbridge (son)
In our living room, here in North Wales, hangs a very special picture given to me by my family on my 80th birthday in November 2016. The rather unusual subject of this artist’s proof limited edition print, however, possibly requires some explanation. In 1960, my wife and I, recently married, moved to East Suffolk where I had been invited to serve as Pastor of a local Baptist church. Within just five years, however, an unexpected development in the nature of our ministry occurred. A love of mountains from as long as I could remember, and a compelling desire to share our faith with young people were to merge in a deep conviction that God was calling us to Snowdonia to establish a Christian-based outdoor pursuits centre. At this challenging time, we received helpful advice from many sources, but the invaluable support and encouragement of one in particular stands out.
His name was Branse Burbridge.
At the time, Branse worked in London for a Christian organisation known as ‘Scripture Union’ where he was instrumental in establishing the ‘Inter Schools Christian Fellowship’ (ISCF for short). His responsibility was to train older pupils and teachers in Secondary and Grammar schools across the UK to set up Christian Unions, and in the 1960s, as part of that scheme, he and his cousin Graham, organised summer camps for sixth-form pupils at Arthog, near Barmouth, on the Afon Mawddach. They were both experienced in outdoor activities, and used their skills in canoeing and climbing. This wise and widely respected man, therefore, seemed ideally suited as someone with whom we could share our own vision of establishing a residential Christian mountain centre in North Wales, and so it proved to be. Branse would have been about forty-five at that time, thirteen years my senior, and proved to be invaluable to us in our pioneering work. However, throughout this period, although I had served my obligatory time of National Service in the Far East as an RAF Met Observer, I knew absolutely nothing of my dear friend’s remarkable war record twenty years earlier, as Wing Commander Branse Burbridge, DSO DFC. So, turn the clock back to 1940 …
Branse was 19 and a member of an Evangelical Church at Welwyn (a fellowship we have had quite a lot of contact with over the years). He ran a young people’s Bible Class in the church and was an avowed ‘Conscientious Objector’, feeling it was totally wrong for a Christian to take up arms. However, one by one, the young men in his class were called up to serve in the Armed Forces, whilst at the same time, London was being bombed heavily night after night. As a result, he was compelled to change his mind, joined the RAF, and learned to fly. After training, he was posted as a night-fighter pilot to 85 Squadron, which was equipped with de Haviland Mosquitoes fitted with a very sophisticated Radar system capable of intercepting enemy aircraft at night on raids to and from London. Throughout the war, his Navigator was a man called Bill Skelton, also a Christian, who, after the war, was his ‘Best Man’ when Branse got married. The two of them were undoubtedly very skilled, and at the end of hostilities in 1945, the ‘Night-Hawks’ as they were known, had shot down more enemy aircraft than any other night-fighter crew (21 in total + 3 V1 flying bombs – a terrifying weapon indiscriminately killing hundreds of civilians). Though no longer a Conscientious Objector, he always said that, given the choice, he always fired at a plane’s engines rather than the cockpit and was always relieved when he saw the crew bale out by parachute! He was awarded the DSO and DFC both with bars, and several other medals.
Branse spent his final years in a Care Home with Alzheimer’s, before he died on 2nd November 2016, aged 95. It was agreed by the family that it would be appropriate to auction his medals, flying jacket, helmet, and his Log Book, and so enable him to benefit from the wonderful care provided by Rock House in Chalfont-St-Peter.
Since I learned of his wartime achievements and started finding out more about his remarkable life, he became something of a ‘hero’, which I guess is why we have our own tribute to him here in our own home. In a small alcove of our living room there is a ‘diorama’ depicting RAF Swannington in Norfolk where 85 Squadron was based, with Branse’s Mosquito NFXIX registration Y-VY on the right. (The location of the dispersal hut in front of St Peter’s church is a case of ‘model-makers licence’.)
The birthday gift of a framed print on the wall shows the same aircraft escorting a damaged Lancaster back to its base at dawn. It is entitled ‘Safely Home’ and it is signed by Branse Burbridge DSO DFC in the bottom left corner; Phil Ainley DFC, the pilot of the Lancaster in the bottom right with the artist’s (Philip West) signature too. Obviously, the print (one of 25 Special Editions) predates his Alzheimer’s for him to have signed each copy personally. The day before my birthday when I was
given this very special gift, I received a phone call from David Burbridge (another cousin) telling me that Branse had died earlier in the week. I stood looking at Philip West’s painting and read the title once again – ‘Safely Home’. Its poignancy touched our hearts, and I wept, yet rejoicing that his suffering with Alzheimer’s was at an end, and that he was now in the presence of the Heavenly Father he had so faithfully served.
Beside the framed print hangs a small frame with a couple of photos of Branse in flying gear and on his wedding day with Bill Skelton, whilst below in a case are replicas of his six medals.
In May 2017, I rode my Brompton (folding bike) with camping equipment across Norfolk, visiting several 100 Group airfields. Cycling along the old perimeter track to St Peter’s Church, where Branse conducted services on several occasions, I stood by the Memorial to Swannington airfield and wept, just as I had in St Andrews Church, Little Snoring, when I first read the poem: ‘An Airfield Remembered’ written by S F Ruffle, 23 Squadron. At my age, one is allowed to weep without feeling embarrassed, mindful for the immeasurable gratitude we owe to those who were prepared to offer their lives in the defence of our Nation and freedom.
Branse Burbridge (4th February 1921 – 2nd November 2016) ‘Safely Home’!
By Mike Perrin
This article is from the Spring 2017 and Autumn 2017 issues of Confound and Destroy
