Clive Caldwell Group Captain Clive Robertson Caldwell DSO , DFC & Bar ( 28 July 1910 – 5 August 1994 ) was the leading Australian air ace of World War II . He is officially credited with shooting down 28 . 5 enemy aircraft in over 300 operational sorties . In addition to his official score , he has been ascribed six probables and 15 damaged . Caldwell flew Curtiss P - 40 Tomahawks and Kittyhawks in the North African Campaign and Supermarine Spitfires in the South West Pacific Theatre . He was the highest - scoring P - 40 pilot from any air force and the highest - scoring Allied pilot in North Africa . Caldwell also commanded a Royal Air Force ( RAF ) squadron and two different Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) wings . His military service ended in controversy , however , when he resigned in protest at the misuse of Australian First Tactical Air Force ' s fighter units and was later court martialed and convicted for trading liquor . Early life . Caldwell was born in Lewisham , Sydney and educated at Albion Park School , Sydney Grammar School and Trinity Grammar School . He was at Sydney Grammar School from June , 1924 until May , 1927 , but did not complete his Leaving Certificate there ( he rowed in the 4th IV and was a member of the Games Committee ) . He learned to fly in 1938 with the Aero Club of New South Wales . When World War II broke out , he joined the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) , with the intention of becoming a fighter pilot . As he was over the age limit for fighter training , Caldwell persuaded a pharmacist friend to alter the details on his birth certificate . He was accepted by the RAAF and joined the Empire Air Training Scheme ( EATS ; also known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and similar names ) . Second World War . Middle East and North Africa . Caldwell ' s first , brief combat posting was a British Hurricane unit , No . 73 Squadron , Royal Air Force , in the early stages of the North African campaign . He had gained only a few operational hours when he was transferred to No . 250 Squadron RAF as it converted to the new P - 40 Tomahawk , one of the first units in the world to operate P - 40s . According to some accounts , On 6 June 1941 , Caldwell as Flying Officer Jack Hamlyn ' s wingman , was involved in the P - 40 ' s first ever kill , of an Italian CANT Z . 1007 bomber , over Egypt . However , the claim was not officially recognised . ( Hamlyn and Sergeant Tom Paxton scored the first official kill two days later , another CANT . ) Soon afterwards , Caldwell served with the squadron over Syria and Lebanon . After struggling to acquire the skill of gunnery deflection , Caldwell developed a training technique , known as " shadow shooting " , in which he fired at the shadow of his own aircraft on the desert surface . This was later widely adopted by the Desert Air Force . The squadron returned to North Africa . On 26 June 1941 , while escorting bombers attacking Gazala , Libya , Caldwell destroyed an aircraft in air - to - air combat for the first time , during his 30th sortie . He downed a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 E , piloted by " Leutnant " Heinz Schmidt of I gruppe , " Jagdgeschwader 27 " ( JG 27 — Fighter Wing 27 ) , over Capuzzo , he followed this claim with a ' half share ' of a Bf 110 on III . / ZG 26 and 2 Ju - 87s of II . / " Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 " ( StG 2 — Dive Bomber Wing 2 ) on 30 June . On 4 July 1941 , Caldwell saw a German pilot shoot and kill a close friend , Pilot Officer Donald Munro , who was descending to the ground in a parachute . This was a controversial practice , but was nevertheless common among some German and Allied pilots . One biographer , Kristin Alexander , suggests that it may have caused Caldwell ' s attitude to harden significantly . Months later , press officers and journalists popularised Caldwell ' s nickname of " Killer " , which he disliked . One reason for the nickname was that he too shot enemy airmen after they parachuted out of aircraft . Caldwell commented many years later : " . . . there was no blood lust or anything about it like that . It was just a matter of not wanting them back to have another go at us . I never shot any who landed where they could be taken prisoner . " ( In later life , Caldwell said that his thoughts often turned to one Japanese airman or passenger , who survived Caldwell ' s last aerial victory but could not be rescued . ) A more commonly cited reason for the nickname was his habit of using up ammunition left over at the end of sorties , to shoot up enemy troop convoys and vehicles . During his war service , Caldwell wrote in a notebook : " it ' s your life or theirs . This is war . " While flying to his base alone , over northwest Egypt on 29 August 1941 , Caldwell was attacked by two Bf 109s , in a simultaneous approach at right angles . His attackers included one of Germany ' s most famous " Experte " ( " expert " , or ace ) , " Leutnant " Werner Schröer , also of JG 27 , in a Bf 109E - 7 . Caldwell sustained three separate wounds from ammunition fragments and or shrapnel . His Tomahawk was hit by more than 100 7 . 9 mm bullets and five 20 mm cannon shells , but he shot down Schröer ' s wingman , and heavily damaged Schröer ' s " Black 8 " , causing Schröer to disengage . On 23 November , Caldwell shot down an " Experte " , " Hauptmann " Wolfgang Lippert , " Gruppenkommandeur " ( Group Commander ) of II . / JG 27 , who bailed out . Lippert had struck the stabiliser and following capture had his legs amputated but 10 days later , a gangrene infection set in and he died on 3 December . For this action , Caldwell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross . Caldwell claimed five Junkers Ju 87 ( " Stuka " ) dive bomber s in a matter of minutes on 5 December . For this he was awarded a Bar to his DFC . His report of that action reads : The citations for both the original DFC and the Bar were published in the same issue of the " London Gazette " , a supplement to that of 23 December 1944 , dated 26 December 1944 . The first citation described Caldwell as continuing to " take his toll of enemy aircraft " and that " he personally shot down 5 of the enemy ' s aircraft bringing his total victories to 12 . " The second that he " has performed splendid work in the Middle East operations " , " shown dogged determination and high devotion to duty which have proved an inspiration to his fellow pilots " , and that after receiving " wounds on his face , arms and legs . . . he courageously returned to the attack and shot down one of the hostile aircraft . " On 24 December , Caldwell was involved in an engagement which mortally wounded another Luftwaffe ace , " Hpt . " Erbo Graf von Kageneck ( credited with 69 air victories ) of III . / JG 27 . Caldwell only claimed a " damaged " at the time , but postwar sources have attributed him with the kill . In January 1942 , Caldwell was promoted to Squadron Leader and was given command of No . 112 Squadron RAF , becoming the first EATS graduate to command a British squadron . 112 Sqn at that time included a number of Polish aviators , and this was why Caldwell was later awarded the Polish " Krzyż Walecznych " ( KW ; " Cross of Valour " ) . Caldwell scored another striking victory in February 1942 , while leading a formation of 11 Kittyhawks from 112 Sqn and 3 Sqn . Over Gazala , he sighted a " schwarm " of Bf 109Fs flying some 2 , 000 ft higher . Caldwell immediately nosed into a shallow dive , applied maximum power and boost , then pulled his Kittyhawk up into a vertical climb . With his P - 40 " hanging from its propeller , " he fired a burst at a Bf 109 flown by " Leutnant " Hans - Arnold Stahlschmidt of I . / JG 27 , who was lagging behind the others . Stahlschmidt ' s fighter " shuddered like a carpet being whacked with a beater " before spinning out of control . Although the Kittyhawk pilots thought that the Bf 109 had crashed inside Allied lines , Stahlschmidt was able to crash - land in friendly territory . When Caldwell left the theatre later that year , the commander of air operations in North Africa and the Middle East , Air Vice Marshal Arthur Tedder described him as : " [ a ] n excellent leader and a first class shot " . Caldwell claimed 22 victories while in North Africa flying P - 40s , including ten Bf 109s and two Macchi C . 202 s . He had flown some 550 hours in over 300 operational sorties . While on an tour of the United States , Caldwell visited Curtiss - Wright in Buffalo , New York . On August 6 , 1942 , he was invited to come on an acceptance re - flight of a Curtiss C - 46 Commando , the latest transport aircraft destined for overseas use . The aircraft was also loaded with Curtiss executives , and flown by Chief Production Test Pilot Herbert O . Fisher . The landing gear became stuck in a three - quarters down position , and after an extended eight - hour attempt to release the gear , Fisher calmly belly - landed the C - 46 . With the weight of the aircraft gently pushing the gear back into the wheel wells , a minimum of damage resulted . Caldwell had taken over as the co - pilot on the eight hours of circling over Buffalo , receiving certification that he was checked out on the C - 46 , under the tutelage of Fisher . Finishing his tour at Curtiss - Wright , Caldwell went on to visit the North American Aviation factory and was able to personally evaluate their new P - 51 fighter , then in development . South West Pacific . During 1942 , Australia came under increasing pressure from Japanese forces , and Caldwell was recalled by the RAAF , to serve as the wing leader of No . 1 ( Fighter ) Wing , comprising No . 54 Squadron RAF , No . 452 Squadron RAAF and No . 457 Squadron RAAF . The wing was equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire and in early 1943 was posted to Darwin , to defend it against Japanese air raids . Caldwell claimed two kills in his first interception sortie over Darwin , a Mitsubishi A6M Zero ( also known by the Allied codename " Zeke " ) fighter and a Nakajima B5N " Kate " light bomber . The Spitfire pilots found Japanese fighter pilots reluctant to engage Allied fighters over Australia , due to the distance from their bases in the Dutch East Indies . The wing initially suffered high losses , due to the inexperience of many of its pilots , and teething mechanical problems with their newly " tropicalised " Mark VC Spitfires . This was viewed with concern by high commanders , to such extent that the Allied air commander in the South West Pacific , Major General George Kenney , considered sending the wing to the New Guinea campaign , and returning U . S . Fifth Air Force fighter units to Darwin . Caldwell scored what was to be his last aerial victory , a Mitsubishi Ki - 46 " Dinah " of the " 202nd Sentai " , over the Arafura Sea on 17 August 1943 . He claimed a total of 6 . 5 Japanese aircraft shot down . Later in 1943 , Caldwell was posted to Mildura , to command No . 2 Operational Training Unit ( 2OTU ) . He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order ( DSO ) in November 1943 . By 1944 , with the Japanese forces retreating north , Caldwell was again posted to Darwin , this time commanding No . 80 ( Fighter ) Wing , equipped with the Spitfire Mark VIII . In April 1945 , while serving at Morotai in the Dutch East Indies with the Australian First Tactical Air Force , as Officer Commanding No . 80 Wing , Caldwell played a leading part in the " Morotai Mutiny " , in which several senior flyers resigned in protest at what they saw as the relegation of RAAF fighter squadrons to dangerous and strategically worthless ground attack missions . An investigation resulted in three senior officers being relieved of their commands , with Caldwell and the other " mutineers " cleared . Prior to the " mutiny " , Caldwell had been charged over his involvement in an alcohol racket on Morotai , where liquor was flown in by RAAF aircraft and then sold to the sizable U . S . forces contingent in the locality . He was court martialled in January 1946 and reduced to the rank of Flight Lieutenant . Caldwell left the service in February . Later years . After the war , Caldwell was involved as a purchasing agent obtaining surplus aircraft and other military equipment from the U . S . Foreign Liquidation Commission in the Philippines . The aircraft and equipment were exported to Australia in 1946 . After the successful conclusion of this venture , Caldwell joined a cloth import / export company in Sydney and shortly after became its managing director . He became a partner in 1953 and later served as chairman of the board . The firm , Clive Caldwell ( Sales ) Pty Ltd , achieved considerable success under Caldwell ' s direction and expanded through subsidiaries worldwide . Although in later life Caldwell " spoke modestly " about his wartime service , upon his death in Sydney on 5 August 1994 , Australians " mourned the passing of a true national hero " .