In January 1939 he signed up for a short service commission with the RAF, and following pilot training, and after a short period flying
Blenheim night fighters, he was transferred to
No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron at
RAF Montrose, Scotland, in October 1939. In the early months of the war, Scotland endured many German bomber raids mainly targeting the shipyards of the
Clyde. On 16 October 1939, Stapleton's squadron intercepted the first German air raid on the British Isles, during which the first enemy aircraft of the Second World War were shot down. During this raid Stapleton shared two German bombers shot down in the estuary of the
Firth of Forth.
Battle of Britain For the first period of the Battle of Britain, 603 Squadron remained in Scotland. On 27 August 1940, 603 were sent south to join 11 Group based at
RAF Hornchurch in
Essex. This was during the critical phase of the battle, when the fighter airfields were being attacked. Pilot attrition was high, as 603 found out the next day. Stapleton recalled: To avoid it happening again, the
CO, Squadron Leader 'Uncle'
George Denholm, employed a system of climbing on a reciprocal
heading to that given by the controllers after take-off. Only when he believed they had gained sufficient
altitude did they turn onto the heading given by the controllers towards the enemy but still the losses mounted. No. 603 Squadron lost 13 pilots during the summer of 1940 with many more seriously injured, most of whom were good friends of Stapleton. These included Richard Hillary on 3 September, who was shot down, badly burned and wrote his book during recovery, and on 5 September one of the flight commanders, Flight Lieutenant Fred 'Rusty' Rushmer, who was killed. But it was not all bad news as Stapleton, 603 and the RAF were scoring kills and inflicting heavy losses on the
Luftwaffe. A short time after the war Stapleton learned that the pilot was
Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, whose exploits were made famous in the book and film
The One That Got Away, the only German pilot
PoW to escape captivity (from
Canada) during World War II and return to Germany. On 7 September the Luftwaffe changed tactics and began bombing British cities. On that day, Stapleton was shot down, Gerald was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross on 15 November 1940 and in December the unit returned to Scotland.
Other duties Stapleton left 603 Squadron in April 1941 and served in various units, including flying 'Hurricats' (
Hurricane fighters converted as catapult-launched convoy escorts) with the
Merchant Ship Fighter Unit, as a flight commander with
257 Squadron, and as an instructor at Central Gunnery School before taking over Command of
No. 247 (China-British) Squadron, part of 124
Wing,
2nd Tactical Air Force, flying Typhoons from
beachhead code B.6, northern France in August 1944. Initially the squadron helped close the
Falaise Gap but as the
Allied forces moved inland, so they followed: from B.6 –
Coulombs to B.68 (
Amiens/
Glisy), B.58 (Melsbroek) and B.78 (
Eindhoven).
Operation Market Garden No. 247 Squadron provided aerial support throughout the
Arnhem campaign during
Operation Market Garden. In January 1946 he received notification he had been awarded the Dutch DFC for his leadership of 247 Squadron throughout Operation Market Garden, conferred by Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. There was no ceremony; he received the medal in the post.
Prisoner of war On 23 December 1944 Stapleton was forced to land behind enemy lines and became a prisoner of war. ==Post-war==