John Randall Daniel "Bob" Braham, (6 April 1920 – 7 February 1974) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) night fighter pilot and fighter ace during the Second World War.
Braham was born in April 1920. Upon leaving school as a teenager he worked for his local constabulary as a clerk. Bored with civilian life, Braham joined the RAF on a five-year short service commission in December 1937. He began basic training in March 1938 and then advanced training from August to December. Upon the completion of flight training, he was posted to No. 29 Squadron RAF based at RAF Debden, where he learned to fly the Hawker Hurricane and Bristol Blenheim. In 1939 the squadron began to organise itself as a specialised night fighter unit.
By August 1940, the Battle of Britain was underway. He gained his first victory on 24 August, which remained his only success in the battle. In September 1940, No. 29 Squadron was re-equipped with the Bristol Beaufighter. Braham continued operations during "The Blitz", claiming the destruction of two more enemy aircraft. By the end of 1940 he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).
Braham continued to operate as an anti-intruder pilot after the Blitz ended in May 1941. He became an ace in September 1941, having achieved five victories, and was awarded a bar to his DFC in November 1941. In June 1942 he was promoted to squadron leader. By October 1942 Braham had claimed 12 enemy aircraft destroyed and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Braham also flew missions with RAF Coastal Command during this time and claimed a U-boat damaged and an E-boat destroyed. He was then promoted to wing commander and given command of No. 141 Squadron RAF. Braham undertook more intruder sorties into German-occupied Europe at this point and received a second bar to his DFC in June 1943 and by September 1943 had gained seven more victories, including three, possibly four, German night fighter aces. Consequently, he was awarded a bar to his DSO.
The squadron soon converted to the De Havilland Mosquito and in February 1944 Braham was transferred to the operations staff at No. 2 Group RAF but was permitted to fly one operation per week. He achieved nine victories in the Mosquito and in June 1944 was awarded a second bar to his DSO. Braham's war came to an end on 24 June 1944 when he was shot down by a pair of single-engine German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters. Braham was captured and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. He was liberated in May 1945.
Braham was the most highly decorated airman in RAF Fighter Command. He claimed the destruction of 29 enemy aircraft. In addition, he claimed a further six damaged and four probable victories. One of these probable victories can be confirmed through German records, making an unofficial total of 30 enemy aircraft destroyed. Nineteen were achieved at night. He was the most successful British pilot on twin-engine aircraft. The 19 victories claimed at night rivalled John "Cats Eyes" Cunningham's tally and was bettered only by night fighter pilot Branse Burbridge.
After the war he was offered a permanent commission, which he initially accepted. Having resigned his commission in March 1946 he re-enlisted briefly. After struggling to find a career that would support his family, Braham emigrated to Canada with his family and enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1952. Having held office at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Braham retired from military life and began working as a civilian for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. He continued to work there until his death from an undiagnosed brain tumor in 1974, aged 53.
Early life John Braham was born on 6 April 1920 in Holcombe, Somerset. His father, Ernest Goodall Braham, was a Methodist minister who earned his qualifications at Bristol and Liverpool University. Reverend Braham then became a Doctor of Theology after studying at King's College London in 1935. Ernest had served as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in First World War.
Braham was educated at preparatory school at Belmont from 1930, and then moved to the public school in Taunton in Somerset. He attended schools in southern England as the Brahams moved across the country to London. Braham was powerfully built. By the age of 15 he was and weighed around and used his natural gifts to become a successful boxer. At 15 years and eight months he passed his School Certificate. His further education at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, Lancashire did not go well. He was frequently absent owing to his father's ministerial appointments which forced the family to continually relocate and consequently his concentration and grades declined. He left grammar school at the age of 16 after only a few months and did not return.
Braham struggled to find work in the era of the Great Depression. He considered moving abroad to join the Colonial Police in the British Overseas Territories and briefly entertained training as a sailor in the Merchant Navy. To gain experience he worked as a clerk in Wigan for the Wigan Borough Police. By 1937, tiring of life as an administrative clerk, Braham turned to the British armed forces for a more fulfilling career.
RAF training Aged 17, Braham applied for a short service commission in the RAF, a course that lasted for five years. The commission was designed to find young aviation enthusiasts with the right physical and academic qualities to become flying officers. To Braham's surprise, his application was accepted. His commission was dated 7 March 1937. His service number was 40667. The commission enabled Braham to enter at the rank of pilot officer. His training mainly consisted of an introduction to flying by civilian organisations contracted to do so by the RAF. Successful candidates advanced to military training.
In December 1937 he began flight training at the No. 7 Elementary Flying School (EFS) at RAF Desford. It was normal for pilots to undertake solo flights after eight to eleven hours dual instruction with their flight instructor. For Braham, progress was slow and he made his first solo flight after 14 hours of dual instruction. On 9 March 1938 Braham flew solo for the first time in a Tiger Moth.Braham 1961, p. 35. In May 1938 Braham began officer instruction at RAF Uxbridge. After the completion of this course he was moved to RAF Shawbury to begin training on military aircraft. Now assigned to the No. 11 EFS he elected to become a fighter pilot and began training on the Hawker Hart. He completed his advanced flight training on 20 August 1938 and began the final phase of training in the Hawker Fury. He completed his training in formation flying, aerobatics and gunnery practice over the next four months, graduating in December 1938.
His first squadron was No. 29 Squadron RAF, based at RAF West Malling, flying the two-seater Hawker Demon. In February 1939 No 29 Squadron re-equipped with the Bristol Blenheim. Braham was disappointed at not being trained on the Hawker Hurricane and his reaction to this news was request a transfer which was refused. The squadron spent three months converting onto the Blenheim. In August 1939 No. 29 did convert to the Hurricane but upon the outbreak of war the squadron was reverted to the Blenheim as part of its reorientation to night fighter rather than daylight fighter operations. Braham soon earned the nickname 'Bob', which stayed with him throughout his service career. He had chosen this Christian name as his radio call sign to distinguish himself from the multitude of other Johns in the unit.Braham 1961, p. 41.
Second World War Some RAF squadrons were beginning to equip its aircraft with radar devices. This was a pioneering technology known as aircraft interception (AI) radar. It is unknown when, if, or how many of No 29 Squadron's Blenheim aircraft were fitted with them in 1940 as the squadron continued to practice, and struggle with, adapting to night-fighter tactics. A great many pilots relied on basic non-AI tactics which usually meant co-operating with search lights and using the aircrew's eyesight to seek out intruders. By the time Braham and his squadron were called upon to defend Britain from air attacks in August 1940, after the collapse of the Netherlands, Belgium and France in May–June 1940, British night fighter defences were very weak.
The difficulties of night fighting was evident in the performance of the night-fighter squadrons. One Fairey Battle was shot down in error by a Blenheim which could not correctly identify the aircraft; some other Blenheims crashed after being caught in the glare of search lights at low-level and return-fire from German bombers had inflicted at least one loss whilst 29 Squadron succeeded on bring down only one German aircraft. While identification friend or foe (IFF) devices had been fitted to some British aircraft they were not always switched on. Braham also experienced technical malfunctions in the Blenheims which prompted him to call into question their reliability. On one occasion the hydraulic pipe fractured in the Blenheim he was flying which caused the landing gear to fail and prompted Braham to force-land. At this time he was joined by his gunner/observer Bill Gregory with whom he was to fly frequently.
Home defence By August 1940 the Battle of Britain was intensifying. Most of the battles thus far were in daylight, leaving night-fighter crews frustrated. Now based at RAF Digby in Lincolnshire and operating from the satellite airfield at Wellingore the unit formed part of No. 12 Group RAF defending British air space north of London. On the night of 24 August 1940 Braham took off and patrolled the Humberside area. The Blenheim was piloted by Braham, and contained air gunner Sergeant Wilsdon and aircraftman and trained radar operator N. Jacobson. Braham was directed to an aircraft held in searchlights but he closed too fast and overshot. His gunner succeeded in damaging the aircraft sufficiently and a searchlight crew saw it crash into the sea. It was identified as a Heinkel He 111. Braham's only other interaction with the enemy occurred at Ternhill, when a Junkers Ju 88 dropped bombs on the airfield destroying 13 Avro Ansons and damaged 20 more. Braham survived the attack uninjured.
In September 1940 29 Squadron began to convert to the Bristol Beaufighter, a rugged and heavily armed twin-engine aircraft equipped with aircraft interception (AI) radar in the shape of AI Mk. IV radar sets, just as the Luftwaffe began its campaign against British industrial cities—known as "The Blitz". By 29 November Squadron had become an all-Beaufighter unit. Braham was among the first to fly the Beaufighter and did so in September. He would, however, spend nearly the entire month hospitalised after a serious car accident. He flew his first wartime operation in a Beaufighter on 17 November 1940. Squadron Leader Guy Gibson, later famous for his role in Operation Chastise, led the mission. Braham flew nine operations in this month and enhanced his skills by completing a blind-flying course which taught pilots to fly in low-visibility conditions. For his service he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 17 January 1941.