Paterson Clarence Hughes

Flight Lieutenant Paterson Clarence (Pat) Hughes DFC (19 September 1917 – 7 September 1940) was an Australian fighter pilot who distinguished himself and was killed in action during the Battle of Britain. Hughes was initially a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) officer, who transferred to the British Royal Air Force prior to World War II.

The top-scoring Australian flying ace of the Battle of Britain and one of 24 Australians who lost their lives during the battle, Hughes has been described as the "real driving force behind No. 234 Squadron RAF."

Biography
Hughes was the son of Caroline Hughes (née Vennel) and Paterson Clarence Hughes (senior), a school teacher. Pat was the youngest child of a family of five boys and seven girls, born in Cooma, New South Wales, on 19 September 1917.

Hughes was educated at Cooma Public School, and after the family moved to the Haberfield suburb of Sydney when he was 12 he attended the Petersham Boys' School, and then Fort Street High School until aged 17.

RAAF
Hughes wanted a career in the military, and applied for both the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force. While undergoing the application process and awaiting the outcomes, Hughes worked at Saunders' Jewellers in Sydney. He was accepted by both services, and joined the RAAF as a cadet in August 1936. Hughes trained at RAAF Point Cook, near Melbourne. An accomplished photographer, he took many photographs of base life during this period.

Hughes was trained to fly in de Havilland Gipsy Moths, Avro Cadets, and then onto Westland Wapitis, Hawker Demons as well as with Supermarine Seagull V.

After graduation, he applied and was selected with a number of others to transfer to the Royal Air Force under the Short Service Commission scheme, sailing for England on 9 January 1937.

RAF
A proud Australian, Hughes continued to wear the darker blue uniform of the RAAF, albeit with RAF insignia. After two years training as a fighter pilot he was a member of No. 64 Squadron RAF at RAF Church Fenton when World War II began in September 1939.

On 6 November, Hughes was promoted to acting Flight Lieutenant within the newly formed No. 234 Squadron at RAF Leconfield alongside Bob Doe. 234 Sqn had originally been equipped on formation with Fairey Battles, Bristol Blenheims and Gloster Gauntlets, but retrained in March 1940 with Supermarine Spitfires.

In the local town of Beverley in February 1940 Hughes met his future wife Kathleen Agnes (Kay) Brodrick of Kingston upon Hull in the Beverley Arms Hotel.

After helping to set up No.247 Squadron at Roborough, Plymouth he rejoined 234 Sqn when it was transferred to RAF St Eval in Cornwall in June 1940, and on 1 August Hughes married Kay Brodrick in the local register office.

Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain began in July 1940, and Hughes was credited with the first confirmed kill for the squadron with the shooting down of a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 near Lands End on 8 July, and a kill shared with another pilot on 28 July.

The duties of 234 Sqn included air defence duties over RAF Mount Batten, near Plymouth, the home of an Australian flying boat unit, No. 10 Squadron RAAF, which flew long distance maritime patrol missions. As a result, in August 234 Sqn transferred to RAF Middle Wallop in Hampshire.

During August, Hughes began using an aggressive and dangerous tactic deployed by many other aces: getting close to enemy aircraft before firing, to ensure victory, a tactic which contributed to his death.

Hughes claimed a double victory, two Messerschmitt Me 110s, on 15 August 1940, on which the Luftwaffe mounted the largest number of sorties of the campaign and known later as "The Greatest Day" (or, by the Luftwaffe, as Schwarzer Donnerstag ["Black Thursday"].)

He achieved further double victories on 18 and 26 August, making him a fighter ace, and resulting in the award of a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Hughes claimed further double victories on 4, 5 and 6 September, bringing his official tally to 13 (12 and two half) victories.

In early evening of 7 September, 234 Sqn ran into a force of 60 German aircraft consisting of Dornier Do 17s and escorting Messerschmitt Bf 109s. Hughes was leading his Section in Spitfire X4009 and dived to attack the bombers. The official RAF report states that after Hughes attacked a Do 17 from close range, a large section of the bomber broke away and appeared to hit Hughes' Spitfire. There is anecdotal evidence that he deliberately rammed the bomber (see note below). Hughes bailed out of the Spitfire, but his parachute failed to open, and his body was found in the garden of a house in the nearby village of Sundridge, Kent. The official record shows that Hughes died around 18.30 hrs. His Spitfire crashed soon afterwards at Darks Farm, near Bessels Green, Kent. During the same action, Hughes' commanding officer, Squadron Leader Joseph "Spike" O'Brien, was also killed.

Honours and awards

 * 22 October 1940 - Acting Flight Lieutenant Paterson Clarence Hughes (39461) (since killed) has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition of gallantry displayed in flying operations against the enemy:

Later events and memorials
A war widow after only five weeks of marriage, Kay Hughes decided to have her husband buried at her local parish church. After a service at St James', Sutton-on-Hull, on 13 September 1940, Hughes was buried with full military honors in the churchyard.

Hughes is also commemorated at:
 * the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, where his service medals are held;
 * Christ's Church, Kiama, New South Wales, with a memorial tablet placed by his sister;
 * the house in Kent where his body was found, by a wall plaque and;
 * Monaghan Hayes Place, Cooma, by a memorial depicting both his aircraft and a map of his major sorties over England.