In Defence of Britain
By Philip E West
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Spitfires (Mk 1) of 92 Squadron out of Biggin Hill in September 1940 are about to take on the enemy during the Battle of Britain. The aircraft in the background is flown by Pilot Officer Alan Wright – his list of victories was eleven, three destroyed, two probables, two possibles and seven damaged. Overall size: 25½” x 13½”
200 signed and numbered - £95inc vat Flying Officer T W (Terry) Green was trained by the
United States Army in Georgia and Alabama. He was awarded his wings in
March 1942 and joined 501 Sqdn at Middle Wallop later that year. He was
posted overseas when 501 were rested in Northern Ireland. He joined 232
Sqdn in North Africa in March 1943 and stayed with them through Tunisia
on to Malta to cover the invasion of Sicily and then on to Sicily to cover
the invasion of Italy at Salerno. The Sqdn then flew their Spitfires some
2,500 miles to the north of Syria on the Turkish border to cover what
Churchill called the invasion of “the soft underbelly of Europe”.
Since this was aborted they moved us back to Corsica to cover the invasion
of the south of France at Frejus. They stayed in France until September
1944 where the Sqdn was disbanded after handing over their Spitfires to
the Free French Air Force. Fl/Lt. Alec A Ince – Royal Canadian Air Force
joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in January 1941 and by midsummer he
had travelled to Quebec, then to North Sidney, Nova Scotia, followed by
Victoriaville, Quebec for air crew training in Oshawa, Ontario flying
Tiger Moths and next to Montreal, Quebec for advanced training on Harvards.
By January 1942 he arrived in Shropshire, England at an advanced flying
school at RAF base Fern Hill, followed by operational training on Spitfires,
marks one and two at RAF station Aston Down, near Stroud. By midsummer
1942, the training there was complete and Alec was posted to 402 Sqdn
at RAF Kenley where they were occupied with escorting American bombers
to Northern France on bombing expeditions, which lasted until the American
Mustang and Thunderbolt fighters arrived to take over from the RAF fighter
squadrons. Their duties then changed to “Hit and Run” raids
along the south and south-east coast of England where many dog fights
took place over coastal towns. The policy of the Canadian Government was
to repatriate aircrews back to Canada after four years on active service
and Alec was returned to the University to complete his education. If you have arrived at this page through a ‘backdoor’ you will have nowhere to go. Please click here to go to our HOME page www.oliversart.com
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