Douglas Benham received a daunting introduction to air combat in August 1942, as a flight commander with 242 Squadron over Dieppe where the RAF suffered heavily at the hands of the Luftwaffe. When the squadron was sent that November to North Africa in support of the Anglo-US Torch landings, the intensity of the air combat continued as the Germans poured aircraft into Tunisian air bases, in a desperate attempt to stem the Allied advance from Algeria.
Operating from a forward airfield at Bone, 300 miles east of Algiers, 242 and Benham were constantly in the thick of the action and by February 1943 he had been awarded the first of his two Distinguished Flying Crosses. The second was to come near the war’s end, in April 1945, as he led 41 Squadron in ground attack and air superiority sweeps in support of the Allied advance in North West Europe.
In between he had been awarded the Air Force Cross, while being rested from operations, for his work in radically increasing the efficiency of an operational training unit (OTU) in the Midlands — and cutting down its losses in aircraft and pilots.
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Douglas Ian Benham was born in 1917 and educated at Southend Grammar School. In September 1938 he joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve and began flying training on Tiger Moths. When war broke out in September 1939 he was called up, completed flying training and was posted in May 1941 as a sergeant pilot to 607 Squadron then based mainly on air defence duties over the Fleet at Scapa Flow with its Hawker Hurricanes.
After a further period as an instructor to 59 OTU, in April 1942 he was posted to 242 “Canadian” Squadron (which the legless ace Douglas Bader had commanded in the Battle of Britain). The squadron’s Canadian connection — it had been formed in 1939 with predominantly Canadian personnel — was to be continued when it was one of those chosen to accompany the Dieppe Raid of August 19, 1942, most of the troops for which were provided by the Canadian 2nd Division. Most of the casualties from this military disaster were also Canadians.
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Besides providing fighter cover for the assault troops the RAF aimed to draw into battle above the beachhead the entire strength of the Luftwaffe in Northern France. Although the RAF was successful in the former aim, the air battle went in the Luftwaffe’s favour on a ratio of 2-1, with the RAF losing 105 aircraft in a single day. Benham was credited with an Me109 damaged.
When 242 was sent to Algiers on November 8, 1942, the day of Operation Torch, its first task was the interception of German bombers seeking to disrupt allied shipping supporting the landings. Benham had his first combat victory the following day when he and his wingman shot down a Ju88 between them.
When the squadron later moved to Bone much nearer the airfields of German-held Tunis and Bizerta, the action increased in intensity, and within a few weeks Benham was an ace (five kills) counting Ju87s, Me109s and Fw190s among his victims. In his desire to be at grips with the enemy on one occasion he overboosted his Spitfire’s engine while pursuing a posse of Fw190s. The Merlin blew up but he made a successful belly landing, returning to his base on a donkey. When he was awarded his first DFC, in February 1943, his tally was six combat victories and several more shared.
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In June 1943 he was appointed chief flying instructor at 61 OTU at Rednal near Birmingham. There he reorganised the air traffic control and improved servicing and refuelling arrangements. The result was a marked reduction in crashes involving inexperienced Spitfire pilots (and consequent loss of aircraft), a substantial increase in training hours flown and a boost to morale. For his remarkable exertions he was awarded the AFC. In August 1944 he returned to the front line as CO of 41 Squadron, which was operating the fast and powerful Spitfire 14 on daylight bomber escorts. Later in the year it moved to the Netherlands as part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, flying ground attack sorties and fighter sweeps. On January 23 the squadron spotted a number of Fw190s while on patrol over M?nster in Lower Saxony. In the ensuing dogfight Benham added another two combat victories to his tally. The citation to the Bar to his DFC, awarded in April 1945, credited him with ten enemy aircraft destroyed.
Shortly before the end of the war he was posted to command the Air Ministry Manpower Research Unit. He would have preferred to stay airborne, but such an appointment was a recognition of his analytical and organisational qualities. An overriding concern was the operational efficiency of the greatly reduced postwar RAF not least of its non-flying branches, in all of which objectives he played a big role.
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In 1949 he was back to flying, converting to jets and being appointed Wing Commander Day Training at Fighter Command in 1951. His last appointment was as Wing Commander (Operations) in Aden in 1954. The breaking of the Suez Crisis in 1956 and the pressures on the deployment of RAF air power it involved in this far-flung region led to an extension of this tour. For his role he was appointed OBE.
Benham retired from the RAF in 1957, settled in Pembrokeshire and became an executive in the independent television station TWW based in Cardiff. He was also chairman of the Spitfire Society (Wales) until 1999.
There were two children of his marriage in 1939 to Silvia Carpenter, who died in 1957. He married in 1963 Rosalind Woollard. There were two children of this marriage which was dissolved in 1975. He married in 1985 Jill Dean, a cousin and well-known Pembrokeshire artist. She died in 1992. The son of his first marriage predeceased him. He is survived by the daughter of his first marriage and the son and daughter of his second.
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Wing Commander Douglas Benham, OBE, DFC and Bar, AFC, wartime fighter pilot, was born on December 30, 1917. He died on October 28, 2009, aged 91