Squadron Leader CB Hull

Links of Long Standing

Several joined well before war was declared including amongst others, TH Archbell, AS Ainslie, I Bocock, CBE Burt-Andrews GL Cruickshanks, G Chater, IB Difford, FA Harte, GDL Haysom, CB Hull, GLB Hull, AG “Sailor” Malan, EJ Morris, MT Pattle, H Rosofsky, JF Roulston RN Selley, HWL Sheahan CR Taylor and FL Watson.

The First Ten Months

Three Gloster Gladiator pilots experienced mixed fortunes after being forced to scramble from a temporary Norway airfield by a Luftwaffe He111 on May 26th. One had insufficient fuel, the second crashed on take-off, while Flight Lt Caesar Hull, a No 43 Squadron Hurricane pilot assigned to No 263 Squadron flying Gladiators off HMS “Glorious” shot the He111 down and accounted for three JU 52’s in quick succession before returning to the airfield out of ammunition and fuel. Shot down the next day, Hull’s injuries required evacuation on a Sunderland for medical treatment in England.

The First Ten Months

Numbed by the sinking of HMS “Glorious”, Caesar Barraud Hull was recuperating from his Norway injuries when his “Distinguished Flying Cross” award, accompanied by a descriptive citation, was announced in “The London Gazette” on June 21st.,Five years old when his family moved to South Africa Rhodesian born Hull was educated at St John’s College in Johannesburg where he was a contemporary of SAAF airman James Durrant.

The First Ten Months

Caesar Hull attended the 1934 Empire Games as a South African boxer, subsequently became a SAAF cadet but after his Afrikaans proficiency was deemed inadequate, travelled to England and commissioned in September 1935. One of if not the first Gloster Gladiator ace, Hull was one of the few RAF pilots who acquitted themselves well during the disastrous Norway Campaign.

The First Ten Months

Flight Lt’s Peter Townsend (left) and Caesar Hull at No 43 Squadron’s Scottish base in April 1940 shortly before Hull was assigned No 263 Squadron.

Against Unfavourable Odds

Squadron Leader CB Hull DFC, one of 13 pilots killed on the 7th had been in command of No 43 Squadron since September 1st 21. His short “Battle of Britain” included an Me 109 and sharing 3 Me 110’s. Hull and Harold Wentworth Alyward Sheahan commissioned in 1935 with Service No’s as close as the distance separating their schools, St Johns College, and King Edward’s and the number of days between losing their lives.