Ian Gleed’s Followers (3)

Ian Gleed

Born

in The United Kingdom

July 04, 1916

Died

April 16, 1943

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Ian Richard Gleed had his first flight at Hatfield (a joyride with the London Aeroplane Club) while still at school. He later became a member of the London Aeroplane Club (thought to have joined in April 1935). He gained his licence on 12 July 1935 (No.12976) at Hatfield. However, one biographer states he qualified on 31 July 1936 (No. 8003) – after he joined the RAF in March 1936 (possibly this refers to a B-licence).

He was given the nickname 'Widge' – short for 'Wizard Midget', apparently due to his tendency to call things 'Wizard' (like people today describe things as 'Wicked'), and his short stature (he was 5 feet 6 inches / 1.65m). He mentions his RAF nickname in his part-fiction, part-autobiographical book but claimed not to know how Ian Richard Gleed had his first flight at Hatfield (a joyride with the London Aeroplane Club) while still at school. He later became a member of the London Aeroplane Club (thought to have joined in April 1935). He gained his licence on 12 July 1935 (No.12976) at Hatfield. However, one biographer states he qualified on 31 July 1936 (No. 8003) – after he joined the RAF in March 1936 (possibly this refers to a B-licence).

He was given the nickname 'Widge' – short for 'Wizard Midget', apparently due to his tendency to call things 'Wizard' (like people today describe things as 'Wicked'), and his short stature (he was 5 feet 6 inches / 1.65m). He mentions his RAF nickname in his part-fiction, part-autobiographical book but claimed not to know how he got it (although that may be irony as his commanding officer calls him 'Widget' on the same page).

Already experienced in flying the Hawker Hurricane, Gleed first flew the Supermarine Spitfire while on the strength of 266 Squadron. However, testing one of their new Spitfires (N3120) on 18 February 1940 nearly ended his career before it had really begun. A sudden, unexplained structural failure at 18,000ft found him falling through the air without an aeroplane (he had either been flung out or it had broken up around him). Fortunately, he still had his parachute. Even so, his injuries meant a 3-week stay in hospital and a fight to regain his flying status.

On 17 May 1940 he arrived at 87 Squadron (which operated Hurricanes and had first deployed to France on 9 September 1939) as a replacement. He possibly became the RAF's fastest ace: destroying two Bf110C's on 18 May, and two Do17z's and a Bf109E the next day (he also shared in the destruction of a He111, and claimed another Bf109E as a probable).

He survived the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. On Christmas Eve 1940 he became Squadron Leader and commanding officer of 87 Squadron.

In November 1941 he was promoted to Wing Commander and took charge of the Ibsley Wing making fighter sweeps across the Channel (a fighter wing was made up of three or more squadrons. The Ibsley Wing consisted of 118, 234 and 501 Squadrons). As a wing leader he was entitled to use personal markings instead of the usual squadron codes (usually a set of three letters: two letters as the squadron identifier and the last denoted the aircraft), he used his initials, 'IR-G', on his personal Spitfire.

Among the numerous missions he flew one was leading his wing as fighter escorts for bombers on Operation Veracity I and II (attacks on the German Navy in the port of Brest), during which a bomber scored a hit on the battleship Scharnhorst. An incident which triggered 'The Channel Dash' by three German capital ships (Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen). He also led his wing during Operation Fuller – the RAF's attempt to stop them.

Gleed had met a number of literary characters through his love for sailing before the war (e.g. W Somerset Maugham, Beverley Nichols and Hector Bolitho). Their friendship is thought to have influenced Gleed to try his hand at writing. His book, "Arise to Conquer," which describes life as a fighter pilot was published in May 1942 (he was working on a second book, which contains the now poignant sentence: "It's strange how confident I feel that I shall survive this war.").

Gleed was rested from combat operations and posted to Fighter Command headquarters in July 1942.

He could have sat the rest of the war out doing desk jobs but he volunteered to lead a fighter wing in the Middle East. He took command of 244 Wing, Desert Air Force at the beginning of 1943. Sadly, this proved to be Gleed's last command, for he was killed in action over Tunisia on April 16, 1943.
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Average rating: 4.22 · 278 ratings · 10 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	Arise to Conquer: Life of a World War Two Fighter Pilot 4.21 avg rating — 293 ratings — published 2007 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Arise to conquer by Ian Gleed, Unknown Author 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Ian Gleed’s Followers (3)

Ian Gleed

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