An Australian ace
In the World War Two gallery of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra sits elevated above relics of Australia’s North African campaigns a classic warrior of the skies, a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIa fighter. The Spitfire is one of the most famous fighters of that era and had an excellent combat record flying with Allied nations in all theatres of World War Two (alongside the Hawker Hurricane the Supermarine Spitfire and RAF pilots stood tall during the Battle of Britain in 1940 and beyond). 20,351 Spitfires of 40 different variants were manufactured between 1936 and 1948 for use in air defence, ground attack and reconnaissance duties.
Australian War Memorial Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIA Registration No. P7973 in the World War Two gallery (photo taken during my January 2016 visit)
Initially RAF serialled Spitfire aircraft flew with RAAF No. 450, 452, 453 and 457 Squadrons in Europe. 656 RAAF serialled Spitfires were delivered between August 1942 and June 1945 (246 Mk.Vc, 251 Mk.VIII and 159 HF Mk.VIII variants)…
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Pilote de Spitfire - Spitfire Pilot 