Warringah Radio Control
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(Incorporated under the Association Incorporation Act 1984)

 CLIVE "KILLER" CALDWELL 
Clive Robertson Caldwell was born in Lewisham, Sydney on the 28th of July, 1911. Before WWII he trained for his civil pilot's licence whilst a member of the Royal Aero Club. He joined the RAAF at the beginning of the war in 1939 and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in 1940. He was appointed an instructor after completing his training, he resigned and re-applied as an air-crew trainee. His commission was reinstated in January 1941, and he was sent to the Middle East where he took up flying duties in Tomahawks with 250 Squadron RAF. Following a short period of operations in Syria and Cyprus, Caldwell and the squadron were relocated to the Western Desert. It was in this theatre that he achieved great success during intensive operations. 
By mid-1941, Caldwell had flown about 40 operational sorties, but had only one confirmed kill - a Bf 109. He was perplexed by the fact that he had trouble scoring hits on enemy aircraft. Whilst returning to base one day, he noted his squadron's aircraft casting shadows on the desert below. He fired a burst of his guns and noted the fall of shot relative to his shadow. He realised this method allowed for the assessment of required deflection to hit moving targets. Further experimentation lead him to acquire the knowledge to assess deflection needed for a range of speeds. Within a couple of weeks he had attained four further kills and a half share. Caldwell's method of "shadow shooting" became a standard method of gunnery practice in the Middle East. 
On 29 August 1941 Clive Caldwell was attacked by two Bf 109s North-West of Sidi Barrani. Caldwell's P-40 "Tomahawk" was riddled with more than 100 rounds of 7.9 mm slugs, plus five 20 mm cannon strikes which punctured a tyre and rendered the flaps inoperative.
In the first attack Caldwell suffered bullet wounds to the back, left shoulder, and leg. In the next pass one shot slammed through the canopy, causing splinters which wounded him with perspex in the face and shrapnel in the neck. Two cannon shells also punched their way through the rear fuselage just behind him and the starboard wing was badly damaged. Despite damage to both himself and the aircraft, Caldwell turned on his attackers and sent down one of the Bf 109s in flames. The pilot of the second Messerschmitt made off in some haste. Caldwell's engine had caught fire, however he managed to extinguish the flames with a violent slip and nursed his flying wreck back to base at Sidi Haneish. 
Caldwell's most successful day was the 5th of December 1941 when he shot down five Ju 87s in a single engagement. Due to his aggression, exceptional combat skills, and determination to strafe ground targets, Caldwell soon acquired the nickname "Killer" which he apparently was not particularly proud of. The name however stuck and was commonly used in referring to Caldwell who invariably landed back at his base with almost no ammunition left.
Caldwell was promoted to flight commander in November 1941 and received the DFC and Bar simultaneously on December 26 by which time he had 17 victories. He was promoted to Squadron Leader in January 1942 and took command of 112 Squadron RAF flying Kittyhawks. 
It was due to his leadership, confidence and daring, his work with a contingent of Polish pilots attached to 112 Squadron, and continued success with this squadron that he received the Polish Cross of Valour (Krzyz Walecznych). 
At that time the Australian government asked that he be released to return to Australia to command a Wing in the defence of Australia.
This Wing was to consist of 3 Squadrons of "Spitfires", and Caldwell spent some time before returning home to acquaint himself with the new aircraft. Caldwell left the Middle East with nineteen individual and three shared confirmed enemy kills, six probables, and fifteen damaged. 
On taking up his command of No. 1 Fighter Wing based in Darwin, Caldwell again showed his outstanding fighting abilities and claimed a further eight Japanese aircraft by August 1943. Caldwell's tally was twenty-eight and a half by the time he left the Wing in August 1943 and for this feat he received a DSO to add to his DFC and Bar and Polish Cross of Valour.
Spitfire Mk VIII A58-484 regularly flown by Caldwell while at Morotai in early 1945.  Originally in RAF desert camouflage scheme, the Middle stone portions were repainted RAAF Foliage green and the RAF roundels were altered to the blue/white RAAF 32 inch type.
Caldwell returned to operations in April 1944 (after a period commanding an OTU) commanding 80 Wing out of Darwin and Morotai. By this time opposition in the air from the Japanese had waned, and the role of the RAAF in the South-West Pacific had been relegated to a supporting role. 80 Wing was confined to strafing and bombing ground targets which Caldwell and his pilots found wasteful and frustrating. These targets were isolated from the main Japanese forces and the pilots resented being risked in tasks whose results were making no contribution towards winning the war.
In April 1945, Caldwell and seven other officers tendered their resignations in protest (the so-called Morotai mutiny) against the RAAF's role in the latter stages of the war, but Caldwell finished the war attached to HQ, based in Melbourne. He resigned from the RAAF in 1946 and was a successful businessman until his death on 5th of August, 1994. 

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