The gallantry medals awarded to one of the RAF’s finest Battle of Britain aces are being sold by his family for £200,000.
Air Commodore Peter Malam Brothers destroyed 16 enemy aircraft during the Second World War.
He was a veteran of the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain, the Dieppe raid and D-Day.
In his RAF log books, which are also being sold, he drew red swastikas to mark all his ‘kills’ and wrote the words ‘Good Show’ to describe the 1944 Normandy invasion.
Most of his ‘kills’ came in 1940 when he served as one of the ‘The Few’ who defeated the German Luftwaffe and stopped Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Britain.
The then Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill famously referred to the pilots in a speech in which he uttered the words, ‘Never was so much owed by so many to so few.’
Air Commodore Brothers was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice, the Distinguished Service Order and the CBE for bravery, skill and service to the RAF.
The ace was even known to unwind from a dog fight by sliding his cockpit canopy back and lighting a cigarette as he flew home.
The gallantry medals awarded to one of the RAF’s finest Battle of Britain aces are being sold by his family for £200,000. Air Commodore Peter Malam Brothers destroyed 16 enemy aircraft during the Second World War
Air Commodore Brothers flew up to four sorties a day in his Hurricane to repel enemy bomber and fighter planes from attacking airfields in southern England.
On one occasion he found himself heavily outnumbered by Messerschmitt 109s but still broke away to shoot down a Dornier 215 bomber.
After lunch he went up again and destroyed a Junkers 88 bomber.
In 1942, Air Commodore Brothers flew four sorties in support of the disastrous Dieppe raid in northern France.
During the ill-fated invasion, several RAF fighter planes were shot down by friendly fire from Royal Navy ships.
It was thanks to Air Commodore Brothers’ observations at Dieppe that ‘friendly’ stripes were later painted underneath Allied aircraft so the same mistake could not be repeated for D-Day.
Air Commodore Brothers was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice, the Distinguished Service Order and the CBE for her bravery, skill and service to the RAF. Pictured: Distinguished Flying Cross with Second Award Bar (left); 1939-1945 Star with Battle of Britain clasp (second from left); Air Crew Europe Star with France and Germany Clasp (third from left and centre); Defence Medal (third from right and second from right), War Medal General Service Medal (right). Top is The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 2nd type, Military Division, Companion’s (CBE) neck badge
On D-Day, on June 6, 1944, when Allied troops invaded Nazi-occupied France, the air ace was there to support ground troops the Allied armada and flew low over the beaches to protect soldiers.
He and his squadron spotted a German anti-aircraft armoured train heading for the coast and led a low-level attack to put it out of action.
He noted in his logbook the words ‘Operation Overlord’ and wrote: ‘Last night, this morning, Britain + Allied forces set foot on Hitler’s “European Fortress”.
‘Landings all according to plan with only light opposition + few casualties.
‘Out of 1,100 British + American a/c (aircraft) only 23 were lost. 4,000 ships taking part + 11,000 aircraft.
‘Air opposition nil. Bridgehead firmly established + troops pressing on behind Caen. Good show.’
His family now feel it is the right time to sell on his medals and five log books and have made them available for sale at Dominic Winter Auctions of Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
His family now feel it is the right time to sell on his medals and five log books (number two pictured) and have made them available for sale at Dominic Winter Auctions of Cirencester, Gloucestershire
On D-Day, on June 6, 1944, when Allied troops invaded Nazi-occupied France, the air ace was there to support ground troops the Allied armada and flew low over the beaches to protect soldiers. He noted in his logbook the words ‘Operation Overlord’ and wrote: ‘Last night, this morning, Britain + Allied forces set foot on Hitler’s “European Fortress”‘
Henry Meadows, medals specialist at the saleroom, said: ‘Air Commodore Brothers was one of finest pilots the RAF has ever seen.
‘He flew from the start of the war all the way through, downing 16 enemy aircraft and damaging others.
‘The medals have come via the family and are hugely desirable for collectors, museums and institutions.
‘Not only was Brothers a brilliant pilot, but during the most difficult time of the Battle of Britain he helped restore the confidence of the young, inexperienced airmen of 257 Squadron which had seen heavy losses.
‘When he and his wingman jointly shot down a bomber he refused to claim the victory and insisted it was his inexperienced colleague who should be credited.
‘Five logbooks including the one with his Battle of Britain victories are also in the lot – he marked his success against the enemy with swastikas.
Another page from one of Air Commodore Brothers’ logbooks shows how he has stuck in newspaper cuttings about operations he was involved in
‘There really will be huge interest in the sale that also includes his CBE which he was awarded in 1964.
‘Without Pete Brothers and his fellow flyers who Churchill famously referred to as The Few, the outcome of the war would have been very different.’
Andy Saunders, a Battle of Britain historian, said: ‘Peter Brothers was a remarkable man with an exceptionally distinguished RAF career.
‘I was privileged to know him and found him a modest and unassuming man – although he had every reason to be far from modest, given his stellar career from the Battle of France, Britain and beyond – right up to service in the Malayan campaign of the early 1950s.
‘He was a gentleman through-and-through, the very epitome of a Battle of Britain pilot.’
Air Commodore Brothers was born in Prestwich, Greater Manchester in 1917. He learned to fly as a 16-year-old and joined the RAF in 1936 as a pilot in 32 Squadron.
He took part in the Battle of France, downing two Messerschmitt 109s in May 1940.
During the Battle of Britain that followed he flew Hurricanes from Biggin Hill, Kent.
He recalled later that the moment the war ‘became personal’ for him was when the mirror his wife Annette was applying make-up in was shattered by a splinter caused by a German bomb.
Despite the astonishing danger he faced in the air, he was also nearly killed as he slept when a line of enemy bombs landed yards from his bed.
He didn’t even stir and was surprised when he woke in the morning to find craters and spent anti-aircraft shells all around.
By August 1940 he had achieved ‘ace’ status with eight kills and was awarded his first DFC.
The citation for it notes one of his hair-raising dog fights: ‘This officer’s flight encountered about one hundred enemy aircraft.
He led the flight in attack against them, but before this could be pressed home, he himself was attacked by a number of Messerschmitt 110s.
‘Turning to meet them, he found himself in a stalled position; he spun out of it and immediately sighted and engaged a Dornier 215 which was shot down.. Later in the day he destroyed a Messerschmitt 109.’
He went on to serve in 457 Squadron as acting squadron leader and then 602 Squadron as wing leader
He received a bar for the medal in June 1943 for displaying ‘outstanding keenness and efficiency’ and in November 1944 was awarded the DSO for his ‘courageous, outstanding and brilliant’ leadership.
At the end of the war Brothers he had notched up 875 operational hours and took part in the first Battle of Britain flypast led by the legendary Douglas Bader
Although he left the RAF in 1947 he re-joined two years later.
In March 1950 his bomber squadron was the first to participate in the Malayan Emergency and he finally retired from the RAF in 1973 and set up a consultancy.
He remained an active supporter of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust and died in 2008, three years after his wife with whom he had two daughters.
He lived in the village of Eastbury, near Newbury, Berkshire, before his death.
A replica of his 32 Squadron Hurricane stands outside Fighter Command’s former HQ at Bentley Priory, north London.
His medals and log books will be sold on May 20.