ipl-logo

How Did Caldwell Needs To Become A Fighter Pilot?

691 Words3 Pages

After working for several years on a farm, Caldwell wanted to be a fighter pilot. With the outbreak of World War II, he volunteered for the Royal Australian Air Force. He was 30 years; too old to still be a fighter pilot. In order to be admitted Caldwell falsified his birth certificate and his passport. In February 1940 he obtained his pilot's license. He was transferred to Britain to go there with a Spitfire fly and was stationed in April 1940 at Duxford Airfield. Three months later broke the Battle of Britain loose in full force. During the Battle of Britain had to make Caldwell reconnaissance flights along the English coastline. Remarkably, he has come here little action; in a period of five months only once. In October, he saw a Dornier Do-17 bomber flying over Dover. Caldwell managed to bring down the unit through several bursts. It was his first victory. Shortly after the Battle of Britain was finally lost by Germany. When Germany realized that the UK could not simply be conquered decided to conquer Italy with the help of North Africa. Egypt, Libya and Tunisia were British colonies. By conquering these colonies Germany hoped to lay oil imports from the UK lamb and gain control of the Mediterranean. Caldwell was transferred in March 1941 to North Africa and was offered a new device: the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk. He was appointed …show more content…

Caldwell quickly became an expert in bringing down the Junkers Ju 87 ( "Stuka") dive bombers bombarded the Allied ground forces. Within Caldwell had nine downed Stukas just a few months. He also destroyed four Italian Fiat fighters. Caldwell also successfully took part in the battles at Tobruk and El Alamein. Here he made his reconnaissance flights and bombarded with his P-40 German tanks and other ground vehicles. As thanks for his contribution to these battles he was awarded the Military

Open Document