Frank Reginald "Chota" Carey, (7 May 1912 – 6 December 2004) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace who served during World War II.
Born in Brixton, London, Carey was educated at Belvedere School before he joined the RAF in September 1927 at the age of 15 as an apprentice metal rigger. After completing the apprenticeship Carey was assigned to No. 43 Squadron RAF based at RAF Tangmere. In 1933 he converted to the role of fitter at RAF Worthy Down. In 1935 he applied to become a fighter pilot and completed the training in 1936. Carey was posted back to 43 Squadron and by 1939 was an established pilot.
At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 Carey flew defensive patrols over eastern Scotland, where he gained his first successes. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) in February 1940 for several shared air victories. Commissioned as pilot officer in April 1940, he transferred to No. 3 Squadron RAF and participated in the Battle of France. In May he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for seven enemy aircraft shot down and two probably shot down. On 14 June he received a Bar to the DFC and a promotion to flying officer. From 9 July to 18 August 1940 Carey flew in the Battle of Britain. He accounted for a further nine enemy aircraft destroyed, three probably destroyed, and one damaged but was wounded in July and again in August. His wounds were severe and he took no further part in the battle. In November 1940 he was posted to Operational Training Unit (OTU) 52 as an instructor.
Carey was given command of No. 135 Squadron RAF, as acting squadron leader, in August 1941. In December the squadron began moving to India, with Carey leading the formation against the Japanese invasion of Burma. In February 1942 he was promoted to wing commander and by the end of the year had shot down nine Japanese aircraft. Carey was taken off operations and sent to RAF Amarda Road in India as Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Air Fighting Training Unit 1 in 1943. In November 1944 he was promoted to group captain and left Burma for Egypt as AOC at OTU 73. Carey was mentioned in the 1945 New Year Honours list. In July 1945 he moved to England as Group Captain Tactics at the Central Flying Establishment until the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945.
Carey was credited with 23 enemy aircraft shot down, six shared destroyed, four unconfirmed destroyed, seven probable, two destroyed on the ground and ten damaged. Of the 23 credited destroyed in air combat, 15 were German and 8 Japanese.Franks 2006, pp. 85–87.
Following World War II he spent two years at Staff College, Camberley and continued his career in the RAF until 1958, when he moved to Australia as Air Adviser to the United Kingdom High Commissioner. Carey retired from the RAF in June 1960 and went to work for the Rolls-Royce Aero Engine Division in Australia. On 3 June 1960 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. After his retirement Carey returned to England and died in Chichester, aged 92.
Early life and career Frank Reginald Carey was born in Brixton, London on 7 May 1912 to Alfred John Carey (b. 1885) and Elsie Mabel Carey (née Whatson, b. October 1889). Frank was the eldest of three sons—Hugh John (b. 1914) and Roy Gerald (b. 1916). Carey had vague memories of World War I and aviation as a child. During the Zeppelin and German bombing campaign over England his parents strapped a table over his bed to afford the young Frank some protection from bomb fragments. During the war his mother became ill with tuberculosis. The family moved to Lindfield, north of Haywards Heath in Sussex. Alfred hoped the country air would be better for her than the smog-filled London. Elsie succumbed to her condition on 26 November 1924. After her death Alfred pursued his career as a trainee engineer and work as a chauffeur. Alfred set up an ironmongers company soon after, but the Great Depression of 1929 forced Carey senior into bankruptcy.Franks 2006, pp. 11–15.
Carey was educated at Belverdere School, Haywards Heath; a relative paid for the brothers' education there. A former pupil of Belverdere had become a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF). The pilot frequently visited the school and performed low fly-pasts in an Armstrong Whitworth Siskin, and this display encouraged Carey to seek a career as a pilot and leave home. Carey's father had remarried and Frank did not get on with his new wife or new step-brothers. The family's finances were in a parlous state and coupled with Frank's poor educational performance, he was prevented from applying to join the RAF immediately.
Cary found salvation in the Aircraft Apprentice Scheme at Halton House, near Aylesbury and Tring in Buckinghamshire. Lord Trenchard, the Chief of the Air Staff, set up the scheme at RAF Halton which used Halton House as the Officers' Mess. Carey was sometimes assigned to RAF Cranwell until 1926 when the site could take the overwhelming numbers of applicants. With the help of his former headmaster at Lindfield, Carey sat and barely passed the examinations. Carey was lacking in discipline but soon became adept at keeping fit and lean. At the end of the three-year course he finished 227th out of a class of 419, and just qualified with an overall grade of 65 per cent. Mathematics, Science, Engineering and English was rated at 59.9 per cent. General service was marked 57 per cent and his technical knowledge was rated at 73 per cent. He was accepted into the RAF in September 1927 as an airframe fitter. His tutors noted he had not attained a trainee non-commissioned officer rank and was not likely to be fit for command.
In 1930 Carey was posted to No. 43 Squadron RAF based at RAF Tangmere near Chichester, West Sussex. After serving for one year and improving his technical grade, Carey was posted to RAF Worthy Down near Winchester where he spent most of his time in the workshops rebuilding and servicing Napier Lion engines. In 1935, after several applications, he was selected for pilot training. He was sent to No. 6 Flying Training School at Netheravon in Wiltshire. Little of Carey's flight training is known since his logbook was lost. Carey passed out as a Sergeant pilot, rejoining 43 Squadron, now flying the Hawker Fury. While in Wiltshire he met his first wife, Kathleen Ivy Steele. They were married at Winchester Registry office on 1 July 1936 and moved to a house in Arundel.
Carey arrived at Tangmere on 30 November 1936. Carey's 5-foot 3-inch frame earned him the nickname Chota ("little one"), a name absorbed by the RAF from its time in India. Carey flew the Bristol Bulldog, Gloster Gauntlet and Hawker Demon biplane fighters. In August 1936 Caesar Hull joined the squadron. Hull was also to become a fighter ace in World War II. The squadron competed at Sutton Bridge in January 1937 for the Sir Philip Sassoon Flight Attack Challenge Trophy. On 26 June 1937 Carey participated in the Hendon Air Displays. In June 1938 Peter Townsend was assigned to the squadron. In August 1938 the squadron was sent to Northern Ireland, No. 2 Armament Training Station for gunnery training before it returned to Tangmere to re-equip with the Hawker Hurricane monoplane. From August 1938 to September 1939 the squadron carried out exercises that were consistent with pre-war presumptions that the Luftwaffe would attack across the North Sea with unescorted bombers. The exercises were flown with the French Armée de l'air. On 5 August an exercise which simulated the attack of 1,300 German bombers took place over eastern England. By this time Carey had amassed at least 600 hours on the Fury alone.Franks 2008, pp. 16–25, 27.
Second World War On 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland. Britain declared war on 3 September 1939 beginning the war in Europe. As the Germans defeated Poland, the Western Allies adopted a defensive posture and the period September 1939 – April 1940 was known as the Phoney War. After war was declared 43 Squadron remained in England but moved to RAF Acklington north of Newcastle upon Tyne on 18 November 1939. The unit now formed part of No. 13 Group RAF which was responsible for the air defence of northern Britain. The winter, 1939–1940 was particularly severe but no enemy activity was observed by the squadron.
On 29 January 1940 Flight Lieutenant Caesar Hull led a section of 43 Squadron to intercept an unidentified aircraft caught on radar. Ten miles south-west of Hartlepool at 90:45 GMT, they engaged a Heinkel He 111 bomber of 6. Staffel Kampfgeschwader 26 (4./KG 26). It was one of nine He 111s that had separated from its formation upon reaching the English coast. Hull, Carey and Pilot Officer H. L. North fired at it as they chased it out over the sea. They observed no results and returned to base. Hull found a bullet hole in his Hurricane upon landing. On 30 January Frank and Hull were on patrol near Coquet Island. They intercepted 26 He 111s from KG 26 that were targeting merchant shipping and fishing boats. The German bombers were flying at low altitude just below the cloud line at approximately 1,000 ft. This tactic enabled the German bomber pilot to easily escape into the cloud if spotted. The two pilots dropped to sea-level and engaged an enemy unseen. The He 111, from, 4./KG 26, crashed into the sea. Pilot Feldwebel Helmut Höfner were posted missing in action. The observer was confirmed to have been killed in action when his body was recovered. Carey attempted to use his gun camera to record the Heinkel as it sank nose-first on the water but it failed to work.Franks 2008, p. 29.Norman 2002, p. 25.Shores, Foreman and Ehrengardt 1992, p. 162.
The Luftwaffe persisted with raids on the north-east coast of England. On 3 February it committed 24 He 111s from KG 26 and a pair of Junkers Ju 88s from Kampfgeschwader 30. Carey took off with a section of 43 Squadron—a number of sections from the squadron had already scrambled— at 11:15. They intercepted He 111s bombing ships 15 miles off Tynemouth. Carey and his wingman, Sergeant Peter Ottewill engaged and downed a He 111, although it took the combined ammunition of both Hurricanes to do so. Ottewill headed off the He 111 while Carey attacked. When the German pilot attempted to climb for cloud cover, Ottewill joined the attack. The Heinkel landed on the sea with both engines stopped and sank. The pilot, Oberfeldwebel Fritz Wiemer, was later rescued and became a prisoner of war. The remainder died in a field hospital. The German attack sank three ships—Alexandria, the Tempo (Norwegian 629 GRT ) and the Greek Nicolau Zografia near the Farne Islands. Three He 111s were lost according to a German radio broadcast.Franks 2008, p. 30.Norman 2002, pp. 27–29.
Carey was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) on 21 February 1940 for this action. The DFM was Gazetted on 1 March. On 28 March German bombers raided shipping around the Northern Isles, Orkney and Shetland. A lone He 111 was spotted and Carey, Hull and Sergeant Ottewill crippled the bomber which began to burn. The pilot abandoned any escape attempts, turned toward the coast and prepared to crash-land. At that moment 605 Squadron arrived and shot the Heinkel down into the sea; there were no survivors. On 31 March 1940 Carey was promoted to flight sergeant. The following day, 1 April 1940 (22nd birthday of the RAF), he received his commission with promotion to pilot officer.Franks 2008, p. 32. Carey was reassigned to No. 3 Squadron RAF on 2 April 1940. He flew to RAF Kenley in Surrey and spent a week on leave. Then 3 Squadron relocated to RAF Manston. At Manston Air Officer Commanding (AOC) No. 11 Group RAF, Keith Park, personally presented Carey with the DFM on 1 May 1940.Franks 2008, p. 34.
France and Low countries