Tuck quickly undid his safety harness, dipped his left wing and dropped sideways out of the cockpit. He landed safely in the water and drifted for two hours in his life raft until he was picked up by an old coal barge out of Gravesend. Tuck was treated for minor wounds to his left arm, plus rope burns he had suffered while bailing out. While his wounds healed, Tuck was transferred to the Merchant Marine for a brief tour as liaison officer before returning to 257 Squadron.

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It was mid-July 1941 when Tuck, now a wing commander, was relieved of command of 257 Squadron, which he had led for 10 months. Tuck had earned the respect of not only the pilots but also of the squadron’s ground crews. ‘Tuck always took a real interest in his ground crews and never had that ‘toffee nose’ attitude that some pilots displayed towards us,’ Leading Aircraftsman John Ryder, a member of Tuck’s ground crew, recalled. ‘He gave us all consideration and confidence.’

Tuck took command of the Duxford Wing and found himself leading three fighter squadrons–601 Squadron, flying Bell P-39 Airacobras; 56 Squadron, with Hawker Mark IA Typhoon fighter-bombers; and 12 Squadron, flying Spitfire Mark Vs. Starting in July, Tuck led the Duxford Wing in fighter sweeps, or ‘Balbos’ (so called after the famous Italian aviator Italo Balbo), into France against the Luftwaffe.

The aircraft diversity proved troublesome because of the planes’ different speeds, rates of climb and other characteristics. Tuck flew a few hours in both the Typhoon and Airacobra. He especially liked the Typhoon, but flew the new Spitfire Mk.V, with its improved Rolls Royce Merlin 45 engine, two 20mm cannons and four .303-caliber machine guns, when the wing operated over German-held territory. ‘The Spitfire was faster, would fly higher, and was very responsive to the controls, and was a slightly higher performance airplane,’ Tuck said.

The Duxford Wing was led by Tuck over France until October 1941, when he was taken off operations. Along with fellow ace Adolf ‘Sailor’ Malan, Group Capt. Harry Broadhurst, leader of the Hornchurch Wing, and three highly decorated Bomber Command pilots, Tuck was sent to the United States to share his expertise with Britain’s allies.

Tuck returned to England in December 1941 and took command of the Biggin Hill Wing. It consisted of RAF fighter squadrons Nos. 72, 91, 124, and No. 401 Royal Canadian Air Force–which all flew Spitfires–and 264 Squadron, a Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.II-equipped night-fighter unit.

Biggin Hill was shrouded with mist and drizzle when Tuck and Canadian Flying Officer Bob Harley took off on a mission on January 28, 1942. After crossing the English Channel at low altitude to avoid radar detection, they reached the French coast near Le Tourquet. They continued 21 miles inland to their target, an alcohol distillery at Hesdin.

They set the distillery’s four alcohol vats on fire, then followed a road farther inland. The pair strafed a German truck and shot at high-tension electrical wires. Then Tuck saw they had entered a wide valley crammed with railroad tracks; ahead was the town of Boulogne, with its heavy anti-aircraft defenses.

The British planes turned. Tuck did not want to run a gantlet of heavy flak, and he intended to find his way back to base over a quieter section of the coast. Then he saw a train engine stationary on the tracks. He couldn’t resist the temptation. ‘I thought ‘In for a penny, in for a pound,” Tuck recalled. He and Harley attacked the train engine. ‘We dived on that engine together….I think we both scored hits, and the whole issue disappeared in a tremendous cloud of steam.’

Tuck lost sight of Harley and banked to avoid a collision. When he came out of the steam cloud he was hit by German 20mm and 37mm flak. ‘I think everything in the Boulogne area opened up on me,’ Tuck said. ‘I was caught in their cross-fire, and at this low altitude with a forty-five degree bank on, they just couldn’t miss.’

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