Valiant WWII airman dies

Wing Commander Patrick Gibbs, who led a squadron of Beaufort torpedo bombers from Malta against Axis convoys supplying Rommel's army in North Africa in 1942, died on March 8 aged 92.

In later years, Wing Commander Gibbs, who was invalided out of the RAF in 1944 with a DSO and two DFCs, was a film critic for The Daily Telegraph.

He is the author of a well-received memoir, Not Peace But A Sword, in which he recalled his experiences in peace and war.

Reginald Patrick Mahoney Gibbs was born in 1915 and his first wartime posting came as a flight commander to No 22 (Beaufort) Squadron in Coastal Command at North Coates, Lincolnshire. He was posted to the Middle East where he served on the Air Staff at Cairo headquarters.

In 1942 Wing Commander Gibbs persuaded Air Vice-Marshal Hugh Pughe Lloyd, then commanding the RAF in Malta, to let him fly Beauforts from the island.

Moving to Malta, where his squadron, No 39, was later joined by Beaufighters, he started a series of attacks on enemy convoys.

In the course of three months in Malta Gibbs steadily developed tactics which involved Beaufighters escorting the torpedo bomber force, also creating a diversion by bombing and strafing. This initiative was recognised with a Bar to his DFC and the award of a DSO.

Wing Commander Gibbs left the RAF as a wing commander in 1944 after periods of sick leave brought on by the strain of continuous operations.

He retired from The Telegraph in 1987 and was able to return to the manuscript of his account of the Mediterranean air war. This was published by Grub Street in 1992 as Torpedo Leader to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the award of the George Cross to Malta.

His Obituary in The Times (of London), In Praise Of Torpedo Leader, quotes the famous Malta fighter pilot Laddie Lucas recalling "those awful days when everything hung tenuously in the balance. Patrick made an imperishable contribution in the face of daily dangers and, with them, inevitable losses. There is not the least doubt that the success of his strike operations had a material effect upon the fortunes of our 8th Army in the desert and the outcome of Alamein".