Last of the Battle of Britain fighter ‘aces’ took years to see importance of his role
Wing Commander Paul Farnes, who has died aged 101, was the last surviving Battle of Britain ‘‘ace’’ – those pilots who have brought down at least five enemy aircraft. Farnes had been blooded during the Battle of France. His squadron, No 501, had been earmarked for service in Norway, but when the Germans invaded the Netherlands and France on May 10, 1940, the squadron’s 16 Hurricanes took off from southern England and headed for France.
They were in action immediately, and on May 12 Farnes shot down a Heinkel III bomber and shared in the destruction of another. Two days later he and a colleague shot down a Dornier bomber. On May
27 he possibly shot down another Heinkel.
As the situation in France deteriorated and losses mounted – Farnes described the events in France as ‘‘a shambles’’ – the squadron returned to Britain and regrouped. As the opening phase of the Battle of Britain began in mid-July, Farnes and his comrades were to see a great deal of action. He shot down five enemy aircraft in August and was credited with damaging six in September.
On the last day of the month he had a problem with the hood of his aircraft and broke away from his squadron to return to base. Near Gatwick he encountered some antiaircraft fire, which he thought was directed at him. He then saw a Junkers 88 bomber at the same height. He closed in and fired, and the bomber dived into the ground near the airfield. Farnes landed and was taken to meet the surviving pilot; Farnes went to shake his hand, but the German pilot refused.
Commenting years later, Farnes said: ‘‘Even when you saw 200-300 enemy bombers and about 100-200 Bf 109s, and there were only
12 of you, I can’t honestly say that I was ever frightened in the Battle of Britain.’’
No 501 Squadron remained in the front line longer than most and was credited with destroying 149 enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain. Farnes had claimed six and was awarded an immediate Distinguished Flying Medal.
Paul Caswell Powe Farnes was born in Hampshire, southern England, and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve aged 19. After completing his training as a pilot he joined No
501 Squadron in September 1939.
After the Battle of Britain, he instructed fighter pilots in England and later in Aden. In February 1942 he returned to fly operations as a flight commander with No 229 Squadron, first in North Africa and then in Malta.
He was soon in action in Malta, damaging at least seven enemy aircraft in April 1942. During this period, the squadron’s new commanding officer was wounded and Farnes was promoted to take command. He said: ‘‘As there appeared to be no-one else available, I was made OC 229 Squadron. Thus, after being posted three months earlier as a pilot officer, I found myself a squadron leader!’’
By the end of May, there were sufficient Spitfires on the island so No 229, with its Hurricanes, was withdrawn. Farnes led the survivors to Egypt. In July he was posted to the air headquarters in Iraq, where he remained until January 1945.
On his return to Britain he served on a number of fighter squadrons, including flying the Mustang, an aircraft that was not to his liking, and later commanded 164 Squadron with Spitfires until August 1946.
He remained in the RAF, and after a spell in the Air Ministry he instructed at a fighter school and then at a jet-flying school. He served in Egypt and returned to Britain in 1953 to serve at HQ Fighter Command. He left the RAF in 1958.
He worked in the family builders’ merchant business in Worthing, Sussex, before running the family-owned Beach Hotel.
Farnes was very proud to have served in the Battle of Britain and to have won the DFM, and regularly attended the annual thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey. In 2015, the 75th anniversary of the battle, he said: ‘‘It was very emotional when we walked out of the abbey, the audience applauded – it had never happened before – I was very moved by it.’’
He was a strong supporter of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust and attended the annual reunions at the memorial in Kent until last year. He was the last of the veterans fit enough to attend.
On one occasion, when the Queen Mother attended, Farnes was introduced and said to her: ‘‘Ma’am, I would like you to know that your husband gave me this medal. I don’t polish it because it might still have his fingerprints on it!’’
A tall, distinguished man with striking silver hair, the modest Farnes commented in later life: ‘‘I didn’t at the time, but latterly and gradually I came to realise the importance of the Battle of Britain.’’ With his death, there are just two survivors of ‘‘The Few’’.
Paul Farnes’ first wife, Pamela, died in
1989. He married Cynthia in 1994; she died in
2012. He is survived by a son and a daughter; a second son predeceased him. – Telegraph Group