While in North Africa, Broadhurst acquired a captured German Fiesler Storch observation aircraft and had it sent back to England and painted bright yellow, with RAF markings.
* * *
In March 1944, he was posted back to England during the buildup for Operation Overlord, the cross-Channel invasion of France on June 6. As the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) the 83d Group, his unit was to provide direct tactical air support for the Second British Army in Normandy.
Relations between Broadhurst and the Second Army commander, Lt. Gen. Miles Dempsey were previously not good as a result of misunderstandings during the Sicily campaign over coordination for air support between Dempsey’s staff and Broadhurst’s staff. Montgomery however, never lost faith in Broadhurst and on at least one occasion severely rebuked Dempsey after hearing the airmen’s side. When he became Dempsey’s chief airman, Broadhurst was naturally apprehensive, but whatever differences that had existed in the Mediterranean were soon forgotten. “We never made a move without talking to each other,” Broadhurst told me in a 1980 interview.
Subscribe Today
Nevertheless, there was considerable bad feeling at the highest level on the part of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder (Air C-in-C, in the Middle East, and Deputy Supreme Commander to Eisenhower in Northwest Europe in 1944-45) and Coningham, the commander of the 2d Tactical Air Force – the unit that provided tactical air support in Northwest Europe to Montgomery’s 21 Army Group. Tedder and Coningham had no use for Montgomery (a tale for another time) and Broadhurst sometimes found himself in the middle. He has recounted an example of the bad feeling that existed in Normandy. On one occasion, Tedder greeted him with the acid comment: “How’s your bloody Army friend today?” a reference to Montgomery. Broadhurst replied: “Well, what do you expect him to be, my enemy? It’s difficult enough when he’s supposed to be friendly,” and walked angrily away from Tedder, who did not take Broadhurst’s insubordination personally. (4)
During a massive night bombing raid of Caen in early July 1944, Broadhurst elected to observe the aerial fireworks from his Storch aircraft. He invited Dempsey to accompany him. As they flew over the battlefield, the aircraft became a prime target of both German and friendly gunners on the ground and began taking heavy fire. Broadhurst realized he had to land at once or be shot down. “So I dived for the ground and by the time we got down to the ground there were all these chaps machine-gunning us as well. Everybody was shooting at us . . . We landed in a cornfield. [Friendly] troops came rushing across headed by a captain and I said to Dempsey, for heaven’s sake, get out and wear your red hat! [worn by all general officers]. If I get out in my blue uniform they’ll shoot us. Well, he got out and waved his hat, looking the bloody fool. This Canadian came up and said, ‘I demand your identify card!’ Bimbo Dempsey said: ‘Don’t be a bloody fool, I’m your commanding general.’ We had been hit eleven times.’ Broadhurst said he could fly the plane and he would get Dempsey back to his command post. Dempsey had seen quite enough and said: “I’m going with this chap!” It was the last time Miles Dempsey ever flew with Harry Broadhurst. (5) The end of Broadhurst’s days flying the Storch “as his personal means of transport came to a somewhat ignominious end in early 1945 when he suffered an engine failure on taking off from Evere (France). Trying to land the aircraft on the nearest available area, the roof of a hanger, his efforts were dashed when the roof collapsed, the hanger having previously been gutted by fire, resulting in the destruction of the Storch. Fortunately when the crowd of officers who had been seeing their AOC off arrived on the scene they found Harry Broadhurst uninjured and standing next to the aircraft.” (6) This was neither the first nor the last time that Broadhurst survived an aviation-related accident. When it came to flying he lived a charmed life.
* * *
After the war, Broadhurst remained in the RAF and rose to the rank of Air Chief Marshal, retiring in 1976 after a career spanning fifty years. Along the way he was Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command and in 1959 commanded NATO’s Allied Air Forces Central Europe. In his retirement years he was associated with the aviation industry. Harry Broadhurst died in 1995. His obituary in The (London) Independent hailed “One of the great ‘fighting airmen’ of the RAF and an outstanding exponent of the tactical use of air power,” and noted that his free-ranging spirit found “its outlet in sailing his seven-ton Bermuda cutter from Chichester Harbour,” to far-flung ports of call. (7)
I was at RAF Bruggen Germany in Sept 1960 when Broady
visited. He was to meet Aircrew in the Officers’ Mess Ante Room
but was boycotted by all the navigators in protest at the Vulcan
crash in Oct 1956 at London Airport when he took the co-pilots
seat at the end of the record breaking flight from Australia. Only
the pilot and co-pilot survived! No action was taken against
them.
Jim M.
Sir I had the honour to serve under Sir Harry Broadhurst when he was AOC at Kenley in Surrey in 1946 to 1947 and can assure you that he still had the Fiesler Storch spotter plane so it must have been repairable after his misshap with a hanger roof.
Norman 2290362
Sir, do you remember the colors of the Storch?
Was it still yellow or did it wear RAF standard colors?
Air Marshall coning ham believed in close air support to the army, indeed was one of the original exponents of the creed. Relationship with monty was volatile because he believed that monty changed his plans during a battle without informing the royl air force. He was promoted to the 2nd tactical airforce command to make ready for overlord.