Wing Commander Jack Hoskins RIP

Kyt · Jan 23, 2009

Wing Commander Jack Hoskins - Telegraph

Wing Commander Jack Hoskins, who has died aged 92, played a pivotal role seeking out and destroying Axis convoys to North Africa which were loaded with essential supplies for Rommel's forces engaged against the British Eighth Army – air attacks which proved crucial in the Allied victory in the African campaign. In later years he was a member of the nuclear planning staff at Nato.

In January 1942 Hoskins took off from Cornwall with five other Wellington bombers to fly to Egypt, a journey not without hazard. On the 12-hour leg from Gibraltar to Malta two of the aircraft disappeared, and Hoskins arrived with his fuel tanks virtually empty.

Once in Egypt the task of his squadron, No 221, was to intercept enemy convoys sailing from Italian and Greek ports to Benghazi. Flying primarily at night, often for 10 hours at a stretch, Hoskins and his crew directed strike aircraft to attack the shipping. There were times when the crews remained idle for several days, only to be scrambled at short notice. Years later Hoskins learned that the authorities had been acting on secret intelligence derived from the Ultra intercepts.

A priority target for the Wellingtons was Rommel's fuel supply. As the Battle of Alamein got under way at the end of October 1942, the Axis tried to run two tankers into Tobruk. A daylight attack by another squadron had failed, and Hoskins took off to reach the convoy at dusk. He successfully intercepted the two tankers and homed in a strike force, which was able to sink both ships as they were about to gain the safety of the harbour. This loss of critical fuel was a major setback for the German Panzers.

A few weeks later, during a detachment to a rudimentary desert landing ground, one of Hoskins's crew visited the thunderbox with a section of The Egyptian Times for the usual purposes; but first he glanced at it, and noticed an announcement that his pilot had been awarded the DFC – it was news to Hoskins too.

On December 28 he and his crew were granted leave in the Canal Zone for the New Year. There was heavy demand for seats in his bomber and he took off with 13 people on board. Half way there an engine caught fire, and Hoskins had to make an immediate crash-landing. Some Senussi Arabs took them to an encampment where they spent the night, and the next day guided them across the featureless desert to an Allied forward post – thus the party immediately became eligible for membership of the Late Arrivals Club (an unofficial group of RAF personnel who had been shot down in the desert and managed to walk back to their lines). Hoskins was mentioned in despatches.

Jack Hubert Hoskins was born at Tenterden, Kent, on January 20 1916. After attending Simon Langton School, Canterbury, he became a heating engineer. With the approach of war he volunteered to be an air gunner with the local Auxiliary Air Force Squadron, and in March 1939 began training as a pilot.

On August 23 his squadron, No 500 (County of Kent), was mobilised for war. With just seven hours as a pilot, Hoskins joined a crew as second pilot/navigator, and on September 13 completed his first patrol over the North Sea.

After further training and the German invasion of the Low Countries in May 1940, Hoskins was made a first pilot and flew patrols over the Channel providing support to the fleet of "little ships" during the Dunkirk evacuation.

On May 29, six German fighters attacked his aircraft and set it on fire, and he was forced to ditch seven miles off Dunkirk. A small tugboat, already laden with troops, came to his rescue. He and his crew were transferred to Royal Daffodil, a paddle-steamer that before the war had plied between London and Margate with day-trippers. He was back on operations a week later.

In January 1941 Hoskins joined No 221 Squadron, and two months later was twice attacked by German intruders as he came in to land at an airfield in Norfolk. Although his aircraft was hit on both occasions he managed to land safely. In May he was commissioned, and the squadron moved to Northern Ireland for the Battle of the Atlantic before being earmarked for service in the Middle East.

After his long tour on No 221, in January 1943 Hoskins went to No 247 Wing in charge of maritime air operations, which included support for the Sicily landings and protection for the Allied convoys. A year later he was promoted to wing commander and returned to command No 221, three years after he had joined it as a sergeant – a testament to his skill and to the remarkable pace of promotion only possible in wartime.

On one occasion Hoskins was flying at night from an airfield in Italy when his Wellington was mistakenly attacked by an RAF Beaufighter – his aircraft was badly damaged, but he managed to land unscathed. After eight months he was rested.

For the Allied landings in the South of France, he was attached to an American control ship. He then went ashore to join an RAF Wing at Aix-en-Provence. Although there was little action, Hoskins met Monique Arlette, whom he was to marry 16 months later.

Returning to Italy, he took command of No 323 Wing, equipped with Beaufighters and Wellingtons. In December 1944 he was awarded a DSO.

Hoskins remained in the RAF after the war and spent two years as an instructor on Lancasters. At the Air Ministry in the spring of 1951 he was a member of the team sent to Washington for the initial planning conferences for the setting up of the air component of Nato.

After service in Singapore and Hong Kong he served at the V-bomber airfields at Wittering and Honington, where he was in charge of operations and flew the Valiant bomber. In 1961 he left for Paris to join the nuclear planning staff at Headquarters SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe), an appointment much to his and his wife's liking. He retired from the RAF in 1963.

Hoskins worked for the civil defence organisation in East Anglia and was a great supporter of the RAF Escaping Society, often visiting France to seek out those who had helped airmen shot down over enemy-occupied territory, to assess if they or their dependants needed any welfare or financial support.

He died on December 16. His wife survives him.
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Antipodean Andy · Jan 26, 2009

An impressive career. RIP.

Hoskins and his crew directed strike aircraft to attack the shipping
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He successfully intercepted the two tankers and homed in a strike force
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Looks like he was flying Goofingtons. :becky:

On May 29, six German fighters attacked his aircraft and set it on fire
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At the time, 1940, 500 Squadron was flying Anson Is. Imagine being attacked by six fighters while you're flying an Anson!

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