Spitfire Pilots' Stories

340 Pages·2012·7.437 MB·English

by  Dr Alfred Price

Press Day at Duxford, 4 May 1939, and a chance for No. 19 Squadron to show off its new equipment.
By then the squadron number on the fin had given way to the unit’s WZ code-letters on the fuselage.
Henry Cozens leading six of No. 19 Squadron’s new Spitfires in formation for the benefit of an official
photographer aboard a Blenheim. The squadron number had been painted on the fighters’ tails
shortly before this flight, and it would be removed soon afterwards. (If you count only five Spitfires,
there is another hidden behind the fourth in order away from the camera.)

CONTENTS

Title

Dedication

Introduction

Foreword

1 The Path to the Spitfire

2 Spitfire into Service

3 First Encounter

4 First Spitfire Reconnaissance Flights

5 Baptism of Fire

6 An Even Match

7 Spitfires in Captivity

8 Battle of Britain Fighting Tactics

9 Better Fitted for the Fight

10 Battle of Britain Squadron Commander

11 Thirteen Days in August
12 Fighter Command Spitfire Units, 14 September 1940

13 The Spitfire in Action, 15 September 1940

14 ‘The Injustice of it All’

15 Feeding the Guns

16 Phoenix Rising from the Ashes

17 Skirmish Over Kent

18 Act of Chivalry

19 Spitfire Reconnaissance Pilot

20 A Fair Day’s Work

21 Outclassed

22 Production Test Pilot, Alex Henshaw MBE

23 Spitfire Night Fighters

24 Sorting Out a Rogue

25 First Spitfires to Malta

26 More Spitfires to Malta

27 Malta Spitfire Ace

28 Besieged on Malta
29 The Balance Restored

30 Duel in the Stratosphere

31 Eagle Squadron, Eighth Air Force

32 Enter the Seafire

33 The Second Greatest Thrill

34 Report on Seafire Deck Landing

35 Reconnaissance to Berlin

36 Spitfire Most Successful

37 Equal to the Very Best

38 Spitfire Floatplane

39 ‘Anyway, It is Only a Short Sea Crossing’

40 D-Day Gunfire Spotter

41 D-Day Top Cover Squadron

42 Foe without Mercy

43 An Aerodynamicist’s View

44 Spitfire versus V2 Rocket

45 Exotic Opponent
46 Spitfires Over the Balkans

47 The Spiteful, a Spitfire too Far

48 When Spitfire Fought Spitfire

49 Seafires over Korea: The Last of the Few

50 Spitfires versus Guerrillas

51 Stronger, Safer, Swifter

52 Time to Move on: Spitfire versus Vampire

53 The Final Act

54 Spitfire Swansong

Appendix A: The Spitfire Family

Appendix B: The Development of the Spitfire

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