The Airmen's Stories - Sgt. R W Hillman
 

A Sacrifice That Received No Award

On Friday 13th March 1942, an announcement appeared in The London Gazette detailing the award of a posthumous Victoria Cross to Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell, which was in recognition of his bravery and sacrifice in carrying out a successful torpedo attack on the German battlecruiser Gneisenau almost one year earlier on 6th April 1941. He had been piloting a Bristol Beaufort of No.22 Squadron from RAF Coastal Command that carried an additional three crewmen who also courageously sacrificed their lives. One of those lesser-known and unrecognised crewmembers was a veteran of the Battle of Britain by the name of Flight Sergeant Ralph Walter Hillman, who had served with the Bristol Blenheim MkIVF's of No.235 Squadron as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner.

Ralph lived at Edmonton in London before the war working as a chauffeur, but his sense of duty led him to join the Royal Air Force in May 1939 as an Aircrafthand. A year later after having volunteered for aircrew duties, he qualified as a Wop/AG and was posted to serve with No.22 Squadron, which was the first unit to receive the Beaufort.

Bristol Beaufort

No.22 Squadron was put on constant standby to strike at any German Naval activity, either at sea or against enemy vessels sat in well-defended coastal ports. Two of Hitler's valued warships, the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau arrived at the French port of Brest in late March 1941, where rapid RAF attempts to bomb them in the docks there early in April caused little actual damage. But in one dry dock an unexploded bomb forced the Germans to re-berth the Gneisenau in a more exposed position. This vulnerability was spotted by a photo-reconnaissance Spitfire on the 5th of April and orders were immediately issued for an attack to be carried out the following morning. The threat of these two awesome capital ships venturing out again into the Atlantic Ocean to sow yet more terrible destruction upon merchant convoys, was weighing heavily on anxious minds within the Admiralty and the British government, such that a successful strike against these 'big guns' became paramount.

This vital task was given to Coastal Command and principally the Beauforts of No.22 Squadron. At 4:20am in the early dawn on the 6th of April, three torpedo-laden Beauforts flown respectively by Flying Officers Kenneth Campbell and John Hyde DFC, followed by Sergeant H Camp, took-off independently from St.Eval in Cornwall with the intention to rendezvous near Brest. Foul weather unfortunately ruined this plan and F/O Campbell found himself with the unenviable choice of having to decide whether to attack alone in Beaufort N1016 OA-X.

The chances of surviving such an endeavour were at best minimal, because the heavily fortified harbour was encompassed by almost one thousand defensive guns of various calibres!

The other brave members of OA-X comprised the Observer Sgt James Philip Scott RCAF, the Wireless Operator Sgt William Cecil Mulliss and the Air Gunner Flt/Sgt Ralph Hillman. It was just after 6am when the Beaufort flew swiftly in through the entrance of Brest harbour to seek out its prey. Surprise gave the crew vital seconds as 'Ken' Campbell steered between flak ships while descending to 50 feet to line up the Gneisenau, sitting just 500 yards ahead of him within the inner harbour.

The Gneisenau

This distance was almost too close for a torpedo to run effectively, but without hesitation the lethal 'tinfish' was dropped neatly into the water whereupon the Beaufort was seen to make a climbing turn, desperate to clear the surrounding hills and reach the low cloud that offered some safety. At that point however the harbour defences fully erupted, sending an immense hellfire of flak towards the solitary RAF attacker. Ralph Hillman may have had a go back with his pair of 0.303in Vickers 'K' guns to keep the heads down of at least one enemy gun crew. But no spirited act like that was going to stop countless AA shells impacting into the helpless torpedo-bomber, for within moments the doomed Beaufort went out of control and plunged down into the waters of the harbour.
There were no survivors from this most gallant crew who were never to know the results of their courage and determination to strike the enemy a devastating blow.

Looking rearwards from his gun turret, Ralph Hillman may have possibly lived long enough to see the track of the torpedo heading straight for the Gneisenau, most of whose company had been sound asleep, but were now reacting to the call of "ALARM!" Very soon they would feel the force of a tremendous explosion as the 'tinfish' struck home below the waterline. This sent the Germans into frantic action to prevent their mighty battlecruiser from settling down on the bottom of the harbour, and it was with great fortitude that they managed to return the Gneisenau to dry dock where the ship would undergo extensive repairs for the remainder of the year. In sacrificing themselves the Beaufort crew had severely affected the sea power of the Kriegsmarine, and in so doing doubtless saved many British and Allied merchant vessels and seamen.

The Germans recovered the remains of the Beaufort and its crew and buried the RAF airmen at Brest. The supreme courage shown by Campbell, Scott, Mulliss and Hillman in the face of certain death is beyond anything we in this day can fully comprehend or equal. The loss of Battle of Britain veteran Ralph Walter Hillman in this outstanding action was not officially recognised in any significant way, such that he is but one of the very many unknown men of valour.