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    Star-Spangled Spitfires
    Star-Spangled Spitfires
    Star-Spangled Spitfires
    Ebook105 pages42 minutes

    Star-Spangled Spitfires

    By Tony Holmes

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    About this ebook

    Through the medium of period photography, Star-Spangled Spitfires chronicles the combat operations of the USAAF units equipped with the iconic Supermarine fighter whilst employed in both the European and Mediterranean theaters of war, from the summer of 1942 right up to the end of the conflict.Only a handful of British combat aircraft wore the stars and bars of the USAAF during the Second World War, with the Beaufighter, Mosquito and Spitfire being the key types to see action with American crews in American squadrons. The Spitfire was, by some margin, the most widely used of the three, and the Yanks that flew it in combat rated the fighter very highly. Employed primarily by the six squadrons of the 31st and 52nd Fighter Groups, initially from airfields in the UK and then in North Africa and Italy, the Spitfire was used both as a fighter and fighter-bomber until it was replaced by the P-51 Mustang from the spring of 1944.The final star-spangled Spitfires in the frontline were the Eighth Air Forces high-flying and unarmed PR XI photo-reconnaissance aircraft, flown by to the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group alongside F-5 Lightnings from November 1943. Ranging as far into Germany as Berlin, the PR Blue Spitfires provided critical target imagery both pre- and post-strike for the Mighty Eighths heavy bombardment groups through to April 1945.All feature here across a series of black and white and color images that all capture some unique aspect of the star-spangled Spitfire's illustrious service career.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMay 31, 2017
    ISBN9781473889255
    Star-Spangled Spitfires
    Author

    Tony Holmes

    Having initially worked for Osprey as an author in the 1980s, Tony Holmes became the company's aviation editor in 1989 after he moved to England from Western Australia. Responsible for devising the Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft, Aviation Elite Units, Duel and X-Planes series, Tony has also written more than 30 books for Osprey over the past 35 years.

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      Book preview

      Star-Spangled Spitfires - Tony Holmes

      Acknowledgements

      The author wishes to thank the following individuals (some of whom, sadly, are no longer with us) and organizations for the provision of photographs and information included within this volume:

      Peter Arnold, Norman Franks, the late Roger Freeman, Peter Green, William Hess, Philip Kaplan, Paul Ludwig, Dick Martin, Wojtek Matusiak, the late Bruce Robertson, Andy Saunders, the late Jerry Scutts, Sam Sox and Andrew Thomas.

      Introduction

      As a follow-on to my Images of War – American Eagles volume of 2015, this book focuses on the iconic Spitfire marked with the equally distinctive USAAF star (and later bars). Three fighter groups, each consisting of three squadrons, would see brief combat with the Supermarine fighter in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) during the late summer and autumn of 1942. Equipped with Spitfire VBs (the most-produced mark), the 4th, 31st and 52nd Fighter Groups would enjoy modest success on the Channel Front prior to the latter two units being sent to support the American-led invasion of North Africa – codenamed Operation Torch – in November 1942. The 4th FG, manned in the main by pilots who had previously seen combat with the RAF’s trio of ‘Eagle’ squadrons prior to them being transferred to USAAF control in late September 1942, continued to fly the Spitfire VB in the ETO until it switched to the P-47 Thunderbolt from March 1943.

      By then, the 31st and 52nd FGs had become well and truly embroiled in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations (MTO), flying tropicalized Spitfire VBs and hard-hitting ‘quad cannon’ VCs against German and Italian fighters and bombers in the war-torn skies over Tunisia as the Allies slowly got the better of the Afrika Korps. Assigned to the Twelfth Air Force and flying alongside P-38 Lightning, P-39 Airacobra and P-40 Warhawk fighters that equipped other USAAF fighter groups in-theatre, the two Spitfire units more than held their own in traditional fighter missions and in the demanding fighter-bomber role. Supporting troops on the ground grew in importance once all Axis forces had been defeated in North Africa and the Allies turned their attention to Italy. From mid-1943 the two groups started to replace their warweary Spitfire Vs with vastly superior Mk IXs, even better Mk VIIIs arriving by the end of the year. Making the most of their mount’s outstanding abilities as a fighter, some twenty-two USAAF pilots had claimed five or more victories to ‘make ace’ on the Spitfire in the MTO by the time the final examples were replaced by P-51B/C Mustangs in the early spring of 1944.

      In the ETO, Spitfires had equipped the tactical reconnaissance (TAC-R) optimized 67th Reconnaissance Group (RG) following its arrival in England in the autumn of 1942, many of its aeroplanes being cast-offs from the 31st and 52nd FGs after the units headed for North Africa minus their Mk VBs. Although these machines lacked cameras, they served as ideal mounts for the intensive training undertaken by 67th RG pilots as they learned how to observe enemy targets and strafe them effectively. In late 1943 the group transferred from the strategic Eighth Air Force to the tactical Ninth Air Force, and in January 1944 the 67th RG was issued with TAC-R F-6 Mustangs. Having never fired a shot in anger with the group, the last war-weary examples of its Spitfire VBs were retired by the time the 67th moved to France in July 1944.

      The final ‘star-spangled’ Spitfires in the frontline ranks of the Eighth Air Force were the highflying, and unarmed, PR XI photo-reconnaissance aircraft supplied to the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group to supplant its F-5 Lightnings from November 1943. Ranging as far into Germany as Berlin, the ‘PR blue’ Spitfires provided critical target imagery – both pre- and post-strike – for the ‘Mighty Eighth’s’ heavy bombardment groups through to April 1945. Flying exclusively with the 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron from January 1944, these aircraft performed myriad missions alongside Lightnings and, eventually, P-51 Mustangs.

      Only a handful of British combat aircraft wore the ‘stars and bars’ of the USAAF in the Second World War, with the Beaufighter, Mosquito and Spitfire being the key types to see action with American crews in American squadrons. The Spitfire was, by some margin, the most widely used of the three, and the ‘Yanks’ that flew it

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