Battle of France

Tuck led his first combat patrol on 23 May 1940, over Dunkirk, claiming three German fighters shot down. The following day he shot down two German bombers and as aerial fighting intensified over the next two weeks his score rapidly mounted. Tuck was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 11 June^[11] and received it from King George VI at RAF Hornchurch on 28 June. The citation for this award, published in the London Gazette read "...this officer led his flight in company with his squadron on two offensive patrols over Northern France. As a result of one of these patrols in which the squadron engaged a formation of some 60 enemy aircraft, the Squadron Commander was later reported missing, and the flight commander wounded and in hospital. Flight Lieutenant Tuck assumed command, and on the following day led the squadron, consisting of only eight aircraft, on a further patrol engaging an enemy formation of fifty aircraft. During these engagements the squadron has shot down ten enemy aircraft and possibly another twenty-four. Throughout the combats this officer has displayed great dash and gallantry.^[11]

Battle of Britain

His combat successes continued into July and August as the Battle of Britain gathered pace, although he himself was forced to bail out on 18 August. While attacking a formation of Junkers Ju 88s over Kent, he shot one down and damaged another. However, during the head on attack at Ju 88, when he overtook it, cannon shells hit his Spitfire and he was forced to bail out near Tunbridge Wells. He fell at Tucks Cottage, near Park Farm, Horsmonden.^{[NB 1]} In another incident on 25 August Tuck's Spitfire was badly damaged during combat with a Dornier Do 17 bomber, which he destroyed 15 miles off the coast. His aircraft had a dead engine, but he glided it back to dry land and made a forced landing.

On 11 September, during the height of the Battle of Britain, Tuck was promoted to acting squadron leader and posted to command the Hawker Hurricane-equipped No. 257 Squadron RAF, based at RAF Coltishall (his substantive rank had been raised to flight lieutenant on 3 September^[13]). He led his squadron into combat through September and continued to claim further victories. His last two official victories of the Battle were on 28 October, where he claimed two "probable" Bf 109s. He received a Bar to his DFC on 25 October.^[14] The official citation for his second DFC, published in the London Gazette reads:

Flight Lieutenant Roland Robert Stanford TUCK, D.F.C. (37306).
Since 11 June 1940, this officer has destroyed six enemy aircraft, and probably destroyed or damaged six more. One day in August, 1940, he attacked three Junkers 88's, destroyed two and damaged the third. Later in the month he intercepted two Ju 88's at 15,000 feet, and in a head-on attack, destroyed one. In a similar attack on the second, a cannon shell blew away his oil and glycol tank and a piece of his propeller, but he reached the coast and landed by parachute. In September, 1940, he shot down one Messerschmitt 110 and probably a Messerschmitt 109, and one week later destroyed a Bf 109 over the sea. Flight Lieutenant Tuck has displayed gallant and determined leadership.^[14]

The identity of this later victory, achieved on 23 September 1940, is believed by one source to be the future German ace Hans-Joachim Marseille. Flying Bf 109 E-7, Werknummer (W.Nr) 5094, Marseille was pursued to the Cap Gris Nez area near Calais, France, and forced to take to his parachute. He was later rescued by a Heinkel He 59 float plane. Tuck was credited with the destruction of W.Nr. 5094, whose pilot, Marseille, was the only recorded German airman rescued in the location on that date.^[15] Tuck's official claim was for a Bf 109 destroyed off Griz Nez at 09:45—the only pilot to submit a claim in that location.^[16] Another source states that Pilot Officer George Bennions from No. 41 Squadron RAF dispatched Marseille. This same source credits Tuck with a victory over Oberleutnant Walter Radlick of III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 53.^[17]

Fighter sweeps

In January 1941, Tuck was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO)^[18] and the citation published in the London Gazette reads:

Acting Squadron Leader Roland Robert Stanford TUCK, D.F.C. (37306), No. 257 Squadron.
This officer has commanded his squadron with great success, and his outstanding leadership, courage and skill have been reflected in its high morale and efficiency. Since 4 October 1940, he has destroyed four hostile aircraft, bringing his total victories to at least eighteen.^[18]

In March 1941, Tuck was awarded a second Bar to his DFC,^[19] the citation published in the London Gazette reading:

Acting Squadron Leader Roland Robert Stanford TUCK, D.S.O., D.F.C. (37306), No. 257 Squadron.
This officer has displayed conspicuous gallantry and initiative in searching for and attacking enemy raiders, often in adverse weather conditions. Since December, 1940, he has destroyed three enemy bombers and one fighter, thus bringing his total victories to twenty two.^[19]

In June 1941, Tuck survived being shot down over the English Channel, being rescued by a Gravesend coal barge. Tuck claimed a total of seven destroyed, four probables and two damaged on the Hawker Hurricane.^[20]

Tuck had an extraordinary piece of ill-fortune when he intercepted a German bomber heading towards Cardiff. He fired at extreme range in poor light, causing it to jettison its bombs in open countryside instead of on the city. The last of its stick of bombs caught one corner of an army training camp and killed one soldier. The soldier was the husband of Tuck's sister.^[21]

Having already been the subject of one of Cuthbert Orde's iconic charcoal drawing portraits in September 1940, Tuck sat for a second picture by Orde – this time a full colour oil painting – in 1941.

In July, 1941, Tuck was promoted to acting wing commander and appointed wing leader at RAF Duxford where he led fighter sweeps into northern France. After a brief trip to America with Adolph Malan and Harry Broadhurst to evaluate lend-lease aircraft and train American pilots,^[22][23] he returned to a posting at RAF Biggin Hill as wing leader, from where he flew his last missions.

Prisoner-of-war

Tuck's final wartime mission occurred on 28 January 1942 when he was shot down over Northern France while on a low-level fighter sweep known as a "Rhubarb" mission over northern France. After his Spitfire was hit by enemy ground-based flak near Boulogne forcing him to crash land,^[24] he was captured by the German troops he had been firing upon just before his aircraft was hit.

Tuck later recorded he feared for his life as their mood was very hostile. However, he noted his "Tuck's luck" came to his rescue when his captors spotted that, by remarkable chance, one of his 20mm cannon shells had gone precisely down the barrel of a similar-sized ground weapon before exploding. This had caused the barrel of the German gun to peel open "like a banana". The German troops thought this was so hilarious that, in their enthusiasm to slap his back in congratulations saying "Good shooting Tommy!", they were actually trampling the bodies of their dead comrades.

Tuck was first sent to Stalag Luft III at Żagań (Sagan) where he participated in some of the early planning for the Great Escape but was moved to Belaria, a subcamp of Stalag Luft III before the mass breakout happened in March 1944.^[25] He remained at Belaria until advancing Russian forces forced the Germans to evacuate the camp in March 1945. He finally escaped from captivity along with the Polish RAF Battle of Britain ace, Zbigniew "Zbishek" Kustrzyński, on 1 February 1945 by hiding in a barn during the westward march. They finally found the advancing Russian front line where Kustrzynski's Russian, learned from his childhood in Moscow where his father was a Polish embassy official, was crucial to their being accepted by the battle weary Russian soldiers. They had to fight alongside the Russian troops until they were eventually transported to Odessa where they boarded a ship to Southampton, England.^[26]