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Supermarine Spitfire, the plane that saved Britain |
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Spitfire over OZ This Spitty is seen here flying in Australia well after the war.
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The Supermarine Spitfire was probably the best known of the British fighters. Along with the Hawker Hurricane it allowed the RAF to win the Battle of Britain. The RAAF flew Spitfires in the Western Desert and in PNG. |
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Morotai, Halmahera Islands, Netherlands East Indies. 1945-04-09. Pilots of No. 457 "grey nurse" (Spitfire) Squadron RAAF walk briskly down the Morotai airstrip to board their aircraft preparatory to taking off on a mission against Japanese installations in the Halmahera. Left to right: Flying Officer n. Vidler, Sydney, NSW; Pilot Officer D. Yates, Sydney, NSW; Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) J. Bell, Sydney, NSW; Flt Lt n. Rankin, Grafton, NSW; Flt Lt G. Campbell, Sydney, NSW. Note the insignia on the aircraft, the painted shark jaws, and the shark on the Mae West (life jacket). |
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Europe. C. 1945. Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) L. C. R. Morris of Brisbane, Qld, was one of two RAF Spitfire pilots to challenge fifteen enemy fighters. While on patrol of the "bomb line", two RAF Spitfire aircraft spotted a German formation of seven Messerschmitt Bf109 fighter aircraft and eight Focke-Wulf FW190 fighter aircraft. The Spitfire aircraft closed in and a dog-fight ensued. Flt Sgt Morris, closed up to within twenty yards of a 190 and saw his fire going into the German cockpit. The 190 went straight down in a dive and crashed from a spin. Morris then attacked another and achieved a "probable". The rest of the enemy formation broke off the engagement and "headed for home at deck level". |
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