Date: 7th September 1940 (Saturday)
Unit: 234 Squadron R.A.F.
Type: Spitfire I.
Serial: X4009.
Coded: AZ-
Location: Bessels Green, Kent.
Pilot: Fl/Lt. Paterson Clarence Hughes, D.F.C. 39461. Age 22. Killed.
REASON FOR LOSS:
On September 7th, 1940, one month after his wedding, Pat Hughes was killed when the Dornier 17 he was attacking blew up with such force that it wrecked his Spitfire, his aircraft crashed into the ground at Darks Farm, Bessels Green, Kent.
In twenty-four days of intense combat he had accounted for fifteen enemy aircraft and shared in the destruction of three others.
He was awarded the D.F.C. posthumously.
The photo of Pat above was taken on a picnic with his fiance, outside Leconfield on Sunday, June 9th, 1940. (A.R. Society archives)
The D.F.C. Citation reads:
'This officer has led his flight with skill and determination. He has displayed gallantry in his attacks on the enemy and has destroyed seven aircraft'.
Hughes was born on 19 September 1917 at Cooma, NSW.
Having served his cadetship with the RAAF at Point Cook, Hughes applied for and received a short service commission with the Royal Air Force in early 1937 as a pilot officer. When the Second World War broke out, Hughes had already served with 64 Fighter Squadron, and had transferred to 234 Squadron as a flight commander, flying Spitfires.
Hughes married in England on 7 August 1940. Between 8 July and 7 September 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, Hughes was responsible for shooting down 15 German aircraft and shared the destruction of three others.
He died when shooting down his fifteenth victim, a Dornier Do 17. Whether the exploding Dornier fatally damaged his Spitfire, or he flew into the firing line of a fellow pilot is unclear. He was 22. The top-scoring Australian ace of the Battle of Britain, Hughes has been described as the 'real driving force.
Pat was very fond of his dog "Flying Officer Butch" and he took him everywhere including flying. (A.R. Society archives)
Burial Details:
Fl/Lt. Paterson Clarence Hughes, D.F.C. Sutton (or Sutton-Holderness) (St James) Churchyard. Row G. Grave 4.
Son of Paterson Clarence and C. C. Hughes; husband of Kathleen Agnes Hughes, of Hull.
Sutton (or Sutton-Holderness) (St James) Churchyard.
Researched by David King (A.R. Society)
