Buffaloes over Singapore

RAF, RAAF, RNZAF and Dutch Brester Fighters in Action Over Malaya and the East Indies 1941–1942

Brian Cull, Mark Haselden, Paul Sortehaug

• Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781908117960
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

This WWII history recounts how RAF pilots, outgunned by superior Japanese aircraft, nevertheless flew and fought their way to victory.
In 1940, the Royal Air Force Purchasing Commission acquired more than 100 Brewster B-339 Buffalo fighter planes from the US. But when the aircraft were deemed below par for service in the UK, the vast majority were diverted for use in the Far East, where it was believed they would be superior to any Japanese aircraft encountered should hostilities break out there. This assessment was to prove tragically mistaken.
When war erupted in the Pacific, the Japanese Air Forces proved vastly superior in nearly all aspects. Compounding their advantage was the fact that many of the Japanese fighter pilots were veterans of the war against China. By contrast, most of the young British, New Zealand, and Australian pilots who flew the Buffalo on operations in Malaya and in Singapore were little more than trainees.
Yet these fledgling fighter pilots achieved much greater success than could have been anticipated. Buffaloes Over Singapore tells their story in vivid detail, complete with previously unpublished source material and wartime photographs.

CHAPTER I

BUFFALOES ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR SINGAPORE

1941

“I was far from feeling happy when I was told that our fighters were a type which I had not heard of as being in action elsewhere … However, a fighter was a fighter and we were in no position to pick and choose at that time.”⁷

Lt Gen Arthur Percival, GOC Malaya

The possibility of despatching substantial quantities of urgently needed fighters to Singapore from the United Kingdom–where the Battle of Britain had only just ended and a renewed offensive by the Luftwaffe was still anticipated–was remote. In any event the demands of the new fronts in the Middle East took priority. The answer was found by requesting that deliveries of American Brewster B-339E Buffalo fighters–originally destined for Britain, which had been ordered by the British Purchasing Commission during 1939 and 1940–be diverted to the Far East. These aircraft had been found unsuitable for operations in the European war zone owing to their lack of high altitude performance capabilities, but were deemed to be good enough to deal with anything the Japanese might field.

Early in 1941, command of the RAF Far East Command passed to Air Vice-Marshal C.W.H Pulford CB OBE AFC, who replaced Air Vice-Marshal Sir John Babington KCB CBE DSO. Shortly before his departure, the outgoing AOC had sent the Air Ministry a memorandum, which stressed that he was in no doubt that, should the Japanese gain a foothold in Malaya, the fate of Singapore would be sealed. Consequently, he recommended not only the strengthening of the air forces, but he went further and said that the defences should include the whole of Malaya and should be based primarily on the use of air power. The day after Pulford’s arrival, at a Chiefs of Staff meeting in London, the Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff advocated the despatch of Hurricanes to Malaya, but his opposite number on the Air Staff insisted that “Buffalo fighters would be more than a match for the Japanese aircraft that were not of the latest type.” How the Allies could delude themselves in this manner remains a mystery. It seems that the appearance of fixed-undercarriage A5Ms of the JNAF and JAAF Ki-27s in the skies over China and Manchuria blinded the powers-that-be to the truth. Quite apart from the excellent showing of the existing Japanese fighters, a unit of the new Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Zen fighters of the JNAF had reached China as early as July 1940, where in a brief period they had virtually destroyed the remaining Chinese air strength.⁸

What Singapore needed were supplies of modern fighters–Spitfires and Hurricanes, or even P-40 Tomahawks which were on order from the United States. However, the Spitfire had not even made its appearance outside the UK at this stage, although Hurricanes were available in large numbers. At the end of August, Prime Minister Churchill rather flamboyantly offered Soviet Premier Stalin a further 200 Hurricanes in addition to the 40 already supplied, with 200 Tomahawks promised from deliveries due from the United States. As a consequence of this undertaking, Singapore was refused further proposed reinforcements when the Chief of Staff advised Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, C-in-C Far East, that the plan to accommodate an air strength of 336 aircraft in the Far East by the end of 1941 could no longer be met, much less a recently proposed higher figure. The greater priority of both Russia and the Middle East, together with shortfalls in production in both the United Kingdom and the United States, were cited as the causes.

The Straits Times heralded the arrival of the Buffaloes in glowing terms, under the heading ‘American Fighters in Malaya’:

“Squadrons of Brewster Buffaloes, 300 mile-an-hour American made planes which are proving to be first class fighters are among new RAF reinforcements in Malaya. Malaya is the first country in the British Empire east of Suez equipped with these American fighters. They are capable of turning more quickly than any other fighter yet designed. The Buffaloes are flown by specially selected personnel, among whom are crack fighter pilots who have fought the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain and have been credited with destroying a large number of Heinkels and Messerschmitts. These pilots, who only a few months ago, handled Britain’s marvel planes, the Spitfire and Hurricane–are taking to the Buffaloes like ducks to water. They declare that the Buffalo is a delight to handle. ‘There’s nothing like it for really close-quarter combat,’ one of them said, ‘It can turn on a cent.’ The planes, which are now in service with RAF squadrons in Singapore can be assembled and take the air 24 hours after the crates have been unloaded in Singapore.

“The Buffalo started its career as a fleet fighter of the US Navy’s air arm and was designed to land on aircraft carriers. Its unusually thick, barrel-like fuselage–its appearance on the ground thoroughly warrants the name ‘Buffalo’–makes it an unmistakable type in the air. Its speed with the 800hp Wright Cyclone engine fitted is comparatively speaking not very great–not much more than 310mph–but speed, although ranking high among the qualities of the modern fighter, is proving by no means the only important factor in aerial fighting.”

It was planned to establish two new squadrons immediately at Kallang aerodrome, the first of which was 67 Squadron, formed from a draft of five officers and 111 airmen who had arrived aboard SS Aquitania on 11 March. By the end of May the unit had its full complement of Buffaloes assembled and tested, and Sqn Ldr R.A. Milward DFC arrived from the Middle East to command; his flight commanders were Flt Lt D.J.C. Pinckney, a Battle of Britain veteran, and Flt Lt Jack Brandt. The rest of the pilots were predominantly members of the RNZAF sent direct from New Zealand, although Flg Off P.M. Bingham-Wallis joined the unit at Singapore when he transferred from 4AACU. One of the groundcrew, LAC J. Helsdon Thomas, wrote:

“The Squadron was equipped with Buffalo aircraft, also known as flying barrels. Maintaining these machines was a constant headache. Spot welds would break on the box section undercarriage. Rivets were discovered in the fuel lines, fuel pumps and carburettors. Big-end bearings had a habit of cracking up and depositing white metal into the scavenge filters.”⁹

However, 67 Squadron’s stay at Singapore was to be brief and a few months later, in October, it would be despatched to Burma. The second Buffalo unit, also formed at Kallang on 12 March, was 243 Squadron. Sqn Ldr G.B.M. Bell, who had been acting as ADC to the AOC, was offered the post of squadron commander:

“We were equipped with Brewster Buffaloes, an American aircraft designed for use on carriers and at that time discarded by the US Navy as obsolete. However, we were proud to be flying the Buffalo which was, despite its obsolescence, modern when compared to the other aircraft with which the Command was equipped.”

Two more Battle of Britain pilots–Flt Lt Tim Vigors DFC and Flg Off John Mansel-Lewis¹⁰–arrived from the United Kingdom as flight commanders, and were accompanied by Wg Cdr R.A. Chignall, who was to take command of RAF Kallang. Tim Vigors, credited with eight victories while serving in the UK, recalled:

“John Mansel-Lewis came out on the boat with me. In fact we shared a cabin the whole way. He was, I suppose, my closest surviving friend at that time. There were six other fighter pilots who came out with us on the boat to Singapore and the only one I can remember was Colin Pinckney, who had been at school with me. As far as I can remember the remaining five of these pilots were all killed in the subsequent Japanese action.”

With Vigors in charge of A Flight and Mansel-Lewis B Flight, a handful of senior pilots were transferred from resident units to assist with the training of the mainly inexperienced RNZAF pilots who began arriving. Flg Off Mowbray Garden was posted to 243 Squadron from 4AACU, while Flg Off Maurice Holder, known as Blondie due to his shock of blond hair, transferred from 36 (Vildebeest) Squadron. During his travels Holder had acquired a black flying suit, which he continued to wear once hostilities had begun, and at a time when his companions had been issued with white flying suits to assist with detection should they find themselves forced down into the jungle.

Prior to his posting to 243 Squadron, 27-year-old Garden had never flown a monoplane or an aircraft with a retractable undercarriage, and had no formal fighter training or schooling in air gunnery. When it was deemed advisable to try his hand at the latter skill, he was informed that no ammunition was available for practice. A member of the Straits Settlements Volunteer Air Force, Garden had arrived in Singapore in 1936 to take up an appointment as European assistant to a firm of solicitors. Although he had wanted to return to England to join the RAF when war broke out, he was advised that he and other members of the SSVAF would be retained. In September 1939 he was mobilised into the RAF as a VR officer. Of this period, he recalled:

“There was friction between the European civilian personnel and the Armed Services. There were faults on both sides but, apart from officers, the two just did not mix socially. The poor troops and NCOs, when they had their pay transferred into the local currency, found it did not take them very far on a night out–even if they had been socially acceptable. This of course created jealousy and division between the European civilians on the one hand and the Armed Services on the other, which mitigated against co-operation between the two.

“One of the grave shortages was aircraft of all kinds, but in the spring of 1941 a consignment of Brewster Buffaloes arrived in crated form; these were fighter aircraft, which nobody in any other theatre of war wanted–they proved most unreliable aircraft indeed. As a flying machine they handled quite nicely but as soon as a war load was installed–i.e. guns, ammunition, armour plate etc–the performance fell off very substantially. Moreover, though the guns were .50 Brownings, there were only four of them. Two of these were mounted in the fuselage, firing through the blades of the propeller, and two in the wings. The ammunition supplied was not good–it was only armour-piercing and ball, no incendiary ammunition at all. There was some tracer but it was not until the last days that we were allowed to use it because of the damage it did to the gun barrels, of which there were few replacements. The armour-piercing ammunition suffered from split casing, which meant every so often the cartridge or charges behind the bullet would split its case and jam the gun. There was a pull handle in the cockpit by which one could try and eject the faulty round, but this rarely worked and, of course, if a wing gun jammed like this the aircraft was rendered unusable as a fighting machine because the recoiling effect of firing the opposite wing gun made the aircraft yaw to such an extent, one lost the target from one’s sight.”

Two more pilots arrived for 243 Squadron from 100 Squadron, also a Vildebeest unit, as New Zealander Plt Off Edgar Pevreal recalled:

“They called around the squadrons for volunteers to go to fighter squadrons. Jack Oakden and I volunteered mainly through boredom. We did very little flying with 100 Squadron because they were short of petrol, spare parts and all sorts of things–if we got one flight a week we were lucky. We only worked in the morning from 9 till 12–and we only did four half days a week. We were bored stiff.”

Another new arrival was Sgt Geoff Fisken, a 25-year-old former farm worker from Gisborne, who had arrived in Singapore in February:

“I felt my posting must have been a mistake, as I had volunteered for service in the Middle East. When I first arrived in Singapore I was posted to Seletar but found nothing to do–I filled in time flying Avro Tutors though I was then posted to 205 Squadron on Singapore IIIs–where I discovered we had more pilots than there were planes. I applied for a transfer to one of the new fighter squadrons–I had been working as a deer culler, so I knew how to shoot–and after a fortnight or so I was sent to 21RAAF Squadron with ‘Kitchy’ Bargh and Bill Christiansen to do a conversion on Wirraways, and on 16 March we were posted to Kallang to fly Buffaloes. It then became a job for myself and Kitchy to test and deliver Buffaloes to the RAF. Although much better than I’d flown before, no way in the world could they be considered a modern fighter plane. The hours we chalked up would help us to understand the plane’s strengths and weaknesses, and prove invaluable in combat.”

‘Kitchy’ (meaning small) Bargh was in fact Sgt Vic Bargh, a native of Carterton, who had been posted to 36 Squadron initially; he recalled:

“When we got to Singapore, we thought we’d see all sorts of modern aeroplanes, and we had the same aeroplanes [Vildebeest] flying in Singapore. We were the first ones to go; there were six of us. Three months later Buffaloes started to arrive in boxes, and they were assembled at Seletar for 67 Squadron. I thought they were terrific; they were beautiful aeroplanes. Well, we all thought they were good, you know. We didn’t know they were out of date.

“We [Bargh, Christiansen and Fisken] used to fly over to Seletar in a small aeroplane and pick them up, and bring them over one by one until w...

Table of contents

• FRONT COVER
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• CONTENTS
• FOREWARD
• BREWSTERBUFFALO
• RECOLLECTIONS
• PREAMBLE
• CHAPTER I Buffaloes are Good Enough For Singapore
• CHAPTER II Invasion
• CHAPTER III The Loss of the Capital Ships
• CHAPTER IV Amok in Malaya – Buffaloes Overwhelmed
• CHAPTER V All Quiet on the Singapore Front
• CHAPTER VI Singapore – The Calm before the Blitz
• CHAPTER VII The January Blitz
• CHAPTER VIII Buffalo Swansong
• CHAPTER IX The End for Singapore
• CHAPTER X Dutch Brewsters: The Fall of Java
• AFTERMATH
• APPENDIX I: The Trials and Tribulations of Sgt Harry Griffiths 453 Sqn
• APPENDIX II Reflections – Geoff Fisken DFC
• APPENDIX III: Roll of Honour
• APPENDIX IV: Known Combat Claims and Credits
• APPENDIX V Buffaloes Issued to RAF Far East Command
• CHAPTER FOOTNOTES
• SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
• ADDITIONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• MAPS OF THEATRE