Felonious Gru’s service in the Royal Air Force began when he enlisted shortly before WWII in 1938. Despite being trained on aircraft types such as the Bristol Bulldog or the Hawker Fury, Gru was permitted by RAF officials to fly his own aircraft, a monoplane attack aircraft powered by a pulsejet (a technology which wasn’t used by major powers until the German V-1 rocket bomb). By the time war was declared on Germany by Britain, Gru was posted as flying officer with No. 615 Squadron (Squadron Code KW), which was stationed in France as part of the British Expeditionary Forces. The majority of 1939 remained uneventful for the squadron, though as the Blitzkrieg pushed west through France in 1940, No. 615 Squadron was tasked with bearing the brunt of the Luftwaffe’s bomber and fighter force. The squadron, being equipped with semi-obsolete Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters, achieved very little success. However, Felonious Gru managed to destroy five enemy aircraft - three Heinkel He 111s and two Messerschmitt BF 109s. As the war in France became more desperate, Gru, along with No. 615 Squadron, was brought back to England. It was evident as Gru returned to England that the Germans would begin an aerial assault on Great Britain. In preparation for the defense of Britain, Gru was posted to No. 32 Squadron (Squadron Code GZ). During the Battle of Britain, the squadron was equipped with Hawker Hurricanes, one of Britain’s finest fighter aircraft of the war. Despite this, Gru continued to use his personal aircraft. Throughout the defense of Great Britain, Gru managed to claim 59 aircraft - 13 fighter aircraft (all BF 109s) and 46 bomber aircraft (11 Dornier Do-17s, 16 Junkers Ju-88s and 19 Heinkel He 111s). On one occasion, Gru spotted a flight of He 111s heading towards strategic targets deep within British soil. Gru engaged the formation alone and destroyed 12 bombers within 20 minutes - 8 He 111s and 4 Do-17s. German records confirmed every kill claim from Gru. Gru remained stationed over Britain for the rest of 1940 and 1941, participating in fighter sweeps over occupied France on occasion, raising his total kill count by another 7 aircraft (6 BF 109s and 1 FW-190). In 1942, the RAF noticed the critical condition of Malta, an island in the Mediterranean sea. The island was required for the Allied forces to maintain a presence in North Africa. In order to defend the island from German and Italian bombing, Gru was posted to No.249 Squadron (Squadron Code GN, though this was sometimes repainted as T when new aircraft were sent over due to the lack of time to paint proper codes). Although the majority of fighter aircraft stationed at Malta were sent over via the use of aircraft carriers (such as in Operation Calendar), Gru’s aircraft had sufficient range to fly straight from RAF Biggin Hill to Ta Kali airfield in Malta. Similarly to the Battle of Britain, Gru performed very well when defending Malta from German and Italian bombardment. Within the entire time spent on the island, Gru managed to shoot down 45 enemy aircraft: 20 bombers (8 Ju 88s, 4 SM.79s, 8 He 111s) and 25 fighters (7 BF 109s, 9 Reggiane Re.2001s and 9 Macchi C.202s). His 100th air kill was a Macchi C.202 (likely piloted by Sergente Maggiore Nicolo Maffei). Gru spotted the aircraft 3,000 feet above his own. Gru climbed to his altitude and let out a two-second burst of his cannons, leaving the C.202 to fall to the earth in flames. The pilot bailed out and landed in the Mediterranean sea, where he was later rescued by a German rescue aircraft. George Beurling, Canada’s top scoring fighter ace of the war, was also stationed at Ta Kali at the time. According to an interview, Beurling stated that he learned many of his tactics from Felonius Gru. In 1943, Gru was brought back to the United Kingdom in order to participate in the creation of a top-secret program and was posted to No. 617 Squadron (Squadron Code AJ). British scientists were designing a new type of bomb which was able to bounce over water and destroy dams without interference. The new “bouncing bomb” was to be used for the first time during Operation Chastise on the night of May 16th/17th, 1943. Gru’s aircraft was found to be able to carry three of the “upkeep mines” (the name of the bouncing bomb) without issue. Flying at treetop levels, Gru managed to penetrate the Edersee and the Mohne dams while also significantly damaging the Sorpe dam, causing significant damage to the German war production. As he was returning, Gru also added two more aircraft to his tally - a BF 110 and a BF 109. Gru continued to work with No. 617 Squadron, participating in the use of both WINDOW (an experimental technology used to blind German radar) and the use of the Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs (some of the largest non-nuclear bombs in existence). According to RAF records, Gru’s aircraft could carry four Tallboy bombs at once. In 1944, during a WINDOW operation, Gru spotted four German Me-262 jet fighters preparing to engage the rest of the aircraft from 617 Squadron. Gru quickly maneuvered onto each of the jets and destroyed them, making him one of the few pilots to have destroyed the German fighter. As the war in Europe ended, Gru was sent to the South Pacific by the Fleet Air Arm in order to defeat the crippled Japanese. Gru was stationed on HMS Indefatigable with No.887 Squadron (no Squadron Code available) during the final weeks of the war, shooting down five Japanese fighters (4 A6M Zeros and 1 Ki-61 Hien). At the end of the war, Gru retired from aviation and moved to the United States of America. His final tally of aircraft destroyed is 127 aircraft of all types - 58 bomber aircraft and 69 fighters.
