KITS 10/2021

P2961, F/O W. L. McKnight, No. 242 Squadron, Coltishall, Norfolk, Great Britain, December 1940

The future fighter ace, William Lidstone McKnight, was born on November 18, 1918, in Edmonton, Canada. He enlisted in the RAF in February

1939 and completed his pilot training in the Great Britain. On May 6, 1940, he was posted to No. 242 Squadron with which he saw combat in

France and consequently in the Battle of Britain. During this half a year he shot down 17 enemy aircraft (plus two in cooperation), another three

kills were not confirmed. For these accomplishments he was decorated with DFC in August and Bar to DFC in October. On January 12, 1941, his

unit started to fly the offensive missions to the French coast. F/O McKnight flew a mission codenamed Rhubarb, an attack against the ground

communications, ground troops etc. from which he did not return, and his body has never been found. He is mentioned on the memorial in

Runnymede. Hurricane flown by „Willie“ McKnight carried the personal insignia in the form of the boot kicking Adolf Hitler painted on the nose

port side. There was also a skeleton painted under the cockpit with one hand pointed forward and the other hand holding a sickle.

V6864, S/Ldr R. R. S. Tuck, No. 257 (Burma) Squadron, North Weald, Essex, Great Britain, winter 1940

Robert Tuck enlisted in the RAF in 1935. In May 1940 he was given the command of a No. 92 Squadron flight equipped with Spitfires. He claimed

his first kills over Dunkerque, and his score was increasing rapidly. On June 11 he was decorated with DFC. On September 11 he took over the command of No. 257 Squadron equipped with Hurricanes, and he continued to shoot down the enemy aircraft. Tuck received his first Bar to DFC on

October 25 and the second one in March 1941. In June of the same year, he was promoted to the Wing Leader at Duxford followed by the command

of the Biggin Hill Wing. On January 28, 1942, during the Rhubarb mission (fighter attacks on the ground targets) his Spitfire was hit by the anti-aircraft fire and W/Cdr Tuck ended up in the POW camp. He did not stop fighting there and participated in the preparation of several escapes (among

others the famous escape from Sagan). Only the escape together with Zbigniew Kustrzyński from Stalag Luft III satellite camp called Belaria on

February 1, 1945, was successful. After that they made it behind Soviet lines (Tuck’s knowledge of Russian was helpful). His total score during the

WWII is 27+3-6-6+1. He left the active service in RAF on May 13, 1949, and after that he worked as a test pilot. In 1953 he became a co-founder of

the mushroom growing farm and dedicated himself to this business until the retirement. He passed away on May 5, 1987.

INFO Eduard - October 2021

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