Keith Thiele

Thiele was posted to an operational training unit before being transferred to the Canadian No. 405 Squadron at RAF Pocklington a few miles east of York, equipped with Wellington IIs. Thiele's first mission was almost his last. Returning from Cherbourg in France in January 1942, Thiele got the green light to land, but as he touched down was confronted by another aircraft. The two planes collided engine to engine, ripping the wings off. The court of inquiry absolved him.[6] On 30–31 May 1941, flying a Halifax, Thiele took part in the thousand-bomber raid on Cologne. By late October 1941, Thiele had completed 32 operations flying both Halifaxes and Wellingtons. There followed a number of missions over Essen amidst very heavy flak and German searchlight exposure. Thiele was promoted straight from pilot officer to flight lieutenant, skipping the intermediate rank of flying officer, and then to squadron leader in the space of a few months. Later, 22-year-old Thiele would revert to the rank of flight lieutenant in order to return immediately to operations rather than becoming a flight instructor.[6]

In August 1942, after completing a further 25 missions, Thiele would be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).[7][8] His citation in part read: "he has shown great skill and has pressed home his attacks regardless of opposition. His keenness and efficiency have been an inspiration to other members of the Squadron. He has always been a leader and has just proved a thoroughly courageous and skilled Flight Commander".[9] He was then granted six months leave.

At the end of 1942, after only two months leave, Thiele was one of the volunteers to return to active service on Lancaster bomber, when he was transferred to the Australian No. 467 Squadron stationed at RAF Bottesford.[10] He took severe risks and displayed leadership, tending to a sick comrade on one flight, and on another mission to Berlin flying low enough to knock out Nazi searchlights and anti-aircraft. In March 1943, Bomber Command ordered an attack on Nuremberg into the heart of the Third Reich.

It was flying a Lancaster that Thiele completed 20 more missions and, in May 1943, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for displaying outstanding courage, keenness and determination during operations.[11][9] On 12 May, Thiele was flying a Lancaster of No. 467 Squadron on a mission to Duisburg, an industrial city. He had nearly reached the target when his aircraft was hit by a flak underneath the fuselage, which severed the rear half of the starboard outer engine, punctured the starboard inner engine and blew out most of the perspex in the cockpit. Thiele, dazed by a blow from a shell splinter that had struck him on the side of the head, limped the aircraft back from Duisburg on two engines. Shortly after crossing the English coast he was unable to maintain height, but displaying superb airmanship he struggled on and succeeded in effecting a crashlanding at an airfield in Norfolk. For this feat, Thiele was awarded a Bar to his DFC, the citation praising his "courage, skill and determination of a high order."[12]

In mid 1943, Thiele declined a posting to No. 617 Squadron under the command of Guy Gibson, the man who had led that squadron on the May 1943 Dambusters raid that blew up the Ruhr dams.[13] A few weeks after the raid, Thiele received a message that Gibson wanted to see him at RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire. Thiele, with 50 operations behind him, told Gibson that he had had his fill of bombers and was desperate to fulfil his ambition to fly Spitfires. He informed Gibson that he did not want to appear ungrateful but disclosed he already had the wheels rolling to go to a unit flying experimental Spitfires as a step out of Bomber Command.[6] Thiele believed that he had been picked out by Ralph Cochrane of Group Headquarters as a likely successor to Gibson, a position that would eventually go to Squadron Leader George Holden.[14] Thiele's decision not to join No. 617 Squadron proved the right decision. On the night of 15–16 September 1943, 5 of the 12 Lancasters were lost during a mission to bomb on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, including Holden's, which was shot down by flak with no survivors.[6]

Thiele was posted to a transport squadron and then almost immediately to the trans-Atlantic Ferry Command to fly Canadian-built Lancasters to England. He spent three months in Canada before flying one of the first Lancasters to England.[6] He was trained by a Spitfire conversion unit in December 1943. In February 1944, Thiele transferred to RAF Fighter Command and was posted to No. 41 Squadron based in the south of England.[15] He flew Spitfires XIIs from Tangmere with No. 41 Squadron, flying cross-channel support missions in support of the June D-Day landings on the Normandy coast. He was one of the experienced pilots sent to destroy V1-flying bombs destined for London. As the campaign opened he had been delegated to shore patrols along the Kent coast and the Narrow Seas in defence of coastal shipping, victims of sabotage attacks from occupied France.[16]

Thiele stands second left with fellow squadron commanders of No. 122 Wing, Evan Mackie (first left), of No. 80 Squadron, and Arthur Umbers (first right), of No. 486 Squadron; Patrick Jameson, commander of the wing, stands third left

Later promoted to flight command, Thiele joined No. 486 (NZ) Squadron in October 1944 to pilot Hawker Typhoons from Volkel, the Netherlands, on which he completed 50 operations.[1] He then joined No. 3 Squadron, in the same wing, flying Napier-Sabre powered Tempest Vs, becoming the squadron's commanding officer in January 1945. By this time, Thiele had flown around 150 sorties in Spitfires and Tempests, gaining two confirmed transport aircraft "kills", damaged 14 locomotives, many barges and motor transports.[9][lower-alpha 1] On 24 December 1944, Thiele claimed a Messerschmitt 109 shot down, when, with another Tempest, he attacked a formation of 10 Messerschmitt 109s over Malmedy. On 29 December, leading a section of four Tempests on armed reconnaissance, he was involved in a low-level dogfight with an estimated 40 Me 109s and FW190s. Thiele claimed one Me109G destroyed, having seen the enemy pilot bail out.[17]

On 10 February 1945, Thiele led a formation of eight Tempests to attack locomotives in the Paderborn-Rheine area. Thiele and another pilot were shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire, Thiele being seen to bail out of his burning aircraft near Doorsten.[18] He was officially reported as missing in action.[19] Slightly wounded, Thiele was taken captive by the flak crew that had shot him down and, following interrogation, he was sent to a prisoner of war (POW) camp at Dulag Luft near Wetzlar.[6][20]

On 31 March 1945, after the POW camp was liberated but before any transport or Allied forces arrived, Thiele and a Canadian airman stole bicycles and then a motorcycle, and he got back to his base five weeks before the end of the war in Europe.[5][20] In May 1945, Thiele was awarded a second Bar to his DFC for displaying "the highest qualities of skill, together with great bravery and iron determination. His example has inspired all".[21] Thiele relinquished his commission on 5 December 1946.[1]