Jerry Pentland | |
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.jpg) Squadron Leader Pentland in New Guinea,c. 1943 | |
| Born | 5 August 1894 Maitland, New South Wales |
| Died | 3 November 1983(1983-11-03) (aged 89) Collaroy, New South Wales |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Branch |
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| Years of service |
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| Rank | Squadron Leader |
| Unit |
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| Commands | No. 1 Rescue and Communication Flight (1942–1943) |
| Battles / wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | |
| Other work |
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Alexander Augustus Norman Dudley"Jerry" Pentland,MC, DFC, AFC (5 August 1894 – 3 November 1983) was an Australianfighter ace in World War I.
Born inMaitland, New South Wales, Pentland commenced service as aLighthorseman with theAustralian Imperial Force in 1915, and saw action atGallipoli. He transferred to theRoyal Flying Corps the following year, rising tocaptain. Credited with twenty-three aerial victories, Pentland became the fifth-highest-scoring Australian ace of the war, afterRobert Little,Stan Dallas,Harry Cobby andRoy King. He was awarded theMilitary Cross in January 1918 for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty" on a mission attacking an aerodrome behind enemy lines, and theDistinguished Flying Cross that August for engaging four hostile aircraft single-handedly.
Pentland served in the fledglingRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and later theRoyal Air Force, before going into business in 1927. His ventures included commercial flying around the goldfields ofNew Guinea, aircraft design and manufacture, flight instruction and charter work. In the early 1930s, he was employed as a pilot withAustralian National Airways, and also spent time as a dairy farmer. Soon after the outbreak of World War II, he re-enlisted in the RAAF, attaining the rank ofsquadron leader and commanding rescue and communications units in theSouth West Pacific. Perhaps the oldest operational pilot in the wartime RAAF, Pentland was responsible for rescuing airmen, soldiers and civilians, and earned theAir Force Cross for his "outstanding courage, initiative and skill". He became a trader in New Guinea when the war ended in 1945, and later a coffee planter. Retiring in 1959, he died in 1983 at the age of eighty-nine.
Alexander Augustus Norman Dudley Pentland was born inMaitland, New South Wales, on 5 August 1894.[1][2] His father Alexander was Irish, and his mother Annie Norma (née Farquhar) was Scottish.[3] Educated atThe King's School, Sydney, andBrighton Grammar, Melbourne, Pentland went on to study dairy farming atHawkesbury Agricultural College, and later worked as ajackaroo.[2][4] His father was a physician who joined theAustralian Imperial Force (AIF) during World War I and served as amajor in theAustralian Army Medical Corps.[4][5]
Pentland enlisted as aprivate in the AIF on 5 March 1915, sailing for Egypt with the12th Light Horse Regiment aboard HMAT A29Suevic on 13 June.[1][5] In August, his unit deployed toGallipoli,[6] where he fought as a machine gunner before being hospitalised the following month, suffering fromtyphoid fever; he was evacuated to England in December.[7][8] Determined to leave the trenches behind after recovering, he volunteered for theRoyal Flying Corps (RFC) and was discharged from the AIF on 21 February 1916 to take up his commission as a temporarysecond lieutenant in the RFC.[5][9] His first solo flight in aMaurice Farman Longhorn atBrooklands, after two hours of dual instruction, ended with him overshooting the runway and crashing in a sewage farm, but he was unhurt and immediately undertook a second solo attempt, landing successfully.[10] It was at Brooklands that he was first nicknamed "Jerry".[3] After completing pilot training, he was posted to France in June, flyingB.E.2s withNo. 16 Squadron. Though the slow and vulnerable B.E.2 was considered "Fokker fodder" by its crews, Pentland and his observer quickly managed to score the former's first aerial victory, bringing down a GermanEindecker overHabourdin on 9 June.[1][11] He was then posted toNo. 29 Squadron and was converting toDH.2"pusher" fighters when he broke his leg playing rugby. After recovering, heinstructed atLondon Colney until June 1917, when he joinedNo. 19 Squadron, flyingSPAD S.VIIs. This would become Pentland's favourite type due to its strength and manoeuvrability, even though it had to be 'flown' constantly and was unforgiving at low speed.[7][11]
On 20 July 1917, soon after arriving at his new unit in France, Pentland achieved his first victory in the SPAD when he shared in the destruction of anAlbatros two-seater. He followed this up with a solo "kill" on 12 August.[11] Four days later, after stopping an enemy truck convoy in its tracks by crippling its lead vehicle with machine-gun fire, he reportedly engaged ten Albatros fighters single-handedly; by the time he had driven them off, four bullets had penetrated his leather flying suit without injuring him, and his plane had absorbed so much punishment that it had to be scrapped when he got back to base.[7][11] After sharing another Albatros two-seater on 20 August, Pentland led a raid on Marcke aerodrome, home ofBaron von Richthofen'sJasta 11, on 26 August. On the way, he helped bring down aDFW C.V, then achieved complete surprise at the airfield, which he and hisflight proceeded to shoot up. On the return journey, he strafed an enemy train until his guns jammed and then, having managed to clear them, engaged two more German scouts. His part in the raid earned him theMilitary Cross, promulgated inThe London Gazette on 9 January 1918:[11][12]
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On a recent occasion he flew to an aerodrome fifteen miles behind the enemy lines, descended to within twenty feet of the ground, and fired into eight hostile machines. On his return journey he attacked a train with considerable effect from a low altitude. He has in addition brought down several enemy machines, and has always set a splendid example of fearlessness and devotion to duty in attacking enemy balloons and troops on the ground.
Credited with one more victory during August 1917, and another four the following month, Pentland's score stood at ten when he was injured on 26 September after an artillery shell struck his SPAD and forced him to crash land. Following his recovery, he again spent time instructing before being posted back to a front-line unit, this timeNo. 87 Squadron, operatingSopwith Dolphins.[7][11] Promotedcaptain, he returned to France in April 1918, having transferred the same month with the rest of the RFC to the newly formedRoyal Air Force (RAF).[13] Pentland went on to achieve thirteen victories with No. 87 Squadron, where his aggressive tactics saw him dubbed the "Wild Australian" by colleagues. Appointed commander of 'B' Flight, he also frequently acted as a "lone wolf", actively seeking dogfights with enemy aircraft on his own.[7][14] On 18 June, he was alone on patrol when he engaged a flight of fourRumpler high-altitudereconnaissance aircraft, forcing down three of them. This action earned him theDistinguished Flying Cross, gazetted on 3 August:[13][15]
A gallant flight commander, who in the last three months has destroyed two enemy machines and driven down four out of control. Recently, whilst on special patrol, he, single-handed, attacked four enemy aeroplanes; having driven down one out of control, he engaged the leader, damaged his engine, and compelled him to glide to his lines. One of the remaining machines followed the leader, but he attacked the other and drove it down in a steep dive.
On 25 August, Pentland attacked and destroyed two German planes, a DFW two-seater andFokker D.VII, before himself being shot down and wounded in the foot.[1][14] These would be his last victories; his grand total of twenty-three included eleven destroyed, one of which was shared, and twelve out of control, three of them shared.[14][16] This score ranked him fifth among the Australian aces of the war afterRobert Little,Stan Dallas,Harry Cobby andRoy King.[17]
Pentland relinquished his RAF commission and returned to Australia at the end of the war, earning money by giving joyrides in anAvro 504K. Looking for a more secure future, he joined the newly establishedRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in August 1921, following an interview with Wing CommanderStanley Goble, a wartime acquaintance through the RAF. Rankedflight lieutenant, Pentland was put in charge of the RAAF's complement ofS.E.5 fighters atPoint Cook, Victoria, part of theImperial Gift recently donated by Great Britain.[7][18] The young Air Force had the atmosphere of a flying club, where everyone knew everyone else. Tensions sometimes arose between those who had served with British forces during the war, and those who had belonged to theAustralian Flying Corps (AFC); the former considered that they were discriminated against when it came to filling senior positions, and came the day Pentland and fellow ex-RAF memberHippolyte De La Rue threw an "uppity" AFC man into amess fireplace.[19] Deciding that his RAAF career was not progressing, Pentland applied for a short-service commission as aflying officer with the RAF in 1923, which was granted as of 23 April.[20][21] He journeyed to Britain with new wife Madge (née Moffat), whom he married on 5 March, just before departing Australia; they had one daughter, Carleen, the following year.[3][20] Pentland completed the course atCentral Flying School, Uphavon, and became an instructor there, gaining promotion to flight lieutenant before leaving the RAF on 20 July 1926 and returning to Australia.[22][23]
In 1927, Pentland formed Mandated Territory Airways with entrepreneur Albert Royal to fly freight to and from the goldfields of New Guinea. The pair bought aDH.60 Moth biplane, which Pentland ferried to the firm's base atLae in February 1928.[24] The business prospered in the short term, to the extent that the partners took on another Moth and more pilots. By the end of the year, Pentland was suffering frommalaria and had to abandon the venture, selling one of the planes to Guinea Airways and returning to Australia with the other.[25] After recovering in the new year, he embarked on a series of new enterprises, including aircraft manufacture, a flying school and charter work. In February 1929, he formed the General Aircraft Company with Royal and another partner to produce an Australian-designed aeroplane, the Genairco, of which eight were eventually sold. With the Moth from Mandated Territory Airways, he established Pentland's Flying School atMascot, New South Wales. He also flew charters with a Moth owned byThe Sun newspaper, using the same aircraft that September to compete in theEast-West Air Race from Sydney to Perth, as part of the celebrations for theWestern Australia Centenary. The event attracted several veteran aviators of World War I, includingHorrie Miller—the eventual winner on handicap—andCharles "Moth" Eaton, whom Pentland beat into fifth place across the line.[26][27]
Lack of patronage led to Pentland folding his businesses and taking a job in 1930 as a pilot withAustralian National Airways (ANA), a new airline founded byCharles Kingsford Smith andCharles Ulm.[7][28] By 1932, ANA was in trouble as well, and Pentland left to set up as a dairy farmer on a property he bought atSingleton. Within two years, drought forced him to sell the land and he returned to earning his living as a pilot, instructing at aero clubs inQueensland andNew South Wales.[29] By late 1937, he was again employed as a transport pilot in New Guinea, where he was known as a practical joker who liked to hold a map in front of his face in apparent short-sightedness and ask his passengers if they could see a landing ground anywhere. He returned to Australia afterwar was declared in September 1939.[30]
Having offered his services to the Australian government on his return from New Guinea, Pentland rejoined the RAAF on 17 June 1940. He undertook the flying instructors' course atCentral Flying School inCamden, New South Wales, and was posted as an instructor to elementary flying training schools in eastern Australia, includingBrisbane,Tamworth,Temora,Bundaberg andLowood. Addressed by a young pilot at one school as "Pop", Pentland responded in front of the large audience, "I'm sorry son, but I don't remember sleeping with your mother".[31] He was promoted to flight lieutenant in October 1941, and joined No. 1 Communication Flight in June 1942.[3][8] Based inVictoria atLaverton and, later,Essendon, it was primarily engaged in army and naval cooperation, and operated as far afield as theNorthern Territory and New Guinea.[32]
Promoted tosquadron leader, in November 1942 Pentland was posted toPort Moresby, New Guinea, as commanding officer (CO) ofNo. 1 Rescue and Communication Squadron, better known as "Pentland's Flying Circus".[33][34] Theofficial history of Australia in the war described this as the RAAF's "most unusual operational unit", asserting that its "strange assortment of light aircraft was as varied and as appropriate to its task as was the flying record of its commander ...".[35] Its inventory included such types as thede Havilland Tiger Moth,DH.84 Dragon,Fox Moth,Dragon Rapide andAvro Anson.[36] Perhaps the RAAF's oldest pilot in any theatre of operations, Pentland was responsible for the rescue of downed US airmen, as well as the evacuation of civilians and soldiers. He also organised aerial surveys aroundDaru andMilne Bay, developing new bases and emergency airfields at locales such asBena Bena,Abau,Kulpi and Port Moresby.[35]
Posted back to Australia after relinquishing command of No. 1 Rescue and Communication Squadron in June 1943, Pentland received radar training and helped to set up the RAAF's early warning grid in northern Australia.[33][37] He returned to New Guinea in March 1944 as CO of No. 8 Communication Unit,Goodenough Island, which had been formed in November 1943 from Pentland's old Rescue and Communications Squadron. Operating Tiger Moth,Supermarine Walrus,Consolidated PBY Catalina,Dornier Do 24,Bristol Beaufort,CAC Boomerang,Bristol Beaufighter andVultee Vengeance aircraft, the unit performed reconnaissance and bombing sorties over New Britain and north-eastern New Guinea, as well as rescue and survey missions.[38] In July 1945, Pentland was posted to Mascot as CO of No. 3 Communication Unit, serving until September.[39] His achievements in New Guinea earned him theAir Force Cross, the citation being promulgated on 22 February 1946 and concluding:[8][40]
Squadron Leader PENTLAND has, at all times, displayed outstanding courage, initiative and skill, and these qualities, together with his excellent knowledge of New Guinea and its climatic conditions, have made his services invaluable, not only to the R.A.A.F., but to the U.S. Army Air Forces and the New Guinea Forces as well.
With the end of hostilities in the Pacific, Pentland was discharged from the RAAF on 2 November 1945.[8] He took the opportunity to purchase surplus military equipment in New Guinea and established himself as a trader inFinschhafen, later expanding to Lae andWau. In 1948, he went into business as a coffee planter inGoroka and also recruited labour from the highlands for industries on the coast. Prospering as a planter, he contributed to development of the region by building Goroka's original constant-flowing water supply and encouraging other businesses to set up there. His ongoing commitments in New Guinea meant that he was notinvested with his Air Force Cross until 1950. In 1959, he sold his interests in Goroka and retired with Madge to their seaside home inBayview, New South Wales.[7][41] Madge Pentland died in 1982, and Jerry eighteen months later, on 3 November 1983, at the War Veterans Home inCollaroy. He was survived by daughter Carleen, and cremated on 7 November.[2][3]
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