American Eagles: US Fighter Pilots in the RAF 1939-1945: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives by Tony Holmes

Author:Tony Holmes
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Aviation
ISBN: 9781473866539
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2015-07-31T07:00:00+00:00

‘Scramble’ over, Luke Allen strolls down the flightline at Kirton-in-Lindsey, cigarette in mouth, with fellow ‘Eagle’ Pilot Officer Bill Nichols. The former had joined 71 Squadron soon after its formation in October 1940, whilst Nichols was one of four new recruits sent to the unit in the first week of January 1941. He later became the second ‘Eagle’ to be made a PoW when he was shot down (in Spitfire VB AB909) over Boulogne during a sweep on 7 September 1941.

The weather was most kind to the ‘man from the ministry’ when he spent the day at Kirton-in-Lindsey, and 71 Squadron did its best to accommodate his numerous requests by carrying out as much flying as it possibly could. One of the Hurricane Is sent aloft was V7608, which is seen here in the process of being started. The fighter’s underside is painted in the short-lived Black and Sky scheme, which was introduced by Fighter Command on 27 November 1940. Harking back to the black and white scheme of the first months of the war, the revised finish was adopted after pilots stated that they found split underside colours the best way to locate the position of friendly fighters above them. This particular aircraft had seen action with 253 Squadron from Kenley during the latter stages of the Battle of Britain, after which it was briefly used by 303 ‘Polish’ Squadron, before being issued to 71 Squadron. When the American unit received Hurricane IIAs in April 1941, V7608 was sent to 55 OTU at RAF Usworth, south of Newcastle. The veteran fighter was finally written off when it hit the ground in bad weather near Houghton-le-Spring, in County Durham, on 15 August 1941.

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