RAF "Eagles"
This section honours the men who fought whilst being volunteers for the RAF's 71 (Eagles) Squadron. These men sacrificed their youth and future to fight for the RAF at a time when freedom was not assured in Europe, with some paying the ultimate price.
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We honour their actions, as had it not been for men like that, our todays might well have been different.
Image: IWM UPL 19121
Gene Tobin was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 4 January 1917, the son of Ignatius Quimby Tobin and Mary Alicia Tobin.
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Gene initially came to Europe to fight on the side of Finland against the Soviet Union's invasion of that country, but hostilities had ceased before he arrived. He was already a qualified pilot, having learned to fly in the 1930s.
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Tobin and Andrew Mamedoff had been flying friends at Mines Field in California before the war.
He joined the French Air Force towards the end of the Battle of France, but as France fell he came to England with his friends and fellow Americans Andrew Mamedoff and Vernon Keogh and joined the Royal Air Force in 1940.
On 8 August 1940 Tobin was posted to No. 609 Squadron RAF at Middle Wallop airfield. He flew his first mission on 16 August 1940. He flew many missions during the height of the Battle of Britain in August and September. He was credited with two shared 'kills' – an Bf 110 on 25 August and a Do17 on 15 September.
He was one of 11 American pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939–45 campaign star.
He was posted to RAF Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire on 18 September 1940 and was a founding member of the No. 71 'Eagle' Squadron.
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After arriving in Britain, Tobin had been diagnosed with lupus which at the time was a fatal disease, but kept his illness a secret so he could continue to fly for the RAF.
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On 7 September 1941, Tobin was killed in combat with Bf 109's of JG 26 on No. 71 Squadron's first sweep over northern France, in Spitfire Mk Vb W3801, one of three Spitfires shot down. He crashed into a hillside near Boulogne-sur-Mer. He was 24 years old.
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He is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France.
Image: IWM UPL 19117
Andrew (Andy) Mamedoff was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1911. He grew up in Thompson, Connecticut, and attended Bryant College in the early 1930s. He had learned to fly in the USA and even had his own plane with which he performed at airshows. He and Eugene Tobin had been flying friends at Mines Field in California before the war.
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Mamedoff initially came to Europe to fight on the side of Finland against the Soviet Union, but hostilities had ceased before he arrived. He then enlisted in the French Air Force, but he was not assigned to a squadron before the fall of France. Along with Tobin, and their friend Vincent Keough, they managed to get out of France and once in England, joined the RAF.
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After converting to the Spitfire, Mamedoff was posted to RAF Middle Wallop and joined No 609 Squadron on 8 August 1940. He was one of 11 American pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939–45 campaign star.
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He was posted to RAF Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire on 18 September 1940 and was a founding member of the No 71 'Eagle' Squadron. He was posted to RAF Duxford in August 1941 to another "Eagle Squadron", No 133 Squadron as a Flight Commander.
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On 8 October 1941, Mamedoff was flying with 133 Squadron on a standard transit flight from Fowlmere Airfield to RAF Eglinton in Northern Ireland in his Hurricane Z3781. The wreckage of his plane was found near Maughold on the Isle of Man and it is thought that he crashed due to poor weather conditions.
His body was later recovered for burial at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey.
Image: IWM UPL 17070
Born in Brooklyn, New York around 1912, the son of Charles and Constance Theresa Keough. He had earned a civil pilot's licence in America and was also a professional parachute jumper with over 500 jumps, performing at air shows across America.
He joined the French Air Force towards the end of the Battle of France, but as France fell he came to England with his friends and fellow Americans Andrew Mamedoff and Eugene Tobin and joined the Royal Air Force in 1940.
Keogh was the smallest pilot in the whole of the Royal Air Force, hence the nickname, and was just 4'10" (approx 1.47m) tall. He had to use two cushions in his Spitfire to see out of the cockpit.
Following Spitfire conversion training at 7 OTU Hawarden on 8 August 1940 he was posted to No 609 Squadron RAF at Middle Wallop airfield. He flew many missions during the height of the Battle of Britain in August and September. He was credited with one shared 'kill': Dornier Do 17 bomber shot down on 15 September with P/O Mike Appleby and Flt Lt John Dundas.
He was one of 11 American pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939–45 campaign star.
He was posted to RAF Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire on 18 September 1940 and was a founder member of No. 71 'Eagle' Squadron.
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On 15 February 1941, Keogh was on a convoy-protection mission off Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire. During the chase of a Heinkel He 111, he was last seen spinning off into the sea. He may have been a victim of disorientation in cloud or oxygen failure. He was 29 years old. Killed in Action (KIA).
His body was not recovered, but he is remembered on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede.
Luke Elbert Allen was born on 27 Sept 17 in Ignacio, Colorado.
Luke enlisted in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in 1940, volunteering for the RAF just as the Battle of Britain was reaching its climax.
Luke joined 71 Eagle Squadron, flying his first combat operation in April 1941 on Hurricanes. Converting to Spitfires the squadron had a busy period of patrols, sweeps and escorts before transferring to the USAAF in the 334th Fighter Squadron.
Luke flew over 60 combat missions in Europe, and survived the war, continuing life in aviation as a pilot for a small Texas Oil Company.
Image: IWM UPL 17070
Charles Edward Bateman
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Charles was born in San Gabriel, California, USA, but little else is currently known about him. There are no records in the usual sources apart from the American Air Museum in Britain site where the photo was retrieved from.
Image: IWM CH 1496
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