George Unwin

George Unwin
Unwin, September 1940
Nickname(s)	Grumpy
Born	(1913-01-18)18 January 1913 Barnsley Yorkshire, England
Died	29 June 2006(2006-06-29) (aged 93) Dorset, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1929–1961
Rank	Wing Commander
Service number	46298
Unit	No. 19 Squadron RAF
Commands	No. 84 Squadron RAF (1949–51)
Battles/wars	Second World War Battle of France Battle of Britain Channel Front Malayan Emergency
Awards	Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Flying Medal & Bar

George Cecil Unwin, DSO, DFM & Bar (18 January 1913 – 28 June 2006) was a Royal Air Force officer and flying ace of the Second World War.

Early life

George Cecil Unwin was born in the town of Bolton upon Dearne, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, on 18 January 1913. From a mining family, he enlisted in the Royal Air Force (RAF) in April 1929 as an apprentice clerk at RAF Records Ruislip. Two years later he was posted as a leading aircraftsman to Uxbridge. In 1935, his application for flight training was accepted and he commencing a flying course at No. Elementary & Reserve Flying Training School at Woddley. He then proceeded to No. 11 Flying Training School at Wittering. Upon completion of his training he was posted to No. 19 Squadron as a sergeant pilot.

At the time, No. 19 Squadron was based at Duxford and operated the Gloster Gauntlet fighter but in August the following year, it began to re-equip with the Supermarine Spitfire fighter. It was the first squadron in the RAF to do so. Unwin was flying a Spitfire on 9 March 1939 when its engine failed. As he neared a field that he had selected for landing, he spotted children playing on his intended path of travel; he deliberately crashed his aircraft to avoid them.

Second World War

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, No. 19 Squadron was mostly engaged in convoy patrols but in late May 1940 it moved to Hornchurch from where it was involved in providing aerial cover over the beaches at Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from France.

Battle of France

The squadron made its first sortie to France on 26 May but Unwin was forced to miss it due to a lack of serviceable aircraft. His reaction to this led to his nickname of 'Grumpy'. Unwin's first combat sortie came the next day, and he claimed a Henschel Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft as destroyed over Dunkirk. Its pilot had used the aircraft's slow speed and high manoeuvrability to evade the attacks of two RAF fighters pilots, while retreating into Belgian airspace. The order was given to give up and the squadron turned away. As they did so Unwin saw the German straighten out. Feigning radio failure, Unwin engaged the Hs 126, seeing it burst into flames and crash.

Unwin shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter on 28 May, also over Dunkirk. On 1 June Unwin destroyed two Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters and a Heinkel He 111 medium bomber in the vicinity of Dunkirk, although only one of these, a Bf 110, could be confirmed. After the Dunkirk evacuation was completed in early June, No. 19 Squadron returned to Duxford. Later in June it commenced trials with cannon-equipped Spitfires.

Battle of Britain

The cannons proved to be unreliable, and this affected No. 19 Squadron's operations in the early stages of the Battle of Britain. It soon reverted to machine-gun equipped aircraft and regularly flew as part of No. 12 Group's Duxford Wing No. 12 Group. Unwin shot down one Bf 110 and probably destroyed a second on 16 August; both were encountered to the east of Clacton. He destroyed another Bf 110 on 3 September, this time to the southwest of Colchester. Four days later he shot down a pair of Bf 109s over the Thames estuary. A He 111 was probably destroyed by Unwin on 11 September, the same day he damaged a Dornier Do 17 medium bomber over Gravesend.

On 15 September, now known as Battle of Britain Day, Unwin claimed three Bf 109s destroyed over London. Three days later, he shot down a Bf 110 to the east of Kent. On 27 September Unwin destroyed a Bf 109 over the Thames estuary. Unwin's successes saw him awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), the official announcement being made in The London Gazette on 1 October. The published citation read:

This airman has displayed great courage in his attacks against the enemy and has destroyed ten of their aircraft. On a recent occasion, when returning from an engagement alone, he intercepted a formation of enemy bombers escorted by about thirty fighters, and destroyed two of the fighters. He has displayed skill and courage of the highest order.

— London Gazette, No. 34958, 1 October 1940

Unwin with Flash, No. 19 Squadron's mascot, September 1940

On 5 November Unwin destroyed a Bf 109 near Dover. He shared with several other pilots in the destruction of a Bf 110 over the Thames estuary on 15 November but afterwards was attacked by Bf 109s. Despite Unwin successfully evading them, a Luftwaffe pilot Hauptmann Gerhard Schöpfel of JG 26 alleged that he had shot him down in the engagement. On 28 November, Unwin shared in the shooting down of a Bf 109 to the southeast of Southend. Unwin, who had been promoted to warrant officer, was duly awarded a Bar to his DFM. This was announced on 6 December, the published citation reading:

This airman has shown the greatest keenness, courage and determination to engage the enemy. He is an outstanding fighter pilot and has destroyed a total of thirteen enemy aircraft and assisted in the destruction of others.

— London Gazette, No. 35009, 5 December 1940

Later war service

Unwin was rested at the end of the year and sent on an instructing course to No. 2 Central Flying School at Cranwell. In February 1941 he was posted to No. 16 Elementary Flying Training School where he instructed trainee pilots.

In July 1941 Unwin was commissioned and then several months later was posted to No. 2 FIS where he served until October 1943. In April 1944 he began flying DeHavilland Mosquito fighter-bombers with No. 613 Squadron, RAF Second Tactical Air Force until October 1944. He then served at the Central Gunnery School at RAF Catfoss, and subsequently RAF Leconfield until January 1946, when he became Chief Instructor at No 608 Squadron RAuxAF.

Postwar period

Unwin remained in the RAF after the war and transitioned to Bristol Brigand aircraft in 1948. He flew this type during the Malaya conflict in 1952 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his efforts. He retired from the RAF in 1961 as a wing commander.

Later life

In his retirement Unwin settled in Dorset and worked for the Spastic Society. He was an ardent golfer, playing several times a week well into his eighties. In late May 2006 he was presented with a scale model of his Spitfire by Corgi Toys. He died in Dorset on 28 June 2006 at the age of 93. He is credited with having shot down 15 German aircraft, two being shared with other pilots, in addition to two unconfirmed destroyed aircraft. He is credited with two aircraft probably destroyed and one damaged. Unwin was featured in an "exhibition about the men and women who lived, worked and fought for their country at RAF Duxford in Cambridgeshire from 1918 to 1961", which opened at Duxford on 28 March 2013.

References

Bibliography

• Price, Alfred (1997). Spitfire Mark I/II Aces, 1939–41. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-627-9.
• Rawlings, John (1976). Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: MacDonald & James. ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
• Shores, Christopher; Williams, Clive (1994). Aces High: A Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII. London: Grub Street. ISBN 1-8-9869-7000.

External links

• Wing Commander George Unwin, Obituary, The Times, 29 June 2006.
• Imperial War Museum Interview