BOB OGLEY finds out about legendary fighter pilot Adolph ‘Sailor’ Malan.

ADOLPH Gysbert Malan, better known as ‘Sailor’, was one of the greatest fighter pilots and certainly the best-known of all those who flew from Biggin Hill during the war.

Born in South Africa, he went to sea at 15 with the Union Castle line and transferred to the RAF in 1936.

He qualified as a pilot so quickly and so skilfully he was nominated to collect the first production Spitfire from Vickers Supermarine.

By 1943 he was regarded as the number one fighter pilot.

He had been awarded the DFC and Bar, the DSO and Bar and the Croix de Guerre and his appointment as station commander at Biggin Hill received tremendous coverage.

He first act was to draw up a list of Ten Commandments for his pilots and his second was to declare he would join operations whenever he could.

Malan died in 1963, at the age of 52, and his memorial service was held in St George’s RAF Chapel at Biggin Hill where many tributes were paid to the man then regarded as the most skilful fighter pilot in the world.

His death exactly 50 years ago was a shock but not entirely unexpected.

The first indication he was unwell came in the summer of 1959 when Malan and his wife Lynda flew to England from his home in South Africa and was met by Squadron Leader Al Deere, an old contemporary, and taken to the White Hart Inn at Brasted.

He was astonished by the reception waiting for him.

It was the greatest gathering of fighter pilots the pub had ever known.

Malan chatted about the old days, about his great score of 34 “plus 11 probables” and drank a toast to absent friends in front of the famous ‘blackout board’.

He then told the huge gathering he had Parkinson’s Disease and was in England to see a specialist.

Soon after, in a letter to the landlords, Kath and Teddy Preston, he wrote: “They tell me this inflammation in the central nervous sytem might take a year to burn itself out... so I’ll be back for another visit.

“Meanwile we have a lot of pleasant memories in England to sustain us and you two are no exception.”

Malan never returned.

He had the stress of five years of operations which included running the busiest fighter station in the world.

He also had constant requests for interviews from the press.

His additional responsibilities included the opening of the first station chapel (destroyed by fire) and the unveiling of the blackout board containing signatures of the pilots.

And, sadly, there was the constant demand on his time to write letters of condolences to the parents of young airmen who were killed.

It has been said Group Captain Sailor Malan was a legend in his own time.

Fifty years after his death, nothing has changed to alter this view.

Write to me at Bob Ogley, News Shopper, Mega House. Crest View Drive, Petts Wood, Kent BR5 1BT, email bob@bobogley.plus.com or visit frogletspublications.co.uk