T.G. 'Hamish' Mahaddie

Group Captain Thomas Gilbert "Hamish" Mahaddie, (19 March 1911 – 16 January 1997) was a Scotsman who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF). As a youth he was selected for an apprentice programme and was trained as an RAF ground crew "metal rigger". He had earned his wings and reached the rank of sergeant pilot by the outbreak of the Second World War. In his second tour he was selected to be a member of the newly formed "Pathfinder Force" (No. 8 Group RAF). At the end of his second combat tour he was brought onto Air Vice Marshal Don Bennett's Headquarter Staff in the position of "Group Training Inspector". In this position he selected, recruited and trained aircrews to serve in the Pathfinder Force. Following the war he continued to serve in the RAF until 1958. Out of the service he worked as an electronics consultant for the Armed Services, and as an aircraft consultant for the film industry. His most remarkable accomplishment in the film industry was the procurement of aircraft, crews and service personnel for the film Battle of Britain.

Early life

Thomas Gilbert Mahaddie was born in Leith, Scotland, on 19 March 1911. He came from a poor family. His father, Tam Mahaddie, worked whatever jobs he could find after serving with the Gordon Highlanders in the Great War. His mother was a seamstress, and sewed all his clothes in his younger days, but she died when he was still quite young. He left school at the age of 13 and got a job working for an Edinburgh grocer, but soon became interested in the possibility of being an apprentice craftsman for the fledgling Royal Air Force.

The Second World War broke out in September 1939. Initially the bomber force was used in a timid manner. Mahaddie was involved in a number of bombing missions which he termed "ineffective". Two young pilots Mahaddie met while at 77 Squadron who went on to have distinguished careers were Jimmy Marks and Leonard Cheshire. On the first night of the war his squadron was sent to drop leaflets over the Ruhr. Early wartime operations for No. 77 Squadron's Whitleys included reconnaissance flights, leaflet "raids" over Germany and attacks on easily reached coastal targets. On 1 April 1940 he received his commission as an officer. With the exception of the raid led by Marks against German forces near Rotterdam, the raids had little impact on events, and Mahaddie was disappointed in their effectiveness. Mahaddie worked to meld them together into functioning crews. Harris argued that if a Target Finding Force was formed, each group should have their own squadron, but with the intervention of Air Chief Marshal Charles Portal, the Chief of the Air Staff, and the direct involvement of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, this idea was rejected as well.

As "Group Training Inspector" he regularly visited operational squadrons, ostensibly to lecture aircrews on the changing tactics and techniques employed by the Pathfinders. Before visiting a station, he would have already identified crews that he felt were candidates for the PFF. His small staff had reviewed the aiming point photographs shot from the aircraft on each mission. In recruiting aircrews Mahaddie was looking for accuracy and daring.

After he retired from the military he became involved in a great number of films. This developed following his involvement in the film 633 Squadron (1964). Running into difficulty getting aircraft for the project, one of the production people asked about if there was anyone familiar with Mosquitos, and Mahaddie's name came up. He ended up acquiring 11 Mosquitos for the picture, and the aircrews to fly them. He soon became known amongst the film industry as a resource, both in the procurement of aircraft, maintenance teams and aircrew for the films and in consulting in the realism in their portrayals of the RAF. After the filming of 633 Squadron was completed Mahaddie purchased one of the aircraft, Mosquito RS712. It would take Mahaddie two and a half years to assemble his RAF and Luftwaffe from all corners of the globe. These men enabled the film to have its spectacular dogfight sequences, using authentic aircraft flown by capable pilots well versed in the aggressive use of their aircraft.

Among his other consulting projects, Mahaddie worked on the television series Pathfinders, the movies The Heroes of Telemark (1965), Patton (1970), A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Soldier of Orange (1977). For Roy Elliott, Mahaddie is mentioned as an "ebullient Scot whom Don Bennett styled his horse thief." Mahaddie was known for the bowler hats he liked to wear, and for his Scottish banter. Distinguished Flying Cross Air Force Cross (Bar) Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 1939-1945 Star War Medal 1939-1945 Defence Medal 1939–1945 Air Crew Europe Star