On this day in military history…
James Brindley Nicolson VC – The Burning Hurricane Pilot Who Refused to Give Up
On 16 August 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, a young RAF fighter pilot found himself wounded inside a Hawker Hurricane that was rapidly filling with flames. Flight Lieutenant James Brindley Nicolson had every reason to abandon his aircraft immediately, yet as he prepared to escape he saw an enemy fighter ahead of him. Instead of bailing out, Nicolson returned to the controls of his burning Hurricane and opened fire. The extraordinary decision would earn him the Victoria Cross and make him the only pilot of RAF Fighter Command to receive Britain’s highest award for gallantry during the Second World War.
James Brindley Eric Nicolson was born in Hampstead, London, on 29 April 1917, the son of Leslie Gibson Nicolson and Dorothea Hilda Nicolson. During his childhood the family moved to Shoreham in Sussex, and he was educated first at Yardley Court Preparatory School and later at Tonbridge School in Kent. He developed an interest in engineering and aviation while still young, interests that would eventually lead him towards a flying career. After leaving school in 1935, Nicolson began working as an experimental engineer at Ricardo’s engineering works in Shoreham. It appeared that engineering might become his profession, but the rapidly expanding Royal Air Force offered something far more exciting.
In October 1936 he began flying training at White Waltham and formally received his RAF commission later that year. Further training followed at No. 10 Flying Training School at RAF Ternhill, where he flew types including the Hawker Hart and Audax. He then underwent air gunnery training at RAF Sutton Bridge before being considered ready for an operational fighter squadron.
In August 1937 Nicolson joined No. 72 Squadron at RAF Church Fenton. At the time the squadron flew the Gloster Gladiator, one of the RAF’s last frontline biplane fighters. Nicolson quickly developed a reputation as a talented pilot and an excellent aerial marksman. Contemporary assessments considered him an above-average pilot, particularly skilled in air-to-air firing. The technological transformation of the RAF was already taking place around him, and the Gladiators were eventually replaced by the new Supermarine Spitfire, giving Nicolson experience of the generation of modern monoplane fighters that would soon fight for Britain’s survival.
By the time war began in September 1939 Nicolson was an experienced fighter pilot. In May 1940 he was transferred to the newly re-formed No. 249 Squadron and became a flight commander. The squadron initially received Spitfires but was soon equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. The timing could hardly have been more significant. France was collapsing, British troops were evacuating through Dunkirk and Germany appeared certain to turn its attention towards Britain.
During the summer of 1940 No. 249 Squadron became operational and in August moved south to RAF Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. Fighter Command urgently needed additional squadrons to defend southern England against increasing Luftwaffe attacks. On Friday 16 August Nicolson took off in Hawker Hurricane Mk I P3576, coded GN-A. He was leading a small section tasked with patrolling the area around Poole, Ringwood and Southampton. It would become the most important flight of his life.
The Battle of Britain was then entering one of its most violent periods. German bombers and fighters were attacking RAF airfields, radar installations and other targets across southern England as the Luftwaffe attempted to destroy Fighter Command before a possible invasion. During the engagement near Southampton, Nicolson’s Hurricane came under enemy fire. Four cannon shells struck his aircraft. Two wounded Nicolson, while another damaged the aircraft’s fuel system and set the gravity fuel tank alight. The cockpit rapidly became an inferno.
Nicolson was injured in the foot and blood from another wound affected his vision. Flames spread around him as burning petrol entered the cockpit. Realising that the aircraft could no longer be saved, he began preparing to abandon the Hurricane, but then he saw another German fighter. Despite being wounded and despite his own aircraft burning around him, Nicolson stopped his attempt to escape. He returned to the controls, lined up the enemy aircraft and opened fire. He continued firing even as flames burned his hands, face, neck and legs, and the German fighter went down.
Only after completing the attack did Nicolson finally abandon his Hurricane. His parachute opened and he descended towards the Hampshire countryside, but even then his ordeal was not completely over. During his descent he was reportedly fired upon by members of the Home Guard who initially mistook the descending airman for a German pilot. He survived the landing but his injuries were severe. The burns caused while remaining inside the burning cockpit were particularly serious and required a long period of hospital treatment and rehabilitation.
The extraordinary nature of what Nicolson had done was quickly recognised. A recommendation for a gallantry award was upgraded, and on 15 November 1940 the London Gazette announced that King George VI had approved the award of the Victoria Cross. The official citation described how Nicolson had continued to attack despite being wounded and despite his aircraft being on fire, stating that his actions demonstrated exceptional gallantry and complete disregard for his own safety. He was only 23 years old.
Nicolson's award was particularly remarkable because fighter combat rarely provided witnesses capable of confirming precisely what individual pilots had done. He became the only pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain to receive the Victoria Cross and the only member of RAF Fighter Command awarded the VC during the entire Second World War.
Despite the terrible burns suffered during the action, Nicolson was determined to return to operational flying. Recovery was slow and the burns to his hands continued to cause problems, but by 1941 he was gradually returning to active duties. He served for a period as an instructor and later commanded an experimental night-fighter flight. His career continued to advance and in 1942 he was posted to India as the war against Japan expanded across Burma and South-East Asia.
In August 1943 Nicolson took command of No. 27 Squadron. Operating in the Burma theatre, the squadron flew powerful twin-engined aircraft against Japanese forces, carrying out ground-attack and fighter operations in extremely demanding conditions. For his leadership and operational work in the Far East, Nicolson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
By the final year of the war he had risen to the rank of Wing Commander and was serving with RAF headquarters in Burma. Despite holding senior appointments, Nicolson remained eager to fly whenever the opportunity arose. On 2 May 1945, with the war in Europe only days from ending, Nicolson joined the crew of Consolidated B-24 Liberator KH210 of No. 355 Squadron as an observer. The aircraft departed from Salbani in India on an operational flight over the Bay of Bengal.
During the flight one of the Liberator's engines caught fire and the aircraft crashed into the sea. A search followed and around sixteen hours later a Catalina flying boat located two survivors in a dinghy. Wing Commander James Nicolson was not among them. His body was never recovered. He was 28 years old, and the tragedy meant that a man who had survived one of the most extraordinary fighter actions of the Battle of Britain was killed only months before the final defeat of Japan.
Nicolson left behind his wife Muriel, whom he had married in 1939, and a young son. He is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial at Kranji, which records the names of thousands of Commonwealth servicemen who died during operations in South-East Asia and who have no known grave. His Victoria Cross and other medals are preserved by the Royal Air Force Museum. His medal group includes the Victoria Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, 1939–45 Star with Battle of Britain clasp, Air Crew Europe Star, Burma Star, Defence Medal and War Medal.
Among the thousands of young fighter pilots who defended Britain in 1940, Nicolson's actions remain exceptional. His Hurricane had been struck by cannon fire, he was wounded, his cockpit was burning and every instinct for survival must have told him to get out. Instead, when an enemy fighter appeared in front of him, he chose to fight for a few moments longer. Those few moments turned James Brindley Nicolson into one of the enduring figures of the Battle of Britain and ensured that the young pilot who fought on inside a burning Hurricane would forever be associated with the words engraved upon the Victoria Cross – For Valour.
