Commander JW Sleigh

Against Unfavourable Odds

Unveiled by the Queen Mother in 1993, the Capel Le Ferne “Battle of Britain Memorial” in Kent featuring a large statue of a seated airmen surrounded by squadron badges, preceded the London Embankment monument unveiled by HRH Prince Charles in 2005. Both are dedicated to the “Few” who’s 2 937 names are on the Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall and the monument panels 3. In the latter case, the twenty-five names listed under South Africa, exclude JT Crossey, PG Dexter, CCO Joubert, JW Sleigh and PVH Wells but are identified elsewhere on the panels. Most are British, the number of Poles and Czech’s marginally less than the Commonwealth countries in aggregate with New Zealand topping that list ahead of Canada, South Africa, and Australia.

The Airmen who started at Sea

Those present at the 1922 christening ceremony would not have anticipated that an illustrious group of Second World War airmen would emerge from the training facility’s tough two-year course. A few of those airmen, including CH Filmer, JS Simson, JW Sleigh, EJ Morris, and JD Nettleton are in this 1931 photograph with Nettleton also pictured as a young cadet.

The Airmen who started at Sea

Jack Stuart Simson attended Murchison Preparatory School in Pietermaritzburg and joined the “General Botha” in 1931, part of an illustrious intake who became pilots including CH Filmer and JW Sleigh. Simson did not complete his “General Botha” training, commissioned the day before war was declared and joined No 214 Squadron in June 1940 flying Wellingtons. Squadron Leader Simson DFC AFC was placed on the Reserve of Officers at the end of 1945.

The Airmen who started at Sea

Cadet No 593 James Wallace Sleigh joined the “General Botha” at the age of 15 in 1931. The only South African Fleet Air Arm airman entitled to the “Battle of Britain” Clasp, he earned his wings in 1938, flew Grumman fighters off “HMS Audacity”, the Royal Navy’s first “Escort Aircraft Carrier”, earned a “Distinguished Service Cross” and was one of 225 survivors after torpedoes sank “HMS Audacity” in December 1941.

The Airmen who started at Sea

Sleigh was “Mentioned in Dispatches” and awarded the “Distinguished Service Order” for “undaunted courage, skill and determination in carrying out the daring attack on the German Battleship “Tirpitz”, sunk by Lancaster’s “Tallboy” bombs a few months later.

The Airmen who started at Sea

Awarded an OBE during the Korean War, Sleigh retired in 1958, returned to South Africa, farmed in Somerset West, and later joined the South African Navy’s Hydrography office in a civilian capacity. Commander JW Sleigh OBE DSO DSC, the “General Botha’s” most decorated Fleet Air Arm pilot, died in 2005.

A Different Kind of Enemy Flak

He graduated from the “General Botha” two years later, spent several years at sea including time as a Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve Sub- Lieutenant and after training on Tiger Moths at the Filton Flying School, flew solo in early 1936. The RAF’s admission age had been raised to 25 enabling Malan’s commission several years ahead of General Botha “Battle of Britain” pilots James W Sleigh and E J Morris. Dubbed “Admiral” at No 3 Flying School, demoted to “Sailor” at No 74 Squadron, he was flying Spitfires by 1938.