'We clung together until separated by the will of God': the close bond between two ill-fated RAF fighter pilots
A new book tells of the extraordinary bond between two RAF fighter pilots, one of them from Caithness, who lost their lives within a few months of each other in 1940.
Thurso-born Pilot Officer Ian Douglas Hawken and Flying Officer Peter Carter, from Croydon, became "inseparable" after meeting while they were stationed with 605 Squadron at Wick. The close friendship between the two Hurricane pilots is a central theme in Peter – One of the Forgotten Few: The Life of Flying Officer Peter Carter, by Brian Gates.
Ian, who was 24, was killed in action over France in June 1940, although it was not until after the war that the site of the crash, east of Paris, was confirmed. His remains were identified through his disc and a wristwatch inscribed with the initials I.D.H. There was a suggestion – which turned out to be inaccurate – that Ian had been taken prisoner, and the book contains poignant letters to the authorities written by Ian's mother pleading for news.
Peter died in October the same year, aged 21, when two RAF planes collided over Kempton Park racecourse on the outskirts of London after being ordered to make an emergency landing in thick fog.
The book is dedicated to Brenda Telander, now in her nineties, who as a 10-year-old witnessed Peter's final few moments. She had been running an errand for her mother when she heard a "tremendous roar and a loud explosion" as first one plane and then another plummeted from the sky.

The first aircraft was that of Flying Officer Jan Borowski (28), of the Polish forces. The second plane seemed to be breaking up, and its pilot – Peter – jumped out from about 50 feet. Neither man survived.
Both planes were fully loaded with ammunition, and Brenda was whisked away by a warden as bullets began going off in all directions from the wreckage.
Seventy-five years later to the day, a plaque was erected at Kempton Park in memory of Peter and Jan, who had been attached to 302 Squadron. Brenda, then aged 85, was on hand to unveil it.
The book includes many extracts from Peter's diary, some of which give a striking insight into how close he and Ian had become in a short time.
In one entry, Peter wrote: "A great deal has been said – and will be said – about friendship. Suffice it for me to say that Ian and I were inseparable. We had known each other but a few weeks prior to France, but we clung together until separated by the will of God."
The book has special significance for Caithness man William Munro, a master mariner in the merchant navy and co-director of Wick-based Caithness Seacoast, through his family connection to Ian Hawken.
Born in August 1915, Ian was a son of Sydney Hawken and his wife Magdalene (née Munro). Magdalene was sister to William's great-grandfather James Munro, farmer at Houstry Mains, Halkirk. Ian was therefore first cousin to William's grandfather.
Magdalene was brought up on the family farm of William's great-great-grandfather, Achlibster, near Westerdale.
When he was based at Wick in April 1940, Ian would fly over the Thurso, Halkirk and Westerdale areas. William remembers hearing about these exploits from his father.
During Peter's time with 605 Squadron at Wick he stayed at Mackays Hotel. He and Ian were posted to France in May, joining 73 Squadron in what would become known as the Battle of France.
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Within a matter of days, Peter had a near-fatal crash-landing after a dogfight south-west of Amiens. He found 120 bullet holes in the ruins of his Hurricane before he stopped counting.
Peter returned to his unit via Paris and, in another diary entry, described his reunion with Ian as "one of the happiest moments in my life".
Peter wrote: "Ian was sitting with his back to the door and did not see me come in. I touched him on the shoulder and he turned round casually. It was the look he gave me more than anything else that I shall always treasure – amazement, relief and, above all, joy were all there. We shook hands without speaking; indeed, neither of us could give utterance to the words that were in our hearts. I motioned to him to come outside and we spent an hour talking. What we said has no place here."
Soon after, Peter and Ian shared a nerve-shredding flight to a base hospital when each thought the other was acting recklessly while at the controls, not realising until after they had landed that there was a mechanical fault.
Ian was lost when his Hurricane crashed into farm buildings near Dormans in June 1940 during a spell of aerial combat, although it would be years before his family learned of his fate.
There are glimpses of a mother's anguish in letters from Magdalene to the air ministry appealing for information about her son. In one, more than a month after Ian went missing, she wrote: "He would have been wearing his watch, a gold one initialled I.D.H. on the back, and possibly had a silver cigarette case and some letters." She went on: "I cannot begin to say how much having his things, or some information, would begin to help us in this sorrow."
In another letter, in October 1941, Magdalene pleaded for news and wondered how long Ian's name would be kept on the "missing" list. She wrote: "Is there no means by which I can get any stable information? I would willingly try any channel of information if I could only get definite news of my son."
Peter wrote in his diary: "As day followed day, my hopes began to diminish of ever seeing Ian again. I got in touch with every hospital near, but they knew nothing about him.
"Things without Ian did not seem the same. I lacked his constant companionship, his merry and loud laughter, and our daily conferences. But France did not permit me to mope. No matter what happened, the task we had in hand had to go on and I had to play my part as effectively as the other lads."
Peter was buried in Croydon. Ian's grave is in a British war cemetery at Terlincthun in France.
William Munro made contact with Brian Gates through Facebook while the author was carrying out his research and is now also in touch with Ian's nephew Alisdair Hawken.
Reflecting on the stories he was told by his father about Ian's flights above Houstry Mains and Achlibster, William explained: “He said there was a family connection but I never really got it. It all comes together now – Ian was based in Wick for a few months before he went off to France.
“The book gave me closure on what happened to him. It was fascinating to read that they found where he crashed, and the body. We have come full circle.
“How many Thurso loons went off to war and got shot down flying Hurricanes? The story behind it is Peter Carter, but a good part of the book is about Ian Hawken's relationship with him.
“We've just lost the bomber pilot Don Mason recently and people are forgetting about the sacrifices these people made.
“Peter Carter kept a diary and the family allowed the diary to be published. There are not many diaries like that. Survivors have written memoirs after the event, but this is written day by day.
“There is no truer story – it's not thought up after the war or embellished.
“From my point of view it's just a young Thurso lad who went off to war and got killed. But the story behind it is fantastic.”
- Peter – One of the Forgotten Few: The Life of Flying Officer Peter Carter, by Brian Gates (Ramillies Design Press), is available on eBay (£12.99, softback). The author can be emailed at briangatesuk@gmail.com