Following the outbreak of the Second World War, No. 43 Squadron moved to
Acklington near
Newcastle from where it carried out patrols over shipping convoys. On 3 February 1940, Hallowes piloted one of three No. 43 Squadron Hurricanes that shot down a
Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 medium bomber of
Kampfgeschwader 26 (Bomber Wing 26) at
Whitby. This was the first German aircraft to fall on English soil during the Second World War. The formation was led by
Flight Lieutenant Peter Townsend. The squadron then moved north to
Wick in Scotland to form part of the aerial defences for the
Royal Navy base at
Scapa Flow. On 8 April, he shot down another He 111 of
KG26, the aircraft crash-landing onto the airfield at Wick with the pilot, believing he was landing on the sea, attempting to take to an inflatable dinghy only to be surprised by the appearance of a guard.
Battle of Britain On 1 June the squadron returned to Tangmere and immediately began operating over France, helping cover the beaches at
Dunkirk during
Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the
British Expeditionary Force from France. The same day, Hallowes destroyed a pair of
Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and damaged a third, and also shot down a
Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter, all about north of Dunkirk. He destroyed a Bf 109 on 7 June near
Le Touquet; he had been attacked by the fighter and his Hurricane set alight but before bailing out, he was able to fire upon the Bf 109 as it flew past him. On landing, he dislocated his ankle. He was collected by British soldiers who had seen the destruction of the Bf 109 and taken to hospital at La Bause. He duly returned to the squadron. Due to its losses during the operations over France, No. 43 Squadron was briefly rested. It returned to duty with a move to
Northolt in July, escorting
Bristol Blenheim light bombers to targets in France and being involved in interceptions of incoming Luftwaffe aircraft over the
English Channel. On 8 August, Hallowes shot down two Bf 109s to the south of
Swanage. These were followed on 13 August with a
Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber probably destroyed near
Littlehampton while another of the same type was shot down to the northwest of the
Isle of Wight. He damaged a third Ju 88 and also destroyed a
Dornier Do 17 medium bomber in the same vicinity. He claimed the probable destruction of a Ju 88 near
Portsmouth two days later. The next day he shot down three
Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers from
Selsey Bill. On 18 August, now known as
The Hardest Day, Hallowes repeated the feat by destroying three more Ju 87s, this time to the east of
Thorney Island. These were part of
Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 (Dive Bomber Wing 77) and tasked with attacking the
airfield at Thorney Island. No. 43 Squadron had been scrambled to intercept and on engaging the Ju 87s, Hallowes fired at a line of five aircraft, seeing the crews of two of them bail out. The third Ju 87 that he destroyed had already dropped its bombs when Hallowes engaged it; he observed the tail structure break away during his attack and the Ju 87 crashed into the sea. On 26 August, one He 111 was destroyed by Hallowes over Portsmouth, and he also shared in the destruction of another in the same area, his final aerial victories during the fighting over England. The following month, he was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) and a
Bar to same, the announcement for both being made at the same time. The citation for the DFM, which was in recognition of his exploit of 7 June, was published in
The London Gazette and read: The citation for the Bar to his DFM recognised his aerial successes to date and read: Shortly after the announcement of Hallowes' awards, No. 43 Squadron was taken off operations and transferred to
Usworth, in the north of England. Later in the month, he was
commissioned as a
pilot officer. In December Hallowes was briefly assigned to the newly formed
No. 96 Squadron during its initial working up as a
night fighter unit at
Cranage. He returned to No. 43 Squadron at the end of the month.
Circus offensive Hallowes was rested from operational flying for much of 1941 and during this time instructed at
No. 56 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at
Sutton Bridge. He was promoted to
flying officer in August and in early 1942, returned to duty with a promotion to
acting flight lieutenant and appointment as
commander of a
flight of
No. 122 Squadron. This unit, tasked with the aerial defence of
Edinburgh and the
Firth of Forth, was based at
Scorton and equipped with
Supermarine Spitfire fighters. In April, it moved south to
Hornchurch to take part in the RAF's fighter sweeps to France and the
Low Countries. On 5 May, Hallowes damaged one
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter and claimed another as probably destroyed near
Lille. He damaged another Fw 190 south of
Gravesend four days later. On 17 May, he probably destroyed a Fw 190 and damaged two more, all near
Saint-Omer. In June, Hallowes was promoted to acting
squadron leader and appointed commander of
No. 222 Squadron. At the time, the squadron, which used Spitfire Mk VBs, was based at
North Weald. As with his previous squadron, Hallowes' command was involved in sweeps to France. His tenure at the squadron was relatively short, for on 13 August he went to
Ayr to take command of
No. 165 Squadron. His unit, which operated Spitfire VBs, then flew south to
Eastchurch on 14 August in anticipation of its involvement in '
Operation Jubilee', the amphibious attack mounted on
Dieppe. On the morning of 19 August, the day of the landings at Dieppe, No. 165 Squadron patrolled over the port city but did not encounter the Luftwaffe before returning to Eastchurch. Back over the French coast in the late morning, it helped cover the ships off the landing beaches at Dieppe, protecting them from the Luftwaffe bombers. A number of
Dornier Do 217 medium bombers were engaged, Hallowes shooting down one and damaging a second. The squadron flew again in the late afternoon as cover for a convoy returning to England from Dieppe but this time saw no action. After the action at Dieppe, Hallowes' flight lieutenant rank was made substantive, while the squadron moved to
Gravesend from where it carried out sweeps and escort duties. Later in the year, No. 165 Squadron began operating from Tangmere, and on 8 November Hallowes damaged a Fw 190 off the French coast, in the region between
Gravelines and Dunkirk. In early 1943, Hallowes was recognised for his successes with an award of the
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). The published citation read:
Later war service Hallowes remained in command at No. 165 Squadron until March, at which time he was again rested. Seven months later, he returned to duty as the leader of
No. 504 Squadron; this was to be his final operational flying posting. Based at
Peterhead in Scotland, the squadron's Spitfires saw little action during Hallowes' period in command. In March 1944, he was made an acting
wing commander and appointed station commander at
RAF Dunsfold. His squadron leader rank was made substantive a few months later. Later in the year, he returned to instructing duties with a posting to No. 57 OTU at
Eshott. In March 1945, Hallowes was posted to North Weald to serve as the deputy station commander there. Hallowes ended the war credited with having shot down seventeen German aircraft, with a share in two more destroyed. He also is believed to have probably destroyed four aircraft and damaged eight. ==Postwar period==