[Andy Mac]

Board - I am looking into a Spitfire loss at night where the pilot was killed. He was lost on returning to base and running out of fuel. He was a competent pilot. Having read about other pilots' bailing out under similar circumstances, I wonder why this chap stayed with his plane and certain death.

One local witness states that locals at the time thought he had commited suicide. The recovery crew found in his tunic pocket a 'dear john' letter and an engagement ring returned to the now dead pilot.

Peter Townsend in his forward for 'The Sky Suspended' by Jim Bailey states :

" . . .there was the exquisite solitude of those patrols high in the black of night, when only reason's domination over unreason prevented an occasional urge to end it all with a deliberate insane plunge into the dark chasm, miles deep, below."

Sad stuff - what do YOU think?