KAMIKAZES CORSAIRS AND Speaking as part of the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival, this Fleet Air Arm pilot flew against deadly Japanese attacks in 1945 T he Pacific War of 1941-45 is often perceived as an extremely bloody and almost exclusive clash between the forces of the United States and Imperial Japan. Nevertheless, the Americans were extensively supported by other Allied powers including China, the Netherlands and, perhaps most visibly, Britain and her Dominions. The latter’s most significant contribution in this huge military theatre was the formation of the British Pacific Fleet. One of the largest fleets ever assembled by the Royal Navy, the BPF numbered over 200 different vessels that did not just include those from the RN but also ships from the Australian, Canadian and New Zealand navies. Although the BPF was dwarfed by the USA’s newfound naval might, it was spearheaded by the six carriers of 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron. This alone consisted of more than 250 aircraft, which were supported by over 10,000 sailors and aircrew. Two units of the Fleet Air Arm, 1841 and 1842 Squadrons manned one of the carriers, HMS Formidable. Flying with 1842 was a young Corsair pilot called Keith Quilter. Quilter had already attacked the German battleship Tirpitz before his squadron joined the BPF and he saw extensive action at the Battle of Okinawa and over mainland Japan. Now aged 97, Quilter reveals a dramatic, but almost forgotten war in the air where British pilots lived under the constant threat of the Japanese “divine wind” – the dreaded kamikazes. Joining the Fleet Air Arm Born in 1922, Quilter had an early interest in aviation and formed a ‘Skybird’ club for young aircraft modellers, “Skybird was the trade name for model kits that you could buy before the war. They encouraged their modellers to form clubs so some of my schoolmates used to meet up in the conservatory of my parents’ house. I even acquired half of a four-blade propeller from a WWI F.E.2b, which we stood on a table. My mum also used to take me to the Hendon air display so I was interested in aeroplanes from when I was very young.” Quilter subsequently joined the De Havilland Aeronautical Technical School in Hatfield, Hertfordshire to train as an aeronautical engineer. The violence of war hit home when the school was bombed on 3 October 1940, “I had a narrow escape. A Junkers Ju 88 flew across the aerodrome and skip-bombed. The klaxon horns went off and I made a dash for it outside. As I ran, I could see this Ju 88 halfway FAA Corsairs and Fairey Barracudas ranged on the flight deck of HMS Formidable off Norway, July 1944 A kamikaze pilot attaches the Japanese ‘Rising Sun’ flag to his forehead before his flight, 1945. Quilter recalls that he and his comrades thought the suicide bombers were “mad” Image: Hudson F A (Lt), Royal Navy official photographer AN INTERVIEW WITH KEITH QUILTER, DSC Sub-lieutenant Keith Quilter in his Corsair, autumn 1944 WORDS TOM GARNER 72 73