Malan, Adolph ‘Sailor’ – Air ace learned to fly at Grantham

Adolph Gysbert ‘Sailor’ Malan DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar (1910-1963)

BETTER known as Sailor Malan,  Adolph Gysbert Malan, was a South African fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force who led No. 74 Squadron RAF during the height of the Battle of Britain.

Malan was known for sending German bomber pilots home with dead crews as a warning to other Luftwaffe crews.

 Under his leadership No. 74 Squadron became one of the RAF’s best units. He  scored 27 kills, seven shared destroyed, three probably destroyed and 16 damaged.

Malan survived the war to become involved in the anti-apartheid movement in his country.

Born in Wellington, Western Cape, then part of the Cape Colony, he joined the South African Training Ship General Botha in 1924 or 1925 as a cadet and in January 1928 engaged as an officer cadet aboard the Landsdown Castle of the Union-Castle Line of the International Mercantile Marine Co. which later earned him the nickname of “Sailor” among his pilot colleagues.

In 1935 the RAF started the rapid expansion of its pilot corps, and Malan was one of the people who joined up. He went to Grantham Flying Training School at RAF Spitalgate, and became friends with fellow air ace Bob Tuck. They often went into town together and enjoyed a few pints at the George or the Angel & Royal.

On completing his training,  he was sent to join 74 Squadron in December 1936  and was appointed to acting flight commander of “A” Flight, flying Spitfires,the following August.

No. 74 Squadron saw its first action only 15 hours after war was declared, sent to intercept a bomber raid that turned out to be returning RAF planes.

In September 1939, “A” Flight was scrambled to intercept a suspected enemy radar track and ran into the Hurricanes of No. 56 Squadron RAF. Believing 56 to be the enemy, Malan ordered an attack. Paddy Byrne and John Freeborn downed two RAF aircraft, killing one officer, Montague Hulton-Harrop, in this friendly fire incident, which became known as the Battle of Barking Creek.

At the subsequent courts-martial, Malan denied responsibility for the attack. He testified for the prosecution against his own pilots stating that Freeborn had been irresponsible, impetuous, and had not taken proper heed of vital communications.

This prompted Freeborn’s counsel, Sir Patrick Hastings to call Malan a bare-faced liar Hastings was assisted in defending the pilots by Roger Bushell, the London barrister and RAF Auxiliary pilot who later led the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III.

The court ruled the entire incident was an unfortunate error and acquitted both pilots.

After fierce fighting during the evacuation of Dunkirk on 28 June 1940, Malan was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross having achieved five ‘kills’. During this battle he first exhibited his fearless and implacable fighting spirit

Malan was given command of 74 Squadron and promoted to acting squadron leader. This was at the height of the Battle of Britain. Three days later, on 11 August, action started at 7 am when 74 was sent to intercept a raid near Dover, but this was followed by another three raids, lasting all day. At the end of the day, 74 had claimed to have shot down 38 aircraft, and was known from then on as “Sailor’s August the Eleventh”. Malan himself simply commented, “thus ended a very successful morning of combat.” He received a bar to his DFC on 13 August.

On the ground, Malan was remembered as an inveterate gambler and often owed his subordinates money.

He was older than most of his charges and although sociable and relaxed off-duty, he spent most of his time with his wife and family living near Biggin Hill.

On 24 December, Malan received the Distinguished Service Order, and on 22 July 1941, a bar to the Order.

He finished his active fighter career in 1941 with 27 kills destroyed, 7 shared destroyed and 2 unconfirmed, 3 probables and 16 damaged, at the time the RAF’s leading ace, and one of the highest scoring pilots to have served wholly with Fighter Command during World War II.

He was transferred to the reserve as a squadron leader on 6 January 1942.

After tours to the USA and the Central Gunnery School, Malan was promoted to temporary wing commander in September 1942 and became station commander at Biggin Hill, receiving a promotion to war substantive wing commander in July 1943.

Malan remained keen to fly on operations, often ignoring standing orders for station commanders not to risk getting shot down.

In October 1943 he became officer commanding 19 Fighter Wing, RAF Second Tactical Air Force, then commander of the 145 (Free French) Fighter Wing in time for D-day, leading a section of the wing over the beaches during the late afternoon.

Malan resigned his RAF commission in April 1946, retaining the rank of group captain and returned to South Africa where he joined the Torch Commando a joint project of the anti-fascist ex-servicemen’s organisation, the Springbok Legion and the War Veterans Action committee.

Sailor Malan became the president of that new organisation.

Among the leading members of the Springbok Legion were many ex-servicemen who would later join the African National Congress and Umkhonto we Sizwe under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.

Malan died in 1963 from Parkinson’s Disease, at the time a rare and essentially mysterious malady. A considerable sum of money was raised in his name to further study the disease, a fund that continues to this day.

He was survived by his wife, Lynda, son Jonathan, and daughter Valerie.

In the 1969 war film Battle of Britain, the Robert Shaw character ‘Squadron Leader Skipper’ was explicitly based on Malan, as recounted by director Guy Hamilton in the documentary ‘A Film for the Few’, which was included with the 2004 Special Edition DVD release.