User:Ian Rose/Draft6
Caesar Hull, DFC (1914–1940) and Paterson Hughes, DFC (1917–1940) were Royal Air Force (RAF) flying aces of the Second World War. They were killed in action the same day, 7 September 1940, during the Battle of Britain. Born in Southern Rhodesia, Hull joined No. 43 Squadron in Sussex, England in 1935, and took part in the fighting for Narvik during the Norwegian Campaign in 1940, flying a Gloster Gladiator biplane. He later saw action as a Hawker Hurricane pilot during the Battle of Britain. With eight confirmed aerial victories, including five over Norway, Hull was the RAF's first Gladiator ace and the most successful RAF pilot of the Norwegian Campaign. Hughes was born in Australia and took a commission with the RAF in 1937. Posted to No. 234 Squadron following the outbreak of war, he flew Supermarine Spitfires and was credited with seventeen victories during the Battle of Britain. His tally made him the highest-scoring Australian of the battle, and among the three highest-scoring Australians of the war. Known for his practice of attacking his intended victims at extremely close range, Hughes is generally thought to have died after his Spitfire was struck by flying debris from a German bomber that he had just shot down. (See Caesar Hull and Paterson Hughes.)