Few aircraft enthusiasts will match up US aces with the British Spitfire, yet there were a considerable number of men who were successful flying this aircraft. The initial group of men were those who joined the RAF or RCAF before America's entry into the war. They were all flying with those respective squadrons, some as early as the Battle of Britain. The RAF 'Eagle squadrons' were full of US pilots and went on to make up what became the famous 4th Fighter Group.

In book #80 of Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces series, we have a look at those men and machines that were flying the various versions of the Spitfire. When the US entered the war, the aircraft they were flying at the time (mostly P-39s and P-40s) were not considered to be good enough to survive combat in the European theater, so they left their US planes behind and when they arrived in Europe, were issued the Spitfire. Now we are mostly talking about the 31st and 52nd Fighter groups.

After some operations out of England, these two groups were sent to North Africa after the US landings in late 1942. Though eventually replaced by the Mustang, some of the units of these two groups continued to operate Spitfires until early 1944.

Then again, there were American pilots who did not transfer to the USAAF and stayed in the RAF or RCAF, where they continued to be successful.

Author Andrew Thomas does a fine job of telling this little-known story about US Spitfire aces, some of whom went on to become famous in the USAAF, while most just did their jobs to the best of their abilities. All of this is illustrated with well chosen period photographs of these men and their machines as well as the excellent profiles of artist Chris Davey.

A book that I found to be a superb read and a great reference. I'm sure you will as well.

October 2007

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