Unbeleivable Spitfire - WW11 footage!!

[Brewdude]

PRETTY AMAZING VIDEO.

An 18 year-old just out of high school was trained to take pictures of damage done to German targets by B-17's. He flew in a British Spitfire fitted with extra fuel tanks where the guns were. In other words, he flew over Germany unarmed...

                   
WWII American Spitfire Pilot

This is probably one of the best WWII film clips out there. Stored for 61 years in two suitcases of 16mm home movies that were inherited by filmmaker William Lorton from his great uncle who served as a Flight Surgeon. Those suitcases contained 3 hours of war footage that included a compelling crash landing of a Spitfire in 1944.
Filmed in a 2005 interview with the now 83 year old pilot and seeing the expression on his face when he realizes it is him in the cockpit, is something you won't soon forget.

At 18 yrs. old, he was all alone, behind enemy lines, with no guns, no escort, and he gladly did it.
They just don't make them like that anymore.  It was truly the greatest generation and we owe them so much.



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Cheers,

RR

 

[Richard Burley]

There was a job to do and they did it. Love the planes, their history, and the men who flew them. Thanks for posting.

 

[Timbo]

Awesome find there BD, I always thought the Spitfire to be the most graceful and beautiful flying machines out there as well as one of the most powerful fighter plane's of it's era. Great story too.

Thanks for that.

Tim

 

[pepesdad1]

"There was a job to do and they did it."

Truly the greatest generation.


Walt

 

[Stick]

Great story, Rande. Thanks for sharing.

Interesting to see a Spit with USAAF markings.

Such a beautiful war bird, an icon of WWII. Interestingly the less glamorous counterpart, the Hurricane, had a greater tally than the Spit but tends to get less attention than the more glamorous sister. Not too many left flying either. And the sound of that Merlin! Just incredible!

 

[Natch]

Again, showing why they were called "the greatest generation".

Natch

 

[ftrplt]

Great find!!! I've seen it several times before. A little further info from an old fighter pilot, if I may.

The R.A.F. used two or three versions of the "Spit" as a PR (photo-recce) bird. They carried the "PR" in the model number, such as "PR Mk. V" or "PR Mk. IX." No guns, extra fuel tanks, and cameras (of course!!). They also used the marvelous De Havilland Mosquito in the "PR" role. Besides the usual daily routine recce missions, all heavy bombing raids had pre- and post-strike "recce runs" to evaluate target damage. To prelude the Germans from knowing which targets were going to be hit, PR missions were flown over several target areas before each strike. Fast forward to Vietnam...I used to escort RF-4C Phantoms on their recce runs over North Vietnam. What fun

As to a Spit in USAAF markings...there were a lot more than the history books tell us. Some where flown out of England; many, many more in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy before P-47 and P-51 production revved up. While the USAAF had the powerful P-38 Lightning, their single-engine P-39's and P-40's just weren't all that good against the German Bf-109's and FW-190's. So we used Spits for a couple of years.

BTW...The P-38 PR version was called the "F-5." The P-51 PR was the "F-6" I think!! Might be off on that one FWIW :cheers: FTRPLT

 

[Stick]

Great find!!! I've seen it several times before. A little further info from an old fighter pilot, if I may.

The R.A.F. used two or three versions of the "Spit" as a PR (photo-recce) bird. They carried the "PR" in the model number, such as "PR Mk. V" or "PR Mk. IX." No guns, extra fuel tanks, and cameras (of course!!). They also used the marvelous De Havilland Mosquito in the "PR" role. Besides the usual daily routine recce missions, all heavy bombing raids had pre- and post-strike "recce runs" to evaluate target damage. To prelude the Germans from knowing which targets were going to be hit, PR missions were flown over several target areas before each strike. Fast forward to Vietnam...I used to escort RF-4C Phantoms on their recce runs over North Vietnam. What fun

As to a Spit in USAAF markings...there were a lot more than the history books tell us. Some where flown out of England; many, many more in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy before P-47 and P-51 production revved up. While the USAAF had the powerful P-38 Lightning, their single-engine P-39's and P-40's just weren't all that good against the German Bf-109's and FW-190's. So we used Spits for a couple of years.

BTW...The P-38 PR version was called the "F-5." The P-51 PR was the "F-6" I think!! Might be off on that one FWIW :cheers: FTRPLT

Great info, from a jockey too!