Clive Robertson Caldwell, DSO, DFC & Bar (28 July 1911 – 5 August 1994) was the leading Australian air ace of World War II.

[1][2] Caldwell flew Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks and Kittyhawks in the North African Campaign and Supermarine Spitfires in the South West Pacific Theatre.

His military service ended in controversy, when he resigned in protest at the misuse of Australian First Tactical Air Force's fighter units and was later court martialed and convicted for trading liquor.

He was at Sydney Grammar School from June 1924 until May 1927, but did not complete his Leaving Certificate there (he rowed in the 4th IV and was a member of the Games Committee).

As he was over the age limit for fighter training, Caldwell persuaded a pharmacist friend to alter the details on his birth certificate[5][6] to July 1912.

According to some accounts,[7] on 6 June 1941, Caldwell as Flying Officer Jack Hamlyn's wingman, was involved in the P-40's first ever kill, of an Italian CANT Z.1007 bomber, over Egypt.

On 26 June 1941, while escorting bombers attacking Gazala, Libya, Caldwell destroyed an aircraft in air-to-air combat for the first time, during his 30th sortie.

)[12] A more commonly cited reason for the nickname was his habit of using up ammunition left over at the end of sorties, to shoot up enemy troop convoys and vehicles.

"[11] While flying to his base alone, over northwest Egypt on 29 August 1941, Caldwell was attacked by two Bf 109s, in a simultaneous approach at right angles.

On 23 November, Caldwell shot down an Experte, Hauptmann Wolfgang Lippert, Gruppenkommandeur (Group Commander) of II./JG 27, who bailed out.

Lippert had struck the stabiliser and following capture had his legs amputated but 10 days later, a gangrene infection set in and he died on 3 December.

The second that he "has performed splendid work in the Middle East operations", "shown dogged determination and high devotion to duty which have proved an inspiration to his fellow pilots", and that after receiving "wounds on his face, arms and legs...he courageously returned to the attack and shot down one of the hostile aircraft."

Caldwell immediately nosed into a shallow dive, applied maximum power and boost, then pulled his Kittyhawk up into a vertical climb.

Although the Kittyhawk pilots thought that the Bf 109 had crashed inside Allied lines, Stahlschmidt was able to crash-land in friendly territory.

Finishing his tour at Curtiss-Wright, Caldwell went on to visit the North American Aviation factory and was able to personally evaluate their new P-51 fighter, then in development.

[24] During 1942, Australia came under increasing pressure from Japanese forces, and Caldwell was recalled by the RAAF, to serve as the wing leader of No.

Caldwell claimed two kills in his first interception sortie over Darwin, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero (also known by the Allied codename "Zeke") fighter and a Nakajima B5N "Kate" light bomber.

The wing initially suffered high losses, due to the inexperience of many of its pilots, and teething mechanical problems with their newly "tropicalised" Mark VC Spitfires.

In April 1945, while serving at Morotai in the Dutch East Indies with the Australian First Tactical Air Force, as Officer Commanding No.

80 Wing, Caldwell played a leading part in the "Morotai Mutiny", in which several senior flyers resigned in protest at what they saw as the relegation of RAAF fighter squadrons to dangerous and strategically worthless ground attack missions.

[27][28] Prior to the "mutiny", Caldwell had been charged over his involvement in an alcohol racket on Morotai, where liquor was flown in by RAAF aircraft and then sold to the sizeable US forces contingent in the locality.

[32] After the war, Caldwell was involved as a purchasing agent obtaining surplus aircraft and other military equipment from the US Foreign Liquidation Commission in the Philippines.

After the successful conclusion of this venture, Caldwell joined a cloth import/export company in Sydney and shortly after became its managing director.

[33] Although in later life Caldwell "spoke modestly" about his wartime service, upon his death in Sydney on 5 August 1994,[34] many Australians "mourned the passing of a true national hero".