Gerald Stapleton
| Basil Gerald Stapleton | |
|---|---|
Stapleton in 2004
|
|
| Nickname(s) | "Stapme" |
| Born |
12 May 1920 Durban, South Africa |
| Died | 13 April 2010 (aged 89) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1939–46 |
| Rank | Squadron Leader |
| Service number | 41879 |
| Unit |
No. 603 Squadron No. 257 Squadron |
| Commands held | No. 247 Squadron |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
Distinguished Flying Cross Airman's Cross (Netherlands) |
| Relations | Deryck Stapleton (brother) |
| Other work | BOAC pilot |
Basil Gerald "Stapme" Stapleton, DFC (12 May 1920 – 13 April 2010) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer and fighter ace who flew Spitfires and Typhoons during the Second World War. He preferred the name Gerald and was nicknamed "Stapme" after a phrase used in his favourite cartoon strip Just Jake published in The Daily Mirror. His score of 6 enemy aircraft destroyed, 2 shared destroyed, 8 probably destroyed and 2 damaged, all achieved on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain made him one of the outstanding pilots of that battle and he was revered as one of Richard Hillary's contemporaries in whose book The Last Enemy, he features. Without doubt he was one of the real 'characters' to survive the war and to many the quintessential image of a Battle of Britain fighter pilot, complete with handlebar moustache.
Born on 12 May 1920 in Durban, South Africa, Stapleton was educated in England, at King Edward VI School at Totnes, Devon.
In January 1939 he signed up for a short service commission with the RAF, and following pilot training, and after a short period flying Blenheim night fighters, he was transferred to No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron at RAF Montrose, Scotland, in October 1939.
In the early months of the war, Scotland endured many German bomber raids mainly targeting the shipyards of the Clyde. On 16 October 1939, Stapleton's squadron intercepted the first German air raid on the British Isles, during which the first enemy aircraft of the Second World War were shot down. During this raid Stapleton shared two German bombers shot down in the estuary of the Firth of Forth.
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