WWII hero has his day

Oct 16 2009 by Sharon Liptrott, Dumfries Standard Friday

ONE of the region’s heroes of the Second World War is to be honoured with a memorial plaque next year.

Today marks the 70 years since Squadron Leader Patrick Gifford brought down the first German aeroplane in British airspace during the Second World War.

The Castle Douglas-born solicitor carried out the historic deed in an action over the Firth of Forth whilst flying as a reservist with 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force.

He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism in the then new Supermarine Spitfires.

Tragically, he was shot down on May 10, 1940, in action in Belgium at the age of 30.

However, mystery surrounds his death and his body was never recovered.

He has no marked grave.

The 603 Squadron Association, with support from Dumfries and Galloway Council, plans to erect a memorial to him in the grounds of Castle Douglas public library on May 16 next year – 70 years after he died in action.

And the squadron has launched an appeal to raise £4,000 for the memorial which will take the form of a granite block with a plaque.

Bill Simpson, a honorary member of the 603 Squadron, who is behind the appeal said: “The story of Pat Gifford and the air fighting over the River Forth on that fateful day is rather forgotten.

“He has been rather overlooked by history but deserves to be remembered.

“He is a local man who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“If he has no grave in Belgium, he will at least be remembered in his home town.”

Bill has been digging deep into Gifford’s history and for such a short life he packed it full.

His grandfather hailed from Penninghame near Newton Stewart and in the mid-1800s worked a farm near Borgue and Kirkcudbright but his father, also called Patrick and one of six children, became a lawyer and set up a legal firm in Castle Douglas called Patrick Gifford & Co.

Patrick became a solicitor and practiced in his father’s law firm in Castle Douglas and also became a burgh prosecutor and town councillor whilst also flying with 603, which was based at RAF Turnhouse (now Edinburgh Airport) at weekends after gaining his wings in 1932.

He had a reputation for driving fast cars — owning a Frazer Nash and an MG — and one story about him is that for a bet he left Castle Douglas clock tower by car at 10am for RAF Turnhouse and was back over the town within two hours in an aeroplane.

On the afternoon of October 16, 1939, in one of the first raids by the German air force on Britain, 12 of their bombers attempted to attack Royal Navy ships anchored east of the Forth Rail Bridge.

Two were shot down into the Firth, with the first by Gifford.

One of the Germans aboard was killed and the other three were taken prisoner to Edinburgh castle.

Later in the month he was also involved in the destruction of two other bombers including the famous Humbie Heinkel on October 28.

As well as the DFC, Gifford was promoted to Squadron Leader and became one of the first auxiliary officers to command a regular RAF Squadron flying Hawker Hurricanes.

In May 1940 he took the squadron to France but is believed to have been shot down in a German attack just south west of Brussels and he disappeared.

Neither his plane nor his body were recovered but, after the war, RAF authorities received his log book with a letter from a German who said he had taken it from the wreckage of a Hurricane and asked that it be returned to Gifford.

Although pilots were not supposed to take their log books with them, many did.

Anyone who wants to contribute to the plaque can send cheques payable to The 603 Squadron Association to Bill Simpson, 10B Bodwall Road, Edinburgh, EH5 3RH.