Victory
28
Biography
"Killer" Caldwell, the great ace of the desert, is also the No. 1 on the list of Australian fighter pilots with twenty-eight victories (and one shared), gleaned on two very different fronts. Clive Robertson Caldwell was born on July 28, 1910 in Albion Park, near Sydney. In 1938, he made his first solo flight at the local flying club, after only three and a half hours of practical instruction! As soon as war broke out in Europe, Caldwell joined the Royal Australian Air Force. In January 1941, he received his wings, then his assignment to the Middle East as a fighter pilot. Despite his thirty years of age, he owes his decision not to join the bombers or the transports - assignments reserved for "old people" his age - to his exceptional ability to fly and his innate sense of command.
This imposing man (1.90 meters and 110 kilos) does not know half measures. His self-confidence and his determination will be two major assets in the hard battles that await him in the Mediterranean, where he arrives on April 11, 1941 to become Pilot Officer at 250 Squadron of the R.A.F., equipped with a Tomahawk. After having briefly fought in Syria and Cyprus, his unit was sent to Cyrenaica On June 26, 1941, during an escort mission over Gazala, he shot down his first Bf. .87 and a Bf.110 which he shared with another pilot.On July 7, an Italian Fiat G.50 was added to his hunting list.
On August 29, 1941, near Tobruk, a German ace from JG 27 dived on Caldwell, taking him unawares, and set his Tomahawk on fire.Slightly wounded in the shoulder, the Australian was about to parachute in when the fire went out. He sits down at the controls and manages to shoot down a 109 before returning to his base, where his mechanics will count 113 ball impacts es and shells on his plane!
This great feat earned him the D.F.C. (Distinguished Flying Cross) and, above all, a promotion to the rank of Flight-Lieutenant, a spectacular advancement for a pilot who has only five months of service. Very quickly, his prize list swells with new successes, but Caldwell does not content himself with applying the methods and tactics he has been taught, he creates new ones...
On December 5, he knocked out five Ju.87s from a formation of forty Stukas near El-Adem. At the end of 1941, he added a bar to his D.F.C. and is promoted to Flight-Commander. His reputation is proportional to his score, and soon he is only called "Killer" Caldwell, Caldwell the Killer. On January 14, 1942, he took command of the famous 1 12" Squadron, whose Kittyhawks were adorned with the aggressive shark's mouth, which had become so famous.
On February 20, 1942, he shot down a Bf.109 of I. /JG 27, after a spectacular flyover that took his opponent by surprise. On March 10, Clive Caldwell tests the Kittyhawk in its new role as a fighter-bomber, a role that will prove very useful during the desert war. On March 14, he claimed his last two victories in the desert:a Bf. 109 (shared) and a Macchi MC.202. His record shows twenty and a half victories when he left the Mediterranean on May 25, 1942, which made him the great ally ace of this theater of operations.
Although the R.A.A.F. cries out for the return to the fold of his child prodigy, Caldwell spends a few months in England and the United States. At the end of September 1942, he was welcomed as a hero in Australia where he took command of No. 2 O.T.U. which tests the locally made Boomerang fighter. On November 26, he was transferred to No. 1 Fighter Wing in Darwin, where he served as Wing Commander from January 1, 1943. The Spitfire VCs of this squadron were tasked with repelling Japanese raids on the Australian coast. On March 2, 1943, leading a patrol of six Spitfires, Caldwell intercepted six "Kates" escorted by twelve "Zekes. He shot down one aircraft of each type over the Arafura Sea. He frequently drove he himself sent waves of thirty-six to forty-eight Spitfires, which sowed confusion in the Japanese ranks. The exploits of his squadron earned him the decoration of the D.S.O. (Distinguished Service Order) on June 22. His last victim , a "Dinah", fell on August 20, 1943.
With twenty-eight and a half victories, he is the ace of Australian aces and although he stopped fighting two years before the end of hostilities, none of his compatriots would display such a record. On September 28, 1943, withdrawn from the front, Caldwell found No. 2 O.T.U. He returned to the combat zone on April 14, 1944, as commander of the 80th Fighter Wing, equipped with Spitfire VIII, in Morotai (Indonesia). On August, he was named GroupCaptain. In April 1945, he joined the Australian General Staff, which he did not leave until February 6, 1946 to return to civilian life. "Killer" Caldwell then goes into business.