Squadron Leader Bill Brodie
Bomber and Pathfinder pilot whose bravery in carrying out distraction tactics saved many allied lives
SQUADRON LEADER BILL BRODIE, who has died aged 102, flew 85 bombing operations in the Middle East and over Germany, for which he was decorated three times.
On the night of April 9 1942 Brodie was the pilot of one of four Wellington bombers of 38 Squadron tasked to lay mines in the approaches to Benghazi Harbour. New tactics of distraction were carried out and Brodie was detailed to make the first run in the mine-laying area to drop his mines, and to draw the anti-aircraft fire so that a force of supporting bombers flying at higher level could spot the gun flashes and bomb them.
After his attack Brodie was then to fly low over the water, about a mile out to sea, firing his guns and letting off Verey flares to distract the light guns on the harbour moles. He performed these tactics so successfully that when the other mine-laying aircraft flew in to drop their mines, not a single shot was fired at them. Brodie was awarded an immediate DFM, the citation concluding: “Flight Sergeant Brodie is an exceptional pilot and carries out his operations with courage and valour.”
William Craig Brodie was born in Glasgow on January 19 1917 and educated at Govan High School. He trained as a motor engineer and joined 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force, in March 1934. After two years he began training as a pilot, and in May 1937 joined 88 Squadron to fly the Hind biplane bomber before the squadron re-equipped with the Fairey Battle.
For the first two years of the Second World War he flew target-towing sorties at an air gunnery school. He also ferried aircraft to the continent until the withdrawal from France.
He became an instructor on the Wellington, when he was assessed as above average, and on December 4 1941 he and his crew delivered a Wellington to Egypt via Gibraltar and Malta.
He joined 38 Squadron, based at Kabrit in the Canal Zone, and on December 21 flew his first war sortie, when he attacked El Agheila. For the next few weeks he flew a number of mine-laying sorties.
He was commissioned in April 1942. With the British Army in retreat that summer, he attacked Sidi Barrani and Mersa Matruh. A regular target was Tobruk – known to the crews as “the Milk Run” – and on July 19 he flew his 35th and final sortie on the Wellington.
After returning to Britain he became a bombing instructor for almost two years and was mentioned in dispatches. After converting to the Mosquito he joined 692 Squadron of the Light Night Striking Force (LNSF), part of the Pathfinder Force, in June 1944.
The high-flying Mosquitos marked targets for the main bomber force and flew diversion raids in small numbers to numerous German cities while the main force was attacking another target. The Mosquitos of 692 Squadron had been modified to carry a 4,000lb bomb (the same bomb load as a USAAF Flying
Fortress), which they dropped on “nuisance raids” to industrial cities, the aim being to alert the hard-pressed air defence forces and to disturb the sleep of the industrial workers.
Brodie flew his first sortie, to Gelsenkirchen, on July 4 1944. He attacked most of the major cities, including Stuttgart, Hamburg and Frankfurt. However, his main target was Berlin, which he visited 18 times in six months.
During August he flew 11 operations, including an accurate attack against the synthetic-oil plant at Wanne-eickel.
On the night of October 5 nine Mosquitos were tasked to drop mines in the Kiel Canal: the Germans relied heavily on the canal as Allied operations took an increasing toll on vital shipping sailing along the North Sea coast carrying raw materials from Scandinavia to Rotterdam to feed the industrial war machine in the Ruhr.
The canal also provided a route for naval vessels and U-boats that found transiting to the North Sea and Atlantic increasingly difficult as a result of Coastal Command attacks in the Skagerrak and Kattegat straits.
Brodie and his colleagues flew at low level, and each had a specific aiming point along the length of the canal, requiring precise navigation. The target was strongly defended by heavy and light anti-aircraft guns, searchlights and balloons.
Undeterred by these hazards, and the most adverse weather, the Mosquito crews attacked from 200 feet and the operation was completed successfully. Reconnaissance photographs showed that concentrations of shipping were held up at each end of the canal, which remained closed to traffic for a number of weeks.
Brodie was awarded an immediate DSO.
He continued to attack cities and oil installations, and on February 2 1945 he flew to Mannheim, his 50th and final operation in a Mosquito. Shortly after, he was awarded the DFC.
Brodie left the RAF in November 1945 and for the next year was a pilot with Esso. He remained with the company and became the manager for the Midland region until his retirement in 1980.
A keen golfer, he was secretary of the Moor Hall GC at Sutton Coldfield and played until he was almost 90. He also skied until late in life and sailed his 28-foot yacht from Kingswear in Devon. He restored two properties in south-west France.
Bill Brodie’s first marriage was dissolved, and his second wife predeceased him. His third wife, Catherine, survives him, with two children from his first marriage and a stepdaughter.
Bill Brodie, born January 19 1917, died December 24 2019