Wilfred Stanley Arthur, (7 December 1919 – 23 December 2000) was a fighter ace and senior officer of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. Commonly known as "Woof", he was officially credited with ten aerial victories. As a commander, he led combat formations at squadron and wing level, becoming at twenty-four the youngest group captain in the history of the RAAF.
Born in Sydney and raised in rural Queensland, Arthur enlisted in the RAAF the day after Australia joined the war in September 1939. He first saw action the following year with No. 3 (Army Cooperation) Squadron in the Middle East, flying Gloster Gladiators initially, and later Hawker Hurricanes and P-40 Tomahawks. He achieved victories in all three types against German and Italian opponents, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down four aircraft in a single sortie in November 1941. The next month Arthur married a young woman he met in Alexandria, and organised for her to travel with him on his troopship when he was posted back to Australia in January 1942.
After a brief stint flying P-40 Kittyhawks with No. 76 Squadron in Queensland in April 1942, Arthur served as an instructor with No. 2 Operational Training Unit (OTU) in Victoria. In January 1943 he was posted to New Guinea to command another Kittyhawk unit, No. 75 Squadron. He received the Distinguished Service Order in April for continuing to lead an attack on a formation of Japanese bombers after discovering that his guns were inoperable. Appointed wing leader of No. 71 Wing, Arthur was involved in a runway collision with an RAAF Spitfire in November and suffered severe burns necessitating repatriation to Australia. After recovering, he attended a staff course before taking charge of No. 2 OTU. In December 1944 he was posted to the Dutch East Indies to command No. 81 Wing and, later, No. 78 Wing. Twice mentioned in despatches during the war, Arthur also played a leading part in—and gave name to—the "Morotai Mutiny" of April 1945, when eight RAAF officers attempted to resign their commissions in protest against apparently worthless ground-attack operations. Pursuing business interests in Australia and Vietnam following his discharge from the RAAF after the war, he settled in Darwin, Northern Territory, in 1967 and died there in 2000.
Early life
Wilfred Stanley Arthur was the son of stock inspector Stanley Oswald Darley Arthur from Inverell, New South Wales, and his English-born wife Helena Elizabeth Chaffers-Welsh.Royal Australian Air Force, "Arthur, Wilfred Stanley", pp. 176–178 Stanley Arthur was a veteran of World War I, serving with the Australian Army Veterinary Corps in Egypt and France; two of his brothers also saw active service.
Born in Sydney on 7 December 1919, Arthur grew up around Yelarbon, Queensland, near the New South Wales border.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 63 His early education was by correspondence, but he later attended Yelarbon State School, commuting on horseback.Arthur; Stokes, "Wilfred Stanley Arthur", p. 3 In 1935 he began boarding at the Scots College in Warwick, where he matriculated; he was also a member of the school cadet corps and excelled in sports such as cricket, tennis, swimming, athletics, and shooting. Known by his father's forename in youth, Arthur later gained an array of appellations including "Bandy", "Wilf", "Wolf", and "Wulf",Wilson, The Brotherhood of Airmen, pp. 81, 127 but most commonly "Woof".
Aged nineteen and still at the Scots College, Arthur applied to join the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He enlisted on 4 September 1939, the day after Australia's entry into World War II.Garrisson, Australian Fighter Aces, pp. 111–112Wilson, Seek and Strike, p. 88 Training at RAAF Station Point Cook, Victoria, and RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, he was commissioned a pilot officer on 3 March 1940, despite being prone to airsickness early on.Arthur; Stokes, "Wilfred Stanley Arthur", pp. 5–6 His initial flying duties were with No. 22 (City of Sydney) Squadron, which operated Hawker Demons and Avro Ansons.
Combat service
Middle East
Arthur was posted to No. 3 (Army Cooperation) Squadron on 27 March 1940. On 15 July, the squadron departed Sydney for the Middle East to support the 6th Division in the Western Desert campaign against Italian forces. Sailing via Bombay, the unit arrived in Suez, Egypt, on 23 August.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 57 Arthur was promoted to flying officer on 3 September.Royal Australian Air Force, "Arthur, Wilfred Stanley", p. 123 On 2 November, two flights of the squadron moved forward to Gerawla, near Mersa Matruh, equipped with Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 58RAAF Historical Section, Fighter Units, p. 3 Arthur achieved his first aerial victory by shooting down a Fiat CR.42 biplane north-west of Sofafi, Egypt, on 12 December.Newton, Australian Air Aces, p. 64Shores; Williams, Aces High, pp. 99–100 He was in a patrol of five Gladiators that encountered seventeen of the Italian fighters, three of which the Australians claimed destroyed without loss to themselves. The next day Arthur was shot down by a CR.42, one of eight that engaged six Gladiators while they were attacking a formation of Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers near Sollum; five of the Gladiators were forced down against three Italian aircraft destroyed.Shores; Ring, Fighters Over the Desert, p. 24 Bailing out, Arthur narrowly avoided disaster when he became entangled first with his oxygen hose and then with the Gladiator's wing-bracing wires; he was only torn loose at a height of by the force of rushing air as his stricken plane fell to Earth.Thomas, Gloster Gladiator Aces, pp. 44–45 Arthur was credited with another CR.42 destroyed, and one damaged, north-east of Sollum Bay on 26 December, when his squadron attacked a formation of SM.79s escorted by over twenty CR.42s.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 64
On 22 January 1941, Arthur and Flying Officer Alan Rawlinson were despatched in Gladiators to attack an Italian schooner off Tobruk; they machine-gunned the vessel, setting it on fire.McAulay, Against Four Enemies, "Hawker Hurricanes"No. 3 Squadron, "Operations Record Book", p. 368 No. 3 Squadron began re-equipping with Hawker Hurricane monoplane fighters on 29 January.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 67 On 10 February, the squadron advanced to RAF Station Benina to take over the air defence of Benghazi, which had been occupied by the 6th Division.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, pp. 68–70 German aircraft began appearing at this time, as the Afrika Korps and a Luftwaffe contingent under General Erwin Rommel arrived in North Africa to reinforce the Italians; the Germans launched an offensive in March, and Benina was evacuated on 3 April.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 80Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, pp. 69–72 No. 3 Squadron eventually re-located to Sidi Haneish in Egypt on 12 April, having retreated and operated from nine airfields in ten days.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 73 Arthur was flying a Hurricane when he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110 over Tobruk on 14 April.
As the Allies continued to retreat, No. 3 Squadron re-located to Lydda in Palestine and began converting from Hurricanes to P-40 Tomahawks on 14 May 1941.Thomas, Tomahawk and Kittyhawk Aces, p. 8 Arthur was among a detachment of six pilots deployed to Cyprus to patrol the coast of Turkey in Hurricanes from 25 May to 3 June.McAulay, Against Four Enemies, "Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk"Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, pp. 87–89 The squadron took part in the Syria–Lebanon campaign against the Vichy French in June–July.Thomas, Tomahawk and Kittyhawk Aces, pp. 8–9 Arthur was rested from operations and posted as an instructor to No. 71 Operational Training Unit RAF in the Sudan on 14 August.Shores, Aces High Volume 2, p. 35No. 3 Squadron, "Operations Record Book", p. 480 No. 3 Squadron returned to Sidi Haneish on 3 September, to resume operations in the Western Desert.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 95 Arthur re-joined the squadron on 18 September. On 1 October, he was promoted to flight lieutenant and appointed a flight commander. Flying a Tomahawk, he was credited with one Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter probably destroyed, and another damaged, in the vicinity of Sheferzen, Egypt, on 12 October.
On the afternoon of 22 November 1941, during Operation Crusader, No. 3 Squadron was operating with No. 112 Squadron RAF when the Allied aircraft encountered twenty Messerschmitts south-east of El Adem.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, pp. 201–202 In a drawn-out battle for air superiority, during which No. 3 Squadron lost six Tomahawks against three Bf 109s destroyed, Arthur claimed four Bf 109s damaged. He became an ace on 30 November, when he achieved four victories in a single sortie.Thomas, Tomahawk and Kittyhawk Aces, p. 19 The action occurred when Nos. 3 and 112 Squadrons intercepted fifteen Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers escorted by twenty-five German and Italian fighters heading to attack New Zealand troops at Sidi Rezegh; No. 3 Squadron claimed eight aircraft destroyed and twelve damaged, bringing its tally of claims in the theatre to 106 aircraft destroyed.Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 206 Arthur was credited with shooting down two Ju 87s and two Italian fighters, a Fiat G.50 and a Macchi MC.200. He destroyed the last of the four after his plane had been damaged and he was on his way back to base; he crash-landed within the Tobruk perimeter and borrowed a Hurricane to return to his squadron. His "great skill and gallantry" in this action earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), which was gazetted on 20 January 1942.
Arthur met his future wife, Lucille (Lucie) Petraki, a Greek–Egyptian national, in a shop in Alexandria. They married in an Anglican ceremony at St Mark's Church in Alexandria on 24 December 1941, and honeymooned in Palestine and Syria.Arthur; Stokes, "Wilfred Stanley Arthur", pp. 16–17Royal Australian Air Force, "Arthur, Wilfred Stanley", pp. 84, 89 The sudden romance came as a shock to Arthur's parents; he related that "the first letter I got was a fair imitation of panic I think". While on leave, he was also able to make contact with his brother Norman, who was stationed with the Australian Army in Beirut. Arthur was mentioned in despatches on 1 January 1942. Completing his tour with No. 3 Squadron, he embarked for Australia on 20 January.Royal Australian Air Force, "Arthur, Wilfred Stanley", p. 124 He managed to arrange for his new bride to travel with him on the troopship.Arthur; Stokes, "Wilfred Stanley Arthur", pp. 18–19 Arthur recalled that they sailed via Bombay and Colombo, where the ship picked up many refugees following the recent fall of Singapore, before arriving in Melbourne on 28 March. The couple eventually had four children.
South-West Pacific