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Squadron Leader Bob Cowper DFC*
Joining 153 Sqn flying Defiants, changing to Beaufighters. In 1943 he flew Beaufighters in Malta. With 89 Sqn he crashed in Tunisia, having to walk home 65 miles through the Sahara Desert. Went from 89 Sqn to 108 Sqn and then as an instructor teaching night flying. Joined 456 Sqn RAAF before D-Day, finishing the war on Intruder missions and 6 air victories. He became acting CO of 456 Sqn.
Bob Cowper first trained in de Havilland Tiger Moths and continued training in Yorkton, Canada where he gained his wings flying a Harvard trainer before sailing to the UK. In August 1941, he trained as a night-fighter pilot at RAF East Fortune near Edinburgh before being posted to Ballyhalbert, County Down, Northern Ireland. Initially flying Boulton Defiant night-fighters but later Bristol Beaufighters, he flew night sorties to protect not only Ireland but the Atlantic convoys carrying troops and supplies to Europe from North America. Bob was posted in December 1943 to Malta with RAAF 456 Squadron. Having picked up a brand new Beaufighter from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, he and his Scottish navigator Watson were on a secret mission between Gibraltar and Malta in January 1943 when they got lost in darkness and heavy cloud, with an inoperable radio and virtually out of fuel, and crash-landed in pitch darkness and without wheels in the Sahara desert. Guessing correctly that they were behind enemy lines, they torched the Beaufighter as per their training because it contained state-of-the-art radar technology they did not want to fall into enemy hands. They had one box of matches and they used every one because there was so little fuel left in the tank to ignite. 'We decided to start walking to Tripoli but noticed we were being trailed by sword-wielding Arabs on horseback. After firing my service pistol, I yelled that I was Australian and they were not hostile at all.' The Arabs sheltered them in tents for five days before a Hussar corporal from the British 'Desert Rats' picked them up. Within weeks, Cowper and Watson were back in the air, flying out of Malta and bombing and strafing enemy planes over Sicily. Cowper also played a major air role during Operation Husky, the allied invasion of Sicily on July 9th-10th, 1943. On July 11, since Watson was down with dysentery, Cowper had the RAF navigator Farquharson, from Bendochy, Perthshire, behind him when they had a dogfight with a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju88 fighter-bomber they had seen attacking allied ships. Cowper blew it to pieces in a fireball but some of those pieces hit his own Beaufighter and sent it spiralling into the Mediterranean. Cowper called on Farquharson to get out of the bottom hatch before him but apparently he never did. He was missing in action, presumed dead. Cowper parachuted into the ocean, where his automatic mini-dinghy inflated and he drifted all night, exhausted and expecting to die. In the morning, he spotted a ship 'lit up like a Christmas tree' which he assumed was a hospital ship since no others would have their lights on in a combat zone. It was the hospital ship HMHS Aba. Its captain saw his flare and he scrambled ashore with a broken nose and shrapnel in his legs, demanding to be returned to Malta to get back in the battle. He did, and was flying again within a week, wearing a reinforced oxygen mask over his broken nose and shooting down another Ju88 off Sicily, this time with Watson back behind him. The two buddies went on to fly against the Germans in support of the allied thrust towards Berlin. Flying a Mosquito, he shot down four German planes over the beaches of Normandy while his comrades in RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) 456 squadron - Australia's only night-fighter unit - accounted for a total of 35 enemy aircraft. In the weeks after D-Day, Cowper and his squadron also shot down 24 German V-1 flying bombs, probably saving countless lives in and around London. Sadly Bob passed away on 19th June 2016.
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| Distinguished Flying Cross | Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross |
| Squadron Leader Bob Cowper DFC* - Signed Aviation Art |
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| Text for the above items : |
Rangers on the Rampage by Robert Taylor. Flying the high speed low level Day Ranger missions in the Mosquito was one of the most exhilarating forms of aerial combat experienced by aircrews in WWII. Given a free hand at squadron level to select targets of opportunity deep inside enemy held territory, operating the fastest piston engined aircraft of the war, the Ranger Mosquito crews wreaked havoc in the air and on the ground literally all over occupied Europe. Approaching their targets at tree top height, often completely undetected, the element of surprise was usually total; one pair of Mosquitoes arriving over an airfield near Kronigsburg found a ceremonial parade in progress, broke up the party, and departed within seconds leaving five aircraft burning and a bunch of German generals diving for cover beneath thei staff cars! Typical of the Day Ranger squadrons was No.418 City of Edmonton Squadron RCAF. Flying the Mosquito Fighter-Bomber MkVI, they completed over 3000 effective missions, destroyed 172 enemy aircraft - 73 on the ground - damaged a further 103, and in addition brought down 83 buzz-bombs and destroyed countless vehicles. In company with other Mosquito Ranger squadrons, they rampaged across Europe with outstanding courage in the best traditions of the RAF and Commonwealth Air Forces. Robert Taylors painting dramatically brings to life a Mosquito attack on a German fighter station deep inside Germany. Arriving over the target at little above hangar height, the two-ship mission announce their arrival by raking the field with cannon and machine gun fire. Within seconds both aircraft have scored direct hits with their 50lb bombs, and before the defensive flak guns can get the range, the pair have departed for home. |
| Squadron Leader Bob Cowper DFC* Aircraft details |
 Beaufighter Manufacturer : Bristol Built : 5564 | Beaufighter BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER The Bristol Beaufighter was a Torpedo Bomber and had a crew of two. with a maximum speed of 330mph and a ceiling of 29,000 feet. maximum normal range of 1500 miles but could be extended to 1750 miles. The Bristol Beaufighter carried four 20mm cannon in the belly of the aircraft and upto six .303in browning machine guns in the wings. it could also carry eight 3 -inch rockets, 1605 lb torpedo or a bomb load of 1,000 lb. The Bristol Beaufighter first flew in July 1939 and with some modifications entered service with the Royal Air Force in July 1940. In the winter of 1940 - 1941 the Beaufighter was used as a night fighter. and in March 1941 the aircraft was used at Coastal Command as a long range strike aircraft. and in 1941, the Beaufighter arrived in North Africa and used as a forward ground attack aircraft. The Bristol Beaufighter was used also in India, Burma and Australia. A total of 5,564 Beaufighters were built until production in Britain finished in 1945, but a further 364 were built in Australia for the Australian Air Force |
 Defiant Manufacturer : Boulton Paul Built : 1075 | Defiant BOULTON PAUL DEFIANT Built as a fighter, with a crew of two. Maximum speed of 304 mph, and a ceiling of 30,350 feet. armament on the defiant was four .303 browing machine guns in the Boulton Paul Turret. Designed as a intercepter fighter, the Defiant first flew in August 1937. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in October 1939 with no 264 squadron. and first flew in operations in march 1940 the Boulton Paul Defiant was certainly no match for the German Fighters, due to their lack of fire power as the defiant had no wing mounted machine guns. Heavy losses. The aircraft was re deployed as a night -Fighter in the autumn of 1940. This role also being taken over by Bristol Beaufighters in 1941, leaving the defiant for training, target tug, and air-sea rescue roles. A Total of 1075 Boulton Paul Defiant's were built |
| Squadron Leader Bob Cowper DFC* Squadron details |
No.108 Sqn RAF Country : UK Disbanded 28th March 1945 Known Codes : , LD, MF, | No.108 Sqn RAF Viribus contractis - With gathering strength |
No.153 Sqn RAF Country : UK Disbanded 2nd July 1958 Known Codes : , P4, TB, | No.153 Sqn RAF Noctividus - Seeing by night |
No.456 Sqn RAAF Country : Australia Disbanded 15th June 1945 Known Codes : , PZ, RX, | No.456 Sqn RAAF |
No.89 Sqn RAF Country : UK Disbanded 1st March 1965 Known Codes : , WP, | No.89 Sqn RAF Deiu auxilio telis meis - By the help of God with my own weapons |
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