Robert Wilton Bungey (4 October 1914 – 10 June 1943) was an Australian fighter pilot of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and later the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during the Second World War. Officially, he was credited with five aerial victories and thus qualified as a flying ace but there is some uncertainty regarding this.
From Fullarton, in Adelaide, Bungey joined the RAAF in 1936 but after completing his flight training was discharged and accepted on a short service commission in the RAF. He was sent to the United Kingdom, where he was posted to No. 226 Squadron and flew Fairey Battles in the early stages of the Second World War. After the Battle of France, he transferred to Fighter Command and was posted to No. 145 Squadron. He flew in the later stages of the Battle of Britain. Promoted to squadron leader in February 1941 he was given command of the Australian No. 452 Squadron, which he led for several months. Later in the war he commanded RAF stations before relinquishing his commission in January 1943 and transferred to the RAAF reserve. He returned to Australia later in the year. He was due to take command of a fighter wing in the far north of Australia but, distraught and depressed after the recent death of his wife, he shot himself and his son in Adelaide. The son survived and later wrote a biography of his father.
Early life
Robert Wilton Bungey, the son of Ernest and Ada Blanche Bungey, was born on 14 October 1914 at Fullarton, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. He was educated at Glenelg Primary School before going on to Adelaide High School. After completing his schooling, he found employment as a clerk in the insurance industry.
In July 1936, Bungey entered the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and went to Point Cook for flight training as an air cadet. After 12 months, his course completed and he was discharged from the RAAF to take up a short service commission in the Royal Air Force (RAF). On 26 August 1937, he was commissioned as a pilot officer for a five-year period of service in the RAF. Bungey was posted to No. 226 Squadron, a unit of Bomber Command that operated the Fairey Battle light bomber from Harwell. In May 1939, he was promoted to flying officer.
Second World War
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, No. 226 Squadron was sent to France as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF). It was one of ten bomber squadrons of the AASF. The squadron made several attacks on the advancing German forces in the days following the commencement of the invasion of France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, including raids on the bridges across the Albert Canal. The bomber squadrons of the AASF suffered heavy casualties and the squadron was subsequently evacuated back to England in mid-June. Afterwards Bungey volunteered for a transfer to Fighter Command, which was short of pilots, and completed a conversion course on the Hawker Hurricane fighter.
In September, having been promoted to flight lieutenant, Bungey was posted to No. 145 Squadron. His new unit operated Hurricanes from Drem, where it was resting after being heavily involved in the Battle of Britain. It carried out patrols over the North Sea until returning south to the RAF station at Tangmere as part of No. 11 Group. The pace of operations had slowed by this time, but there was still the occasional engagement. In one of these, on 7 November, Bungey was shot down. He baled out of his Hurricane, injuring his knee as he did so, and landed near the Isle of Wight. Returning to his squadron, Bungey shared in the destruction of a Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber on 9 November; the stricken aircraft was seen to crash near Villaroche. He was credited with a share in a destroyed Heinkel He 111 bomber on 11 December. Shortly afterwards, the squadron began to convert to the Supermarine Spitfire fighter.
No. 145 Squadron resumed offensive operations in early 1941 and at the start of February, Bungey was promoted to squadron leader. On 10 March he shot down a Ju 88 over the English Channel. The knee that he had injured the previous November continued to trouble him and he was taken off operations at the end of the month for medical treatment.