With all due respect to Pattle, the figure of 41 "confirmed" victories should be taken with a grain (or three) of salt. At the time of his death, Pattle had actually claimed 51 (and one wonders if someone simply took it upon themselves to reduce this number by a nice round ten). For example, Pattle was credited with five victories during a large-scale air battle with the Italians over Greece on February 28, 1941. The British claimed a total of 27 Italian aircraft shot down that day, figures which they say were "confirmed" by the Greeks, who presumably went driving around the countryside examining the wrecks. Italian records show their actual losses to have been eight aircraft-- four bombers and four fighters. Of the fighters, there were two CR42 biplanes and two G50's lost, which is interesting since Pattle received credit for bringing down three CR42's on the day. I have also seen a figure of 34 aerial victories attributed to Pattle, this is probably closer to the truth but might still be too high (as apparently the "three CR42's" and five aircraft total from 2/28/41 are included in this count). Also, Johnny Johnson, with 38 "kills," is considered the top RAF fighter ace of the war by most sources, which would of course be impossible if Pattle really brought down 41. Of his alleged victories, 11 came after converting to the Hurricane in February '41, the others coming in a Gladiator, entirely against the Italians and mostly in North Africa.
Regards
Mike Yaklich
Jason Long adds to account for 28 February:
According to Shores's Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete, 1940-41, only the two BR.20 bombers that Pattle claimed on 28 Feb can be matched with actual Italian losses. His story on the 3 CR.42s he claimed on his second sortie of the day cannot be reconciled with Italian records. I quote, " I got behind them and put a long burst into all three. One went down vertically at once, but in case it was a trick I followed him. He was in difficulties, that was most obvious, and when it looked to me as if he was going straight into the sea I decided to go and see what the other two were up to. As I climbed again I was most suprised to see two parachutes float down past me." These parachutes might have been from just about anybody.