Ace in a Single Dogfight

During World War II, legendary Spitfire fighter planes were flown by pilots of many nationalities. Many of them fought and achieved victories, some became flying aces during the war, a few even earned this status in a single day. However, only one pilot flying a Spitfire managed to shoot down five aircraft in a single dogfight. That pilot was Canadian F/Lt Richard Joseph "Dick" Audet.

HISTORY

The Spitfire with which F/Lt Audet achieved

this remarkable success was an LF Mk.IXe,

serial number RR201. According to the

records of No. 411 Squadron RCAF, RR201

first appeared on December 26, 1944, and

subsequently became the personal aircraft of

F/Lt John Joseph "Jack" Boyle (credited with

5+1 victories). In honor of his daughter, Boyle

had the white inscription "Sweet Sue V"

painted on the left side of the fuel tank cover.

The Spitfire RR201 initially flew with the codes

DB

-

G. After Jack Boyle took command of

B Flight of No. 411 Squadron RCAF in January

1945, his Spitfire was also assigned to B Flight

and recoded as DB

-

R. However, the actual

re-coding occurred in early February 1945,

following Boyle's return from a two-week

leave. After this period, there was an exchange

of Spitfires between A and B Flights. The RR201

DB

-

G (reassigned as DB

-

R for B Flight) was

swapped for the MK950 DB

-

R (reassigned

as DB

-

G for A Flight). After the aircraft

exchange, F/Lt Boyle flew RR201 continuously

During World War II, legendary Spitfire fighter planes were flown by pilots of many

nationalities. Many of them fought and achieved victories, some became flying aces

during the war, a few even earned this status in a single day. However, only one pilot

flying a Spitfire managed to shoot down five aircraft in a single dogfight. That pilot

was Canadian F/Lt Richard Joseph "Dick" Audet.

Jan Bobek

Ace in a Single Dogfight

Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

F/Lt Richard Joseph "Dick" Audet. (DND PL 41192)

Text: Michal Krechowski

INFO Eduard6

December 2024