KITS 08/2022

F/O James H. Montgomery, 4th FS, 52nd FG, 12th AF, Corsica, January – February 1944

F/O James Henry Montgomery was one of many American pilots flying the Spitfire, fighting in the Mediterranean within the ranks of the 12th AF. On August 6, 1943,

he was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea near

Palermo by a German Messerschmitt and spent an entire day in a life raft. He staved off hunger by catching

fish and gutting them with his knife. The news of his

experience reached the mainstream media back in the

States, earning him the nickname “Robinson Crusoe of

the Sky”. He didn’t have the same luck the second time

around, when, on February 9, 1944, near the port city

of Nice, his group of four Spitfires was ambushed by

a section of Fw 190s. Two of the 190’s got Montgomery’s

Spitfire in their sights, which took direct hits and burst

into flames. He did not survive. F/O Montgomery flew

Spitfires named “The Impatient Virgin” and “Impatient

Virgin II”, each of which carried noseart of a scantily

clad young lady.

EF736, GR II/33 “Savoie”, Dijon, France, September 1944

Spitfire Mk.Vc EF736 served with Groupe de Reconnaissance II/33 “Savoie”, one of the first Free

French units to take delivery of the Spitfire. The

aircraft carried a desert camouflage scheme with

yellow identifiers in the form of wing bands and tail

surfaces. The attractive look of the airplane was

compounded by the shark mouth, which was a personal marking, while the seagull behind the cockpit

was a unit marking.

AR560, W/Cdr John M. Thompson, Luqa Wing, Malta, January – May 1943

John Marlow Thompson commanded No. 111 Squadron

at the beginning of the war, and during the Battles

of France and Britain, he claimed six confirmed kills

and two shared. There were another three kills that

went unconfirmed. In the spring of 1942, he was promoted to Wing Commander and on his own request,

he was transferred to Malta, where between August

1942 and June 1943, he commanded all Malta based

Wings (Takali Wing, Hal Far Wing and Luqa Wing).

He added a further two confirmed kills to his credit.

In June he was sent to Malta Headquarters as the

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INFO Eduard

commander of the Training Wing. From March to

February of 1944, he commanded the base Hal Far.

Later, he led No. 338 Wing in Algeria, a part of which

was made up of three squadrons of French Spitfires.

Over the course of his career, Thompson shot down

eight aircraft (plus three unconfirmed), two more

were probables, and he damaged another seven.

Spitfire AR560 was a rare example of a Malta Mk.V

lacking the tropical filter. It was flown from Gibraltar

to Malta on November 1, 1942. The aircraft carried the

new Maltese camouflage scheme consisting of Deep

Sky and Dark Slate Grey, used from mid-June 1942,

on the upper surfaces. The lower surfaces remained

in Azure Blue. The aircraft was first flown by several pilots from various squadrons and from January

1943, it served as the personal aircraft of Luqa Wing

Commander John M. Thompson. As allowed by order,

Thompson used his position to use his initials, JM-T,

as his fuselage code. This was applied in Azure Blue.

In June, AR560 was handed down to the new commander of Luqa Wing, W/Cdr W. W. G. Duncan-Smith,

who recoded the Spit DS.

August 2022