P7350, RAF Coltishall during the 41 Squadron reunion in July 1986. I got a chance to get in that Spit during that time and vividly recall coming out of the base chapel memorial service with some of the Pilot vets and having P7350 marked as EB-Z whistle over at low alt.

Chills up and down the spine.

First flyable Spit I saw was AR501 at Duxford in 1980 when I was in England for school, but it didn’t fly the day I saw it.

Dan
Photo is one from the reunion in 86 with P7350 and a 41 Squadron Jaguar

Originally posted by JDK

And apart from the Sargent and young officer rescue, and Liv Ulman and Olivier’s charecter, almost everything else included is true. Some story!

Cheers

If you are talking about the James Caan character that pulls the pistol on the surgeon, that is true. The officer in question was Captain Legrand Johnson of 502nd PIR , 101st Airborne. and the Sergeant was Charles Dohun.

I believe “Legs” Johnson is still alive. He was 22 at the time and Dohun was 31.

And now that I look again, the Ulman character is based on Kate ter Horst who along with husband Jan made thier home available to British wounded at one point having over 300 casualties in their home. The Olivier character is based on someone too, but I can’t find the name at the moment.

Dan

Is it possible TE477 is the ID of that mystery Spit XVI Mark12 posted a while back?

Dan

That’s a tough one.

I guess of the books I’ve purchased in the last year or so, I go back to two of them fairly often.

First is:

“The Long Campaign-The History of the 15th Fighter Group in World War II” by John Lambart.

I tracked down a used copy of this and really enjoyed learning about that part of the airwar in the Pacific, in particular the VLR missions in 51s escorting the B29s to Tokyo. I now believe those were probably the toughest missions a fighter pilot flew in WW2.

Second is:

“Mustangs & Unicorns-A History of the 359th Fighter Group”-by Jack Smith.

I like Group histories and this is about one of the lesser known 8th AF 47/51 Groups. A good mix of images and information.

Dan

My favorite fighter pilot book of all time has to be:

“Nanette” by Edwards Park. He flew P39s in the Southwest Pacific with the 35th FG. It’s a great, average joe kind of book.

“Wing Leader” by Johnnie Johnson, is a close second

There are so many good books out there that it gets tough to nail it down.

I suppose if you gave me Nanette, Wing Leader and Bruce Robertson’s “Spitfire-Story of a Famous Fighter”, I could hold out for quite some time with nothing else however 🙂

Dan

It gets real tough not to be very envious of how close you are to all the Spitfire action Mark12.

Oh to be in England again 🙂

Dan

Originally posted by Mark12
…………and one of my favourites. On the fire dump at RAF Kenley circa Sept/Oct 1958. In the cockpit is my school chum, my best man and still my very good friend – Trevor Tew. This shot was taken after a report from our school CCF, of which we were not members, had reported sighting a ‘crashed’ Spitfire whilst on a ‘gliding’ visit. We didn’t believe it but we cycled all the way over from Wembley the next weekend to check it out.

Mark

What’s behind it? Is that a Spit 22/24?

Oh how I’d love to stumble on to something like that:)

As a kid I think I’d have found a way to bring it home piece by piece. Not sure my parents would have appreciated a backyard full of Spitfire but….one can dream 🙂

Dan

Originally posted by Mark V
Sorry Mate, squadron badges were not worn on uniform in WWII (it would have been giving too much away to the enemy if captured)! If you are thinking about a blazer type crest or a post war badge try Stewart Aviation, here is a link:

http://www.stewart-aviation.co.uk/

Remember if you want the badge to be WWII era you must specify the Kings Crown!

Your comment sent me digging through my Spit stuff. I was given this 72 Squadron badge by a Former Spit driver who’d served in 266 during the B of B, then 72 in 1941 and later 616 Squadron after a stint with Supermarine as a service test pilot. This is a 72 Squadron badge, that clearly is from that time.

What would it have been on? It never occured to me to ask.

Dan