KB
03-29-2008, 10:09 PM
Wing Commander Patrick Gibbs
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00308/gibbs_185x275_308152a.jpg
Wartime torpedo bomber commander who harried enemy convoys off North Africa and later became a film critic for The Daily Telegraph
His first wartime posting came in 1940 as a flight commander to No 22 (Beaufort) Squadron in Coastal Command at North Coates, Lincolnshire.
After completing a tour of duty in 1941 he was awarded a DFC and was eventually posted to the Middle East where he served on the Air Staff at Cairo headquarters.
Frustrated with this ground posting, in 1942 Gibbs contrived a transfer as flight commander to a Beaufort squadron. Finding that Rommel's supply convoys were reaching North Africa out of Beaufort range, he persuaded Air Vice-Marshal Hugh Pughe Lloyd, then commanding the RAF in Malta, to let him fly Beauforts from the island.
Moving to Malta, where his squadron, No 39, was later joined by Beaufighters, he started a series of attacks on enemy convoys. In his subsequent memoirs he thus described it: “I ran a sort of private air force at this period, of which Air Ministry in London, believing it was reinforcing India, had no knowledge whatever. This unofficial aspect of our operations gave me the boon of almost complete independence.”
In the course of three months in Malta Gibbs steadily developed tactics which involved Beaufighters escorting the torpedo bomber force, also creating a diversion by bombing and strafing. This initiative was recognised with a Bar to his DFC and the award of a DSO.
His book Not Peace but a Sword about his first tour of operations was published in 1943, and he was asked for a second book by Cassell, about the campaign in the Mediterranean. This could not be completed before interest moved to the campaign in northwest Europe. But the work he had put in on it was not wasted and a second book of memoirs was to see the light of day after he had retired from the Telegraph.
Gibbs left the RAF as a wing commander in 1944 after periods of sick leave brought on by the immense strain of continuous operations, in 1944. He resigned himself to never piloting an aircraft again, taking up a career as one of London's leading cultural journalists. Never formally trained as a journalist, he took small interest in meeting other critics or film directors at first nights and press shows, preferring to sit in solitary judgment at plays and films.
During his first 15 years Gibbs was accustomed to producing theatre notices within an hour of the play's end. He also attended theatre festivals in France and the English provinces. Then, in 1959, he was offered the job of chief film critic, and since Darlington still had eight years to go to retirement in the drama chair, he took it. Besides Hollywood and home-grown fare, he found plenty of foreign film festivals to demand his attention, travelling to Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Iran, as well as France, Italy, South America, India and Australia.
He retired from the Telegraph in 1987 and was able to return to the manuscript of his account of the Mediterranean air war. This was published by Grub Street in 1992 as Torpedo Leader to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the award of the George Cross to Malta.
In praise of Torpedo Leader, the famous Malta fighter pilot Laddie Lucas recalled “those awful days when everything hung tenuously in the balance. Patrick made an imperishable contribution in the face of daily dangers and, with them, inevitable losses. There is not the least doubt that the success of his strike operations had a material effect upon the fortunes of our 8th Army in the desert and the outcome of Alamein.”
In 1993 Grub Street reissued Not Peace but a Sword.
Gibbs's first marriage was dissolved. He is survived by his second wife, Jane, and by a son and daughter
Wing Commander Patrick Gibbs, DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF torpedo bomber pilot and journalist, was born on April 2, 1915. He died on March 8, 2008, aged 92
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00308/gibbs_185x275_308152a.jpg
Wartime torpedo bomber commander who harried enemy convoys off North Africa and later became a film critic for The Daily Telegraph
His first wartime posting came in 1940 as a flight commander to No 22 (Beaufort) Squadron in Coastal Command at North Coates, Lincolnshire.
After completing a tour of duty in 1941 he was awarded a DFC and was eventually posted to the Middle East where he served on the Air Staff at Cairo headquarters.
Frustrated with this ground posting, in 1942 Gibbs contrived a transfer as flight commander to a Beaufort squadron. Finding that Rommel's supply convoys were reaching North Africa out of Beaufort range, he persuaded Air Vice-Marshal Hugh Pughe Lloyd, then commanding the RAF in Malta, to let him fly Beauforts from the island.
Moving to Malta, where his squadron, No 39, was later joined by Beaufighters, he started a series of attacks on enemy convoys. In his subsequent memoirs he thus described it: “I ran a sort of private air force at this period, of which Air Ministry in London, believing it was reinforcing India, had no knowledge whatever. This unofficial aspect of our operations gave me the boon of almost complete independence.”
In the course of three months in Malta Gibbs steadily developed tactics which involved Beaufighters escorting the torpedo bomber force, also creating a diversion by bombing and strafing. This initiative was recognised with a Bar to his DFC and the award of a DSO.
His book Not Peace but a Sword about his first tour of operations was published in 1943, and he was asked for a second book by Cassell, about the campaign in the Mediterranean. This could not be completed before interest moved to the campaign in northwest Europe. But the work he had put in on it was not wasted and a second book of memoirs was to see the light of day after he had retired from the Telegraph.
Gibbs left the RAF as a wing commander in 1944 after periods of sick leave brought on by the immense strain of continuous operations, in 1944. He resigned himself to never piloting an aircraft again, taking up a career as one of London's leading cultural journalists. Never formally trained as a journalist, he took small interest in meeting other critics or film directors at first nights and press shows, preferring to sit in solitary judgment at plays and films.
During his first 15 years Gibbs was accustomed to producing theatre notices within an hour of the play's end. He also attended theatre festivals in France and the English provinces. Then, in 1959, he was offered the job of chief film critic, and since Darlington still had eight years to go to retirement in the drama chair, he took it. Besides Hollywood and home-grown fare, he found plenty of foreign film festivals to demand his attention, travelling to Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Iran, as well as France, Italy, South America, India and Australia.
He retired from the Telegraph in 1987 and was able to return to the manuscript of his account of the Mediterranean air war. This was published by Grub Street in 1992 as Torpedo Leader to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the award of the George Cross to Malta.
In praise of Torpedo Leader, the famous Malta fighter pilot Laddie Lucas recalled “those awful days when everything hung tenuously in the balance. Patrick made an imperishable contribution in the face of daily dangers and, with them, inevitable losses. There is not the least doubt that the success of his strike operations had a material effect upon the fortunes of our 8th Army in the desert and the outcome of Alamein.”
In 1993 Grub Street reissued Not Peace but a Sword.
Gibbs's first marriage was dissolved. He is survived by his second wife, Jane, and by a son and daughter
Wing Commander Patrick Gibbs, DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF torpedo bomber pilot and journalist, was born on April 2, 1915. He died on March 8, 2008, aged 92