A few weeks ago Skyrat kindly sent me the book Fly for Your Life by Larry Forrester. This is the biography of Wing Commander Robert Stanford Tuck. Tuck joined the RAF before the war and was soon recognised as an exceptional pilot and one of the best shots in the RAF. He was also a very lucky one, surviving two pre-war mid air collisions. He was one of the first few RAF pilots chosen to fly the then brand new Spitfire.
Tuck first saw combat over Dunkirk flying for 92 Squadron, and over the next two years scored 27 confirmed kills, was awarded the DSO, three DFCs, an American DFC and rose to Wing Commander. An extremely aggressive pilot he was shot down a number of times. His famous luck held out though. He often just managed to coax an overheating Merlin back over friendly territory before it expired and once was saved from a bullet wound by a coin in his pocket.
He commanded 92 Squadron and 257 Squadron and later led the Duxford and Biggin Hill wings. As part of an RAF delegation to the USA he advised the USAAF on combat tactics and also test flew US fighters like the P-43 and P-47.
On 28 January 1942 while on a low level Rhubarb mission he was shot down by flak and spent the next few years in POW camps. In 1945 he and a Polish officer escaped and made their way to through to the Soviet Army, Tuck's ability to speak Russian saving their life. Here they were made to fight as infantry until they escaped and made their way to the British Embassy in Moscow and then back to England.
The book is a great read, written in the fifties it has a different slant on the war than more modern books. I have lent it to my brother, but once he has finished with it I will post it to another AH player who want to read it. PM me if you are interested.
In light of this, I've decided to do a Tuck skin. Well, that's what I do....
This is the aircraft he flew while commanding the Biggin Hill wing and the one he was flying when he was shot down and captured. As a Wing Commander Tuck's aircraft carried his initials.
