Caesar Hull was born on 23 February 1913 into a farming family in Shangani, Southern Rhodesia but was brought up in South Africa.

He was taught at home until 1926, when he was sent to the Transvaal to board at St John's College, Johannesburg. He then returned to the family farm at M'Babore, Swaziland, before going to work for a mining company. In 1934 he was in the Springbok boxing team for the Empire Games at Wembley, London. He sought to join the SAAF, but experienced initial difficulty in gaining acceptance, as he did not speak Africaans. He became a cadet in the Transvaal Training Squadron of the Reserve Training School, but was not permitted to transfer to the regular SAAF due to his language problem. He therefore obtained a Short Service Commission in the RAF, being granted this as an Acting Pilot Officer on probation with seniority from 16 September 1935 (gazetted on 8 October 1935).

On completion of training, he joined 43 Squadron at Tangmere in August 1936, flying Furies. On one occasion, he and Prosser Hanks took up a Hawker Hart and changed cockpits whilst in flight.

Hull was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on 16 April 1938 (gazetted on 10 May 1938).

43 Squadron subsequently re-equipped with Hurricanes, and it was with these that he saw early action over Scotland at the start of 1940.

On 30 January two separate anti-shipping raids were engaged off the east coast. During the later, one He111 of 4./KG26 was caught and shot down by defending Hurricanes from 43 Squadron, Hull being one of them.
This was 43 Squadrons first victory during the Second World War.

At 10.30 on 3 February Red Section of 43 Squadron was off, led by Flight Lieutenant Hull with Flying Officer Carswell and Pilot Officer North. They patrolled in the Farne Island area where a II Gruppe He111 was encountered. The German aircraft was chased into cloud, but only a “damaged” could be claimed on this occasion.
The bomber returned with 35% damage.

On 28 March He111 P4+BA of Korpsführungskette/Flgkps X was attacked by Hurricanes of 43 and 605 Squadrons and was shot down in flames between the Orkney and Shetland Islands. Four pilots shared the aircraft and Hull was one of the involved pilots from 43 Squadron.

He claimed a shared He111 near Ronaldsay Island together with two other pilots on 10 April.

Early in May he was posted to 263 Squadron as a flight commander as the unit prepared for its second sojourn in Norway, the unit's Gladiator IIs being flown off HMS Furious to Bardufoss in the far north.

During the afternoon of 24 May 1940 a He111 of Stabsstaffel/KG 26 strayed over Bardufoss while it was operating with four other He111s from I Gruppe over Narvik. Here it was intercepted at an altitude of 500 feet by Flying Officer H. F. Grant Ede and Flight Lieutenant William Riley. Grant Ede attacked first from the beam, then half-rolled into a stern attack and silenced the upper gunner. Riley followed with a stern quarter attack, which put the starboard engine out of action. At that moment Flight Lieutenant Hull arrived, at the end of his own patrol, and got in a burst, which stopped the other engine.
This was He111H-3 ‘1H+KA’ (WNr. 2411) of Stabsstaffel/KG 26, which was shot down at Fjordbotneidet, Gratangen. The pilot Oberleutnant Hartmut Paul was wounded and taken POW, Oberfeldwebel Eduard Strüber (observer) was killed, Unteroffizier Gunther Eichmann (flight engineer) was taken POW, Unteroffizier Hans Blunk (air gunner) was taken POW and Feldwebel Alfred Stock (wireless operator) was killed.
During this combat was Grant Ede's Gladiator slightly damaged by return fire.

At 13:00 on 26 May three Gladiators flown by Flight Lieutenant Hull, Pilot Officer Jack Falkson and Lieutenant Tony Lydekker were detached to Bodø to provide cover for troops retreating northwards in the face of the German advance. En route they were engaged in an inconclusive combat with one of the KGr 100 Heinkels on its way to Bardufoss. When they landed on their new airfield their aircraft all stuck fast in the mud. They managed to get the Gladiators to drier ground, where they began refuelling from four-gallon tins. This arduous task was by no means complete when a He111 of 1(F)/122 was seen overhead, and all three leapt into their cockpits to take off.
Lydekker got off safely, but the mud clung to the wheels of the two following Gladiators, and while Hull just managed to get into the air, Falkson crashed in N5705. Lydekker’s aircraft had not yet been refuelled however, and he had little petrol left so Hull ordered him to land again and went after the Heinkel single-handed, finding it at only 600 feet and delivering three attacks. The bomber turned south, streaming smoke from the fuselage and engines. The Heinkel had been critically hit, and Leutnant Ulrich Meyer crash-landed the burning aircraft south of Mo. Here he and his crew were rescued by German troops.
Meanwhile Hull had broken away to attack a Ju52/3m, which he just had spotted. He rapidly disposed of this second opponent, an aircraft of 1/KGzbV 106. The crew managed to bale out of the blazing aircraft (Ju52/3m WNr. 5636), which crashed at Storfjellet, Saltdal, at 16:15.
Still with ammunition left, he chased a second He111 without success, and then attacked two more Ju52/3ms from 1/KGzbV 106. One escaped in cloud, but the other went flaming down after six men had baled out. Eight more paratroops of I/FJR1 were killed in the crash. While he thought the other transport had got away, it was in fact also hard hit, and was already on fire. The pilot managed to reach German-held territory, where he force-landed. Crew and paratroops aboard all got out safely, but the aircraft burnt out completely. One Ju52/3m was ‘BA+KH’ of 1/KGbzV 106, which crashed at Ekornes, Evensdal, at 16:30 while the second was “White 2” (WNr. 6713) from the same unit, which crashed at Kvassteinheia, Saltdal, between 16:30-16:40.
Meantime Hull had engaged yet another He111, and drove this off, like the first with smoke pouring from it. Down now to only one nose gun still operating, he returned to Bodø where he found that during his absence wooden snow-boards had been laid over the worst of the soft patches. Although he claimed only two definite and one probable victories, he had in fact shot down no less than four aircraft in one combat.

At 08:00 in the morning on 27 May things started to heating up when 11 Ju87Rs from I/STG 1, escorted by three Bf110s from I/ZG 76, appeared over Bodø and began dive-bombing radio masts at Bodøsjøen, only 800 yards from the landing ground. Lieutenant Tony Lydekker took off at once, but Hull and a fitter were forced to leave his Gladiator (N5635) for a few minutes and shelter from the bombing. With the initial attack over they managed to get the fighter started and Hull took off, at once catching Feldwebel Kurt Zube's Stuka at the bottom of its dive. He caused it to fall in a gentle dive into the sea, where two Bf110s circled the wreckage. Zube and his gunner were picked up safely by German troops.
As Hull completed his attack, another Ju87 went past and shot up his aircraft, smashing the windscreen. At the same moment he was attacked from behind by one of the escorts, flown by Leutnant Helmut Lent, and the Gladiator was hard hit. Hull managed to get back to the airfield at 200 feet, but was then attacked again by the Bf110 and crashed at Bodøhalvøya, wounded in the head and knee. N5635 has been identified by serial number found on the wreckage. Lent logged his victory at 08:20 (Helmut Lent shot down another 263 Squadron Gladiator on 2 June when Pilot Officer J. L. Wilkie in N5914 was killed east of Rombaksfjorden).
Lydekker meanwhile was being attacked by most of the remaining Luftwaffe aircraft, his aircraft being badly shot up and himself wounded in the neck and shoulders. Unable to land at Bodø as three Stukas were circling overhead, he set course for Bardufoss at low level, where he eventually landed with his Gladiator a complete write-off. A second claim for a Gladiator was put in by Oberleutnant Jäger, shared with his gunner Stabsing. Thönes, and timed at 08:25, but this was not confirmed. Watchers on the ground at Bodø reported that the Gladiators had shot down at least three aircraft, Hull and Lydekker each having got at least one apiece. This was not in fact the case, for only one Ju87 had been lost.
To see a copy of his combat report from 26 and 27 May follow this link: C. B. Hull Combat report (kindly provided by Ernie Burton).

He was evacuated back to the UK in a Sunderland flying boat, and on 21 June was awarded a DFC, which credited him with five victories over Norway.

On 31 August he was posted back to 43 Squadron as commanding officer. The unit was at the time based at Tangmere.

In the afternoon on 7 September he scrambled with nine Hurricanes. They attacked German bombers as they ran up to bomb Dockland. He was last heard speaking to the leader of his rear section, Flight Lieutenant John Kilmartin, before diving to attack the bombers. It was believed that the 27-year-old Rhodesian flying in Hurricane V6641had been shot down by Bf109s (probably from JG54). Squadron Leader Hull’s aircraft crashed in Purley, Surrey at 16.45.

Hull was credited with 5 biplane victories and a total of 6 victories at the time of his death.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
	30/01/40	½	He111 (a)	Shared destroyed	Hurricane I	L1849	10m E Coquet Isle	43 Squadron
	03/02/40	1/3	He111 (b)	Shared damaged	Hurricane I		Farne Island	43 Squadron
	28/03/40	1/4	He111 (c)	Shared destroyed	Hurricane I	L1728	8m E Wick	43 Squadron
	10/04/40	1/6	He111 (d)	Shared destroyed	Hurricane I		near Ronaldsay Island	43 Squadron
	24/05/40	1/3	He111 (e)	Shared destroyed	Gladiator II		Fjordbotneidet	263 Squadron
1	26/05/40	1	He111 (f)	Destroyed	Gladiator II		Salte Valley	263 Squadron
2	26/05/40	1	Ju52/3m (g)	Destroyed	Gladiator II		Storfjellet, Saltdal	263 Squadron
3	26/05/40	1	Ju52/3m (h)	Destroyed	Gladiator II		Ekornes, Evenesdal	263 Squadron
4	26/05/40	1	Ju52/3m (i)	Destroyed	Gladiator II		Kvassteinheia, Saltdal	263 Squadron
5	27/05/40	1	Ju87 (j)	Destroyed	Gladiator II	N5635	Saltfjorden	263 Squadron
	04/09/40	1	Bf110	Probable	Hurricane I	V6641	Midhurst-Petworth	43 Squadron
	04/09/40	1	Bf110	Probable	Hurricane I	V6641	Midhurst-Petworth	43 Squadron
6	06/09/40	1	Bf109E	Destroyed	Hurricane I	V6641	Tenterden	43 Squadron
	06/09/40	½	Ju88	Shared probable	Hurricane I	V6641	Tenterden	43 Squadron

Biplane victories: 5 and 1 shared destroyed, 1 damaged.
TOTAL: 6 and 4 shared destroyed, 2 and 1 shared probable, 1 and 1 shared damaged.
(a) He111H-2 1H+KM of 4/KG 26.
(b) He111 of II Gruppe 35% damaged.
(c) He111 P4+BA of Korpsführungskette/Flgkps X.
(d) He111 of 3(F)/Obdl.
(e) Heinkel He111H-3 ‘1H+KA’ (WNr. 2411) of Stab/KG 26 shot down. The pilot Oberleutnant Hartmut Paul was wounded and taken POW, Oberfeldwebel Eduard Strüber (observer) was killed, Unteroffizier Gunther Eichmann (flight engineer) was taken POW, Unteroffizier Hans Blunk (air gunner) was taken POW and Feldwebel Alfred Stock (wireless operator) was killed.
(f) He111 of 1(F)/122 which crash-landed at Mo.
(g) Ju52/3m (WNr. 5636) of KGrzV 106 shot down at 16:15.
(h) Ju52/3m ‘BA+KH’ of KGrzV 106 shot down at 16:30.
(i) Ju52/3m “White 2” (WNr. 6713) of KGrzV 106 shot down between 16:30-16:40.
(j) Ju87 of 1/StG 1 crashed in sea.

Sources:
Aces High - Christopher Shores and Clive Williams, 1994 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-898697-00-0
Aces High Volume 2 - Christopher Shores, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-03-9
Duel of Eagles - Peter Townsend, 1970 Cassel Publisher Limited, London, ISBN-0-304-34032-4
Fighter Command War Diaries - September 1939 to September 1940 - John Foreman, 1997 Air Research Publications, Walton-on-Thames, ISBN 1-871187-34-6
Fledgling Eagles - Christopher Shores with John Foreman, Christian-Jaques Ehrengardt, Heinrich Weiss and Bjørn Olsen, 1991 Grub Street, London, ISBN 0-948817-42-9
The London Gazette
Additional information kindly provided by Ernie Burton and Birger Larsen.