RAF pilot only survivor of German dogfight

Telegraph

25-06-2025

An RAF hero was the only man to make it home after an enemy ambush of 40 planes during the Second World War.
Pilot Officer William Willshaw took off with 11 other Hurricane pilots to protect British troops from Stuka dive-bombers at the Battle of El Alamein on Sept 3 1942.
The dozen aircraft were surrounded by 25 Junker Ju 87 and 15 Messerschmitt fighter planes, with every other Allied plane shot down during the ensuing dogfight.
Plt Off Willshaw's aircraft was hit by several machine gun rounds but he nursed it back to base, where he was told no one else had returned.
The pilot officer, who was known as Joe, completed 60 reconnaissance missions, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross for 'devotion to duty and gallantry'.
His medals and RAF log books remained in his family for eight decades but have now been sold at Cuttlestones Auctioneers, of Stafford, achieving a hammer price of £5,000, with auctioneers fees taking the final figure paid by the undisclosed buyer to £6,200.
Dave Eglington, an auctioneer, said: 'Joe managed to get his damaged aircraft back to base, his machine had been hit by several machine gun rounds several feet behind his seat and had a hole shot through the port wing.
'Sadly, when Joe had time to check on his 11 fellow aircraft, his was the only surviving one. It must have been extremely harrowing for him to be the only man to come back.'
Plt Off Willshaw said of the Battle of El Alamein: 'The quiet desert was turned into an armada of troops, tanks and supply columns, with aircraft flying high above them also fighting in a continuous battle.
'I was flying Hurricanes. Our objective was to attack and stop the JU87 Stukas from dive-bombing our troops, while keeping an eye out for any Me 109s that might be patrolling the battle zone.
'The desert in part seemed like a large scrapyard with burning tanks and airplanes scattered everywhere. To me, my world was real air warfare, constantly attacking aircraft and at times protecting our own.'
The Battle of El Alamein saw Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's forces overcome the Afrika Korps of the 'Desert Fox' Erwin Rommel and begin to swing the momentum of the Second World War in the Allies favour.
Plt Off Willshaw was born in Doxey, Stafford, in 1921. After the Battle of El Alamein he returned to Europe for reconnaissance missions identifying the German points of weakness in the run up to D-Day.
He left the RAF in 1946 and returned to civilian life with Universal Grinding, where he worked his way up to materials manager.