Eric Lock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eric Stanley Lock
Lock in the cockpit of his Spitfire. Just below the cockpit are 26 Swastika emblems denoting aerial victories. Lock has already recorded his final kill – on 14 July 1941.
Shortly after this photo was taken, Lock disappeared.
Nickname(s)"Sawn Off"
Born19 April 1919
Eric Stanley Lock, DSO, DFC & Bar (19 April 1919 – 3 August 1941) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War.
Born on Bomere Farm, in the village of Bayston Hill, outside Shrewsbury in 1919, Lock was educated at the Public Elementary School in Bayston Hill (1924–1926), at Clivedon School in Church Stretton (1926–1928), at Shrewsbury Boys' High School (1928–1929), and finally at Prestfelde School in Shrewsbury (1929–1933).
Developing a love for motor vehicles, motor cycles and flying as a teenager, Lock joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as an AC2 Airman u/t (under training) Pilot (No. 745051) on 17 February 1939, and was promoted to Sergeant the following day. He undertook his initial peacetime training mostly on weekends and some week nights with 28 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School (No. 28 E&RFTS) run by the company 'Reid & Sigrist' at Meir, outside Stoke-on-Trent and made his first solo flight within the month.
No. 28 E&RFTS was disbanded on 31 August 1939 and Lock was mobilized the following day, but immediately sent on leave with full pay until 29 October 1939. His wartime training commenced on 30 October 1939 when he was posted to Course 1, 4 Initial Training Wing (No. 4 ITW) at Bexhill-on-Sea. He graduated on 8 December 1939 and was posted the following day to Course 17, 6 Service Flying Training School (No. 6 SFTS) at RAF Little Rissington.
Lock was awarded the pilot badge ('Wings') in March 1940, but he did not graduate the course until 18 June 1940, and was granted a commission (No. 81642) the same day. He was immediately posted to No. 41 Squadron RAF, then based at RAF Catterick in Yorkshire. By the time of his arrival on the Squadron, Lock had not flown a single hour in a Spitfire and his first solo in the type took place on 21 June 1940. He spent the ensuing six weeks learning to fly the aircraft and consequently did not make his first operational sortie until 9 August 1940.
In time, Lock became the RAF's most successful Allied pilot during the Battle of Britain, shooting down 21 German aircraft and sharing in the destruction of one.[1][2]
After the Battle of Britain Lock served on the Channel Front, flying offensive sweeps over France. Lock went on to bring his overall total to 26 aerial victories, one shared destroyed and eight probable in 25 weeks of operational sorties over a one-year period—during which time he was hospitalised for six months.[3][4]Included in his victory total were 20 German fighter aircraft, 18 of them Messerschmitt Bf 109s. In mid-1941 Lock was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
Lock earned the nickname "Sawn Off Lockie", because of his extremely short stature.[5] Within less than six months of becoming one of the most famous RAF pilots in the country, he crash–landed in the English Channel after his Supermarine Spitfire was damaged by ground–fire. Lock was posted missing in action. He was never seen again.
