Squadron Leader
Marmaduke Thomas St John Pattle DFC* (3 July 1914 – 20 April 1941), usually known as
Pat Pattle, was a South African-born
Second World War fighter pilot and
flying ace (an aviator credited with the destruction of five or more enemy aircraft in aerial combat) of the
Royal Air Force (RAF).
Born in 1914 in South Africa, Pattle applied to join the
South African Air Force at 18 and was rejected. He travelled to the United Kingdom and joined the RAF in 1936, on a Short Service Commission (SSC). Pattle was a pilot in 1937 and was posted to
80 Squadron based in
Egypt upon the outbreak of war in September 1939. In June 1940 Italy entered the war on the side of the
Axis Powers and he began combat operations against the
Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force), gaining his first successes during the
Italian invasion of Egypt.
After the
Italian invasion, his squadron was sent to Greece in November 1940, where Pattle achieved most of his victories. Pattle claimed around 20 aircraft shot down and in March 1941 was promoted to
squadron leader. After the
German intervention, and in fourteen days of operations, Pattle claimed victories 24–50. Pattle claimed five or more aircraft destroyed in one day on three occasions, which qualified him for
Ace in a day status. Pattle achieved his greatest success on 19 April 1941, claiming six victories. The following day, having claimed more aerial victories than any other Western Allied pilot, he took off against orders, while suffering from a high temperature, to engage German aircraft near
Athens. He was last seen battling
Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters. His Hurricane crashed into the sea during this
dogfight and Pattle was killed.
Pattle was a fighter ace with a high score, and is sometimes noted as being the highest-scoring
British Commonwealth pilot of the war. If all claims made for him are correct, his total could be more than 51. It can be stated that his final total was at least 40 and could exceed this value.[SUP]
[1][/SUP] Log-books and semi-official records suggest this figure, while personnel attached to his squadron suspect the figure to be closer to 60.[SUP]
[2][/SUP] A total of 26 of Pattle's victims were Italian; 15 were downed with
Gloster Gladiators, the rest with
Hawker Hurricanes.[SUP]
[3][/SUP] He is considered to be the highest-scoring ace on both Gladiator and Hurricane (35 victories) fighters.[SUP]
[4][/SUP]