Keith Thiele

Keith Frederick (Jimmy) Thiele DSO, DFC & 2 Bars was an officer of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War. He is one of only four New Zealand born airmen to receive two medal bars to his Distinguished Flying Cross.

Career
Thiele was born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 25 February 1921. He was educated at Waltham Primary and Christchurch Boys' High Schools. Thiele was working as a junior reporter on Christchurch's Star-Sun Newspaper when war was declared. He was 19 when he joined the RNZAF in December 1940. After completing the pilot training course in Harewood in April 1941 with the rank of pilot officer, Thiele was sent to England in June 1941 where he was seconded to the Royal Air Force. On a train from Liverpool, Thiele spotted his first Spitfires and was convinced they were for him. At the reception centre later that evening he was asked to state his flying preference and he wrote "fighters", but was posted to bomber command.

Bomber command
Thiele was posted to an operational training unit before being transferred to the Canadian No. 405 Squadron at RAF Pocklington a few miles east of York. Thiele's first mission was almost his last. Returning from Cherbourg in France, Thiele got the green light to land, but as he touched down was confronted by another aircraft. The two planes collided engine to engine, ripping the wings off. The court of inquiry absolved him. On 30–31 May 1941, flying a Halifax Thiele took part in the thousand-bomber raid on Cologne. By late October 1941, Thiele had completed 32 operations flying both Halifaxes and Wellingtons. Thiele was promoted straight from pilot officer to flight lieutenant, skipping the intermediate rank of flying officer, and then to squadron leader in the space of a few months. Later, 22-year-old Thiele would revert to the rank of flight lieutenant in order to return immediately to operations rather than becoming a flight instructor.

In August 1942, after completing a further 25 missions, Thiele would be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. His citation in part read "he has shown great skill and has pressed home his attacks regardless of opposition. His keenness and efficiency have been an inspiration to other members of the Squadron. He has always been a leader and has just proved a thoroughly courageous and skilled Flight Commander". At the end of 1942, he was transferred to the Australian No. 467 Squadron stationed at RAF Bottesford. Flying a Lancaster, Thiele completed 20 more missions and in May 1943, would be awarded the Distinguished Service Order for displaying outstanding keenness and determination during operations.

On 12 May 1943, Thiele was on his second tour and on this operation was flying a Lancaster of No. 467 Squadron. He had nearly reached the target, when his aircraft was hit by a flak underneath the fuselage which severed the rear half of the starboard outer engine, punctured the starboard inner engine and blew out most of the perspex in the cockpit. Thiele, dazed by a blow from a shell splinter that had struck him on the side of the head, limped the aircraft back from Duisburg on two engines. Shortly after crossing the English coast he was unable to maintain height, but displaying superb airmanship he struggled on and succeeded in effecting a crashlanding at an airfield. For this feat, Thiele was awarded a bar to his DFC for displaying "courage, skill and determination of a high order."

Fighters


In mid 1943, Thiele declined a posting to No. 617 Squadron under the command of Guy Gibson, the man who had led that squadron on the May 1943 dambusters raid that blew up the Ruhr dams. A few weeks after the raid, Thiele received a message that Gibson wanted to see him at RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire. Thiele, with 50 operations behind him, told Gibson that he had had his fill of bombers and was desperate to fulfil his ambition to fly Spitfires. He informed Gibson that he didn't want to appear ungrateful but disclosed he already had the wheels rolling to go to a unit flying experimental Spitfires as a step out of RAF Bomber Command. Thiele believed that he had been picked out by Ralph Cochrane of Group HQ as a likely successor to Gibson, a position that would eventually go to Squadron Leader George Holden. Thiele's decision not to join 617 Squadron proved the right decision. On the night of 15–16 September 1943, 5 of the 12 Lancasters were lost during a mission to bomb on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, including Holden's, which was shot down by flak with no survivors.

Thiele was posted to a transport squadron and then almost immediately to the trans-Atlantic Ferry Command to fly Canadian-built Lancasters to England. He spent three months in Canada before flying one of the first Lancasters to England. Thiele was transferred to a Spitfire conversion unit in December 1943. He flew Spitfires XIIs and Tempests from Tangmere with No. 41 Squadron and later No. 486 (NZ) Squadron from Volkel, Holland. He then joined No. 3 Squadron, in the same wing, becoming the squadron's commanding officer in January 1945. By this time, Thiele had flown around 150 sorties in Spitfires and Tempests, gaining two confirmed "kills".

On 10 February 1945, Thiele was shot down at low level by anti-aircraft fire, but managed to bail out of his burning aircraft. He was officially reported as missing in action. Thiele was taken captive by the flak crew that had shot him down and following interrogation, he was sent to a prisoner of war (POW) camp at Dulag Luft near Wetzlar. After the camp was liberated but before any transport or Allied forces arrived, Thiele and a Canadian airman stole bicycles and then a motorcycle, and he got back to his base five weeks before the end of the war in Europe. In May 1945, Thiele was awarded a second bar to his DFC for displaying "the highest qualities of skill, together with great bravery and iron determination. His example has inspired all". Thiele relinquished his commission on 5 December 1946.

Post war and later life
After the war, Thiele moved to Sydney, Australia and for many years flew as a senior captain for Qantas. Thiele is also a member of the Caterpillar Club, an informal association of people who have successfully used a parachute to bail out of a disabled aircraft. He was the captain of the inaugural jet service from Brisbane to London in October 1959, flying the Sydney to Singapore leg of the trip in the Boeing 707. An avid adventurer, twice during sailing excursions on the notorious Tasman Sea, Thiele had his tiny yacht (named Spitfire) smashed by mountainous waves, yet he managed to sail home. Thiele later built and operated a marina in Sydney and sailed his own yacht across the Tasman Sea to see New Zealand's first America's Cup defence when he was 80. In 2005, he sold all his medals at auction. In later life, Thiele retired to the Queensland town of Bundaberg.