Plt Off Oliver Ormrod, better known as 'Sonny' to his RAF compatriots due to his youthful appearance, was just four days past his twentieth birthday when he was killed in action after his Hurricane was shot down. During his brief fighting career at Malta in February to April 1942, he was credited with only two enemy aircraft destroyed, although he shared in the destruction of three others. Ormrod also claimed three ‘probables’ and at least six damaged. A total of a dozen successes at a time when the Hurricane was completely outclassed by Bf 109Fs of JG53, his bravery and valor were recognized by the award of a DFC. Although extracts from Ormrod's diary have appeared in various publications over the years, the editors/authors now offer the complete story of his brief period of combat in the skies over Malta. He was one of many young lives lost in the effort to safeguard Malta and he was there when only Hurricanes were available to combat the Luftwaffe's onslaught. This is his story...

The Diary of Sonny Ormrod DFC: Malta Fighter Ace

Biographies & Memoirs

Cull, Brian

Galea, Frederick

Leaders & Notable People

Fonthill Media

By the end of 1941, following its participation in the Battle of Britain, 249 was posted to Malta. Having been informed that its pilots would be required to fly from the deck of an aircraft carrier, intensive practice flights took place with two Hurricanes fitted with long-range tanks, making shortened take-off runs from an airfield runway. And that was that. The following month, having been ferried to Gibraltar, the aircraft were off-loaded on to the Ark Royal and all 20 safely reached Malta. This was the beginning of 249’s Mediterranean adventure in the defense of Malta. Spitfires would follow early in 1942 and by the time it moved to a new theater of operations, 249 had claimed 245 air victories in the skies over Malta, producing many ace pilots such as ‘Screwball’ Beurling, Laddie Lucas, Johnny Plagis, John Lynch, to name but a few.

249 at Malta: RAF's Top-Scoring Fighter Squadron

History

Europe

Brian Cull's definitive Fighters over Malta: Gladiators and Hurricanes 1940-1942 is a highly detailed account of the gallant band of RAF and Commonwealth pilots who flew Gladiators and Hurricanes in defense of Malta between June 1940 and April 1942, when help in the guise of Spitfires finally arrived. Most of the Hurricanes which held this tiny outpost of the British Empire in the heart of Axis-dominated territory had been flown from the decks of aircraft carriers or from bases in North Africa, while a handful of fighter pilots arrived by Sunderland flying boats or other aircraft in transit from the UK via Gibraltar. Many of these pilots were inexperienced and quickly paid the supreme price, particularly when the Messerschmitt pilots of the elite 7/JG26 arrived in Sicily in early 1941, and later in the year when more from JG53 made their presence felt. A number of important personal diaries and journals have come to light, and these have been widely quoted to provide the atmospheric background, the thoughts and the hopes of some of the Hurricane pilots who defended Malta. Not all of the diarists survived, but their impressions provide a fitting tribute to their courage, aspirations and fears. Much of the early period of the air defense of Malta is enhanced by the personal experiences of Flt Lt (then Sgt Plt) James Pickering AFC, who flew Hurricanes with 261 Squadron.

Fighters over Malta: Gladiators and Hurricanes 1940-1942

Historical

806 Squadron was formed in early 1940 and was equipped with Skuas and Rocs, both outdated as fighters and dive-bombers, the latter hampered by a gunner’s turret and most unsuited for modern warfare; however, 806 was fortunate to have at its head the volatile but skillful and aggressive Lt-Cdr Charles Evans, a 30-year-old born-leader with ten years’ experience flying with both the RAF and Royal Navy. With the aid of his equally experienced senior observer, Lt Desmond Vincent-Jones, the young fledgling pilots, mainly straight from training school, were soon receiving expert instruction. Having survived early ops over Norway and Dunkirk, 806 was selected to fly the new fleet-fighter, the underrated Fulmar, with which it went to war in the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and won its spurs. The young pilots, led by the CO, wreaked havoc amongst the Italian navy’s spotter seaplanes and bombers. This is their story.

806 Naval Air Squadron: The FAA's Top-Scoring Fighter Squadron of the Second World War

Military

249 At War: The Authorised History of the RAF's Top-Scoring Fighter Squadron of WWII

249 At War : The Authorized History of the Raf's Top Claiming Squadron of WWII

Grub Street Publishing