The day Wolverhampton workers kissed their Defiant RAF heroes

The remarkable exploits of RAF crews with a Wolverhampton war weapon had created headlines, and on that day of celebration in December 1941 the free beer flowed, and a lot of them missed the speech because they were in the loo.

They had been flying the Defiant fighter, made by the Boulton Paul Works at Pendeford, and had racked up a score of 100 enemy planes destroyed, an achievement which saw 11 squadron members come to the works for a special presentation.

And we've dipped into our archives to find this picture the Express & Star took of that occasion, which shows the company chairman, Lord Gorell, presenting a silver salver to Flight Lieutenant Samuel Richard "Tommie" Thomas, the acting squadron leader.

Notes on the back of our original print show that the official censor tried to keep things hush-hush by banning any mention of Boulton Paul and Defiants, but maybe there was some negotiating as the censor's concerns were blithely ignored when the picture was carried on the front page of the Star of December 23, 1941.

Our reporter's account began: "Against a background of five sinister-looking black fighters, an enthusiastic crowd of employees at the factory where they are made surged excitedly round a little group from the squadron that was first to be equipped with Defiants.

"Girl workers almost fought for autographs and kisses from the airmen as one of them held aloft a silver salver presented to the squadron in commemoration of the unit's achievement in destroying its 100th German aircraft between May 1940 and November 1941.

"This was the scene I saw when I visited the factory to see the presentation by the chairman on behalf of Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd, the manufacturers of the aircraft. It was made to 11 representatives of the squadron which, at Dunkirk, achieved the record never since equalled by any other squadron, of shooting down 37 enemy machines in one day."

It went on to say that Flight Lieutenant Thomas had been forced to bale out during the German invasion of the Low Countries after accounting for three enemy planes and was mistaken for a German parachutist.

"Unable to establish his identity, he was detained by the Dutch military authorities but, dressed as a Dutch peasant, eventually made his way to the Hook of Holland, and returned to this country in a destroyer.

"It was the first time these planes went into action, and Flight Lieutenant Thomas received a bullet wound in his hand, the scar of which is still visible. His rear gunner was killed."

The report went on to describe the exploits of two decorated crewmen who, like the others, had taken part in the Battle of Britain and were said to have a high opinion of their aircraft.

"It's just magnificent," said one.

Despite that assessment the truth was that the Defiant, which was a two-seat fighter which looked a bit like a Hawker Hurricane with a gun turret, had been withdrawn from daylight fighter operations and was now doing service as a night fighter.

Although the squadron was not identified in the report other than saying it was known as the Madras Squadron, the occasion is described in a book by Wolverhampton aviation historian Alec Brew called The Turret Fighters, and he says it was 264 Squadron, and the presentation was on December 18, 1941.

Alec says the squadron had only actually claimed the destruction of 96 enemy aircraft at the time.

He writes: "After the presentation at the factory, members of the squadron were entertained for dinner, each with one of the female employees for company.

"Such was their consumption of the free beer continually set in front of them, there were almost no airmen present when Lord Gorell (the company chairman) stood up to praise them for their combat record – they were all visiting the toilets!"

As for Tommie Thomas, according to information on the internet he went on to win the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1942 and Air Force Cross in 1943.

He was shot down while flying a Hawker Typhoon over Holland in 1943 and taken prisoner.

Thomas stayed in the postwar RAF and was serving at RAF Kenley when he died in the RAF hospital at Uxbridge on September 3, 1962.

In July 1994 some Dutch holidaymakers found, in the waters of a creek, what turned out to be the remains of Thomas' Defiant which had been shot down in 1940.

Some human remains were found in the wreckage and although they seemed bound to be those of Thomas' air gunner, 24-year-old Leading Aircraftman John Bromley of Liverpool, he could not be conclusively identified and he officially remains "missing in action."

The engine and other items from the aircraft were subsequently recovered and put on display in the Biesbosch Museum at Werkendam.

Today only one Defiant survives intact, and is at the RAF Museum at Cosford.