[tcolvin]

Nick, it was you I believe, who evidenced the Spitfire IX/XVI to rebut my statement that 2TAF operated retired air-superiority fighters for the sake of convenience.

Surely Clostermann's statement that Spitfire IX/XVIs were powerless, because they lacked the speed necessary to enforce air superiority, revealed the truth they were well past their sell-by date as air-superiority fighters in 1945.

Their manoeuverability was such, however, that faster German fighters left them alone, but that is a different point and the reason Austers and L4s were rarely troubled either.

Hill, CO of 662 Sqn, described what happened to two FW-190 pilots who decided to 'have a go' near Nijmegen at end September 1944 with one of his Austers, flown of course by a soldier. "A 'C' Flight pilot, called Cracknell, got the warning of bandits. He came down very low for ten minutes and then, seeing three Spitfires flying above him, decided that he would continue his registration shoot. Unfortunately above the Spitfires and flying in and out of clouds were two FW-190s. They pushed their noses down and went straight at him. He saw them and dived for the ground. One of the Spitfires also saw them, dived after them and shot one down and then crashed himself. For ten minutes we then watched the FW and the Auster have a battle. Round the trees, down the side of the river, round the chimneys of the power station. The FW got in four bursts but missed each time. Eventually he decided the AA was getting too hot and cleared off. The Auster landed and had to be completely re-rigged - one wing had gone back about one inch during the attack."

Tony