417 Spits for dsrtrat

[Guppy35]

I'm curious as to who your uncle was?  I'm   kind of partial to the 417 Spits.  I've had a framed poster of 4 417 Squadron Spit Vb Trops on my wall since I brought it home from the Imperial War Museum in 1980.  It's just above and to the right of my computer as I type this.

During an Italy based scenario in Airwarrior I commanded a Spit V group and used 417 Squadron as my historical designation flying AN-T for +Tiff.

Here are all the images I could find of 417 Spits from the books on my shelves.

Dan/Slack

[Replicant]

Originally posted by Guppy35
I'm curious as to who your uncle was?  I'm   kind of partial to the 417 Spits.  I've had a framed poster of 4 417 Squadron Spit Vb Trops on my wall since I brought it home from the Imperial War Museum in 1980.  It's just above and to the right of my computer as I type this.

During an Italy based scenario in Airwarrior I commanded a Spit V group and used 417 Squadron as my historical designation flying AN-T for +Tiff.

Here are all the images I could find of 417 Spits from the books on my shelves.

Guppy, I think that last pic gives away who Ratty's uncle was

[Guppy35]

Wow!  Nice write up on him in "Spitfire-The Candians"

Sounds like he was a heckuva fighter pilot.  He says his favorite Spit was the Clipped wing Mk VIII.  I think we now have a prefectly reason to have one in AH:)

Pic of S/L Houle from the book

Dan/Slack

[dsrtrat]

Yeah that is him. He is still with us today but his memory has been attacked by Alzheimers. Amazingly enough he can still recall events from ww2. That mirror in the last picture is a part of his private collection. I have seen the mirror in real life and when you consider where it sits, it sends chills down your spine knowing that was a 20mm cannon shell that ripped the hole in it. I have also held the 20mm cannon shell that hit the armour seat behind his head and punched a piece of the armour seat (about the size of a dime and 1/2 in thick) into his neck. A few years ago we came across a Canadian Military film that shows my uncle during a briefing on Jan 22/1944 then leading the squadron off the airfield for a mission. There was a book released about him released a couple of years ago by a fellow in Quebec. It is actully a good read because he speaks his mind in the book including how terrifying air combat can be and how the brass had their heads inserted into their tails when it came to fighter tactics. i have a nice shot of him in a spitXVI last summer in Ottawa. I was going to post it but the site I use is down.

Guppy, let me know if you are interested in a copy of his book. They only printed 1000 copies and most are gone but I can get you the mailing address or email of the fellow that did the book and I am sure he would have one left to sell.

Cheers and thanks for the picture. I will try and post some that I have that are not mainstream. I am going to be visiting him around the 20th of this month and will see what I can dig up from his private albums.

[FTJR]

Hey dsrtrat, would you mind posting your 457 Spit skin on the skin forum please? I would like to download it.

Thanks

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by dsrtrat
Yeah that is him. He is still with us today but his memory has been attacked by Alzheimers. Amazingly enough he can still recall events from ww2. That mirror in the last picture is a part of his private collection. I have seen the mirror in real life and when you consider where it sits, it sends chills down your spine knowing that was a 20mm cannon shell that ripped the hole in it. I have also held the 20mm cannon shell that hit the armour seat behind his head and punched a piece of the armour seat (about the size of a dime and 1/2 in thick) into his neck. A few years ago we came across a Canadian Military film that shows my uncle during a briefing on Jan 22/1944 then leading the squadron off the airfield for a mission. There was a book released about him released a couple of years ago by a fellow in Quebec. It is actully a good read because he speaks his mind in the book including how terrifying air combat can be and how the brass had their heads inserted into their tails when it came to fighter tactics. i have a nice shot of him in a spitXVI last summer in Ottawa. I was going to post it but the site I use is down.

Guppy, let me know if you are interested in a copy of his book. They only printed 1000 copies and most are gone but I can get you the mailing address or email of the fellow that did the book and I am sure he would have one left to sell.

Cheers and thanks for the picture. I will try and post some that I have that are not mainstream. I am going to be visiting him around the 20th of this month and will see what I can dig up from his private albums.

I would absolutely be interested in a copy dsrtrat

e-mail is spit12@frontiernet.net

One of "my" Spit XII pilots was a flight commander in 417 Squadron after he left 41 Squadron in the fall of 44.  His name was Keith Curtis.  He's still around too.

Looking forward to the images as well

Dan/Slack

[Replicant]

Ratty, you have to tell the story about engaging the Italian fighter, you know, the gory one!  Also how he could remember everything when getting in a Spit again more recently!

[dsrtrat]

One of "my" Spit XII pilots

What do you mean by "MY"? Are/were you a spit driver?

Here is a link to the book. http://www.spitcrazy.com/31avi275-Bert-Houle.jpgThere are some wonderful photos inside. This copy is at the Spitfire Emporium in Kitchener , ON. I have seen the book at "Aviation World" in Toronto also. I am pretty sure both of these spots will mail a copy. The author's address is

Michel Lavigne
P.O. Box 222, Victoriaville, Qc,
Canada
G6P 6S8

email : lavigne.michel@sympatico.ca

[dsrtrat]

FTJR, yeah I will post both spits on the forum for ya.

Cheers

[dsrtrat]

Here is a picture of my uncle 60 years later sitting in a spitfire. My cousin was shocked that after so many years his hands fell onto the controls like he was about to lead the squadron on another run over Italy. He was able to point out some of the working parts of the machine and gave his impression of the good and bad points of the spit. His main gripe with the spit was the gear handle being on the right hand side. Many new pilots wobbled into the sky while they switched hands to bring the gear up. In a scramble, the attention diverted to switching hands, getting the gear up and switching hands again cost a few junior pilots their life.  

Here is the comparison.

[Replicant]

He's hardly changed at all!

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by dsrtrat
What do you mean by "MY"? Are/were you a spit driver?

Here is a link to the book. http://www.spitcrazy.com/31avi275-Bert-Houle.jpgThere are some wonderful photos inside. This copy is at the Spitfire Emporium in Kitchener , ON. I have seen the book at "Aviation World" in Toronto also. I am pretty sure both of these spots will mail a copy. The author's address is

Michel Lavigne
P.O. Box 222, Victoriaville, Qc,
Canada
G6P 6S8

email : lavigne.michel@sympatico.ca
 

Thanks for the link on the book. I'm going to have to get me a copy.

No I'm not a Spit pilot, other then in my imagination

I started researching Spits back in 1980 and focused in on the Spitfire XII as it's my favorite.  That lead to contacting many former pilots from the two squadrons that flew the XII, 41 and 91 Squadrons.  I was lucky enough to help with their first reunion back in 1986 and flew over to England for it where I got to meet many of them.  

If you stop in at this site on 41 Squadron:  http://brew.clients.ch/RAF41Sqdn.htm

You can see many of the photos I've collected over the years as well as profiles of 41 Spits I've done etc.  It's not my site, but I've contributed lots of info to it on the Spit XII timeframe.  There's a photo there of me in the group picture taken at Coltishall in 86 which is one of my favorite photos.  Hence "my"  spit pilots

Dan/Slack

[FTJR]

dsrtrat,

Thanks Very Much

Cheers:D

[dsrtrat]

FTJR, no problem

Guppy. Nice to see people with interest in this stuff. If there is anything I can do to help your research, let me know.