Squadron Leader Bryan Colston
Pilot who flew Hurricanes and Spitfires over North Africa and several times survived being hit
SQUADRON LEADER BRYAN COLSTON, who has died aged 97, flew Hurricanes and Spitfires in the fighter reconnaissance role in support of the British First Army in Algeria and Tunisia.
Bryan Philip Coston was born in Gerrards Cross on May 27 1921 and educated at St Paul’s School in London. He was 18 when war broke out and immediately volunteered to join the RAF. He trained as a pilot and initially flew the Lysander in the army-cooperation role with 225 Squadron based near Salisbury Plain.
After receiving Hurricanes in September 1942, the squadron prepared to move to North Africa to support Operation Torch, the Allied landings in Algeria. On November 12 they arrived at Maison Blanche near Algiers and Colston flew the squadron’s first war sortie. The aircraft flew in pairs, one carrying out visual reconnaissance, the second acting as a fighter escort.
Colston was appointed as a flight commander and flew many sorties looking for enemy ground
forces. In late January 1943, the squadron started to receive Spitfires to replace the wornout Hurricanes and these were allocated to Colston’s flight.
In addition to tactical reconnaissance, Colston and his fellow pilots attacked enemy transports with cannons, usually in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire. On one occasion he fired his 20mm cannons at a German tank and was surprised to see the shells bounce off the armour. It was the new German Tiger tank, the first time it had been seen in the theatre.
As the Allies advanced towards Tunisia, the squadron had to keep moving to new airstrips bulldozed from the scrub and sand, and each was given the name of a London railway station – Waterloo, Paddington, etc. In February, US forces were engaged in a fierce battle at the Kasserine Pass and Colston led 24 Spitfires and nine Hurricane bombers to attack German positions.
Operations intensified throughout March and Colston’s aircraft was hit numerous times, but on each occasion he managed to return to his airstrip. April proved to be the busiest month, and Colston carried out reconnaissance sorties to the ports of Tunisia, when he noticed a build-up of enemy shipping.
It proved to be a sign that the Germans expected to have to withdraw from North Africa as the First Army was advancing east and Montgomery’s Eighth Army was closing in from the west; the two were soon to join up and advance towards Tunis.
Colston was flying two or three sorties a day, and reported enemy shipping leaving Tunis. On May 7, Allied troops entered, and the following day Colston drove to the city, where crowds mobbed Allied personnel. “It was a day I will never forget,” he later said.
Colston flew photographic missions in one of four Mustangs operated by the squadron. On May 27 he celebrated his 22nd birthday and the following day received notice that he had been awarded the DFC. The citation concluded: “He is an outstanding Army Co-operation pilot.”
On June 10, Colston flew to photograph Pantelleria Island, 50 miles off the Tunisian coast. He dropped a message telling the enemy garrison to surrender and to confirm this by displaying a white cross. He flew over the next day to see that a white cross was on display.
With the end of fighting in Tunisia, the squadron began training for the expected invasion of Sicily but Colston was struck down with typhoid fever and returned to England. He became an instructor at a fighter operational training unit (OTU).
Promoted to squadron leader, he transferred to another OTU to train fighter reconnaissance pilots. He later commanded 695 Squadron, flying Spitfire XVI aircraft.
After the war Colston studied at London University to be a chartered surveyor. He eventually became the senior partner in Nicholls of Reading.
At school he had been a fine sportsman and he retained his love of cricket and rugby (he was an ardent fan of Harlequins). He chaired his local cricket club at Hartley Wintney in Hampshire.
Bryan Colston married Mary Jewell in 1942; that marriage was dissolved, and his second wife, Ismay, died in 2012. Three sons survive him from his first marriage, along with three stepdaughters.
Bryan Colston, born May 27 1921, died April 22 2019