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From the Battle of Britain to the last days of a crumbling Third Reich, the magnificent Spitfire became a symbol of the heart of a nation. For one Halifax crew on 6 October 1944, the presence of 610 Squadron's Spitfires became a godsend.
Flying escort missions was no soft option for fighter pilots. Supporting bombers en-route to important strategic targets almost guaranteed interception by enemy fighters, and the great bomber air raids over enemy occupied Europe brought about some of the most ferociously fought aerial dog-fights of the war.
Though regarded as the best defensive fighter ever built, the Spitfire flew in most fighter roles in almost every theatre of WWII. It equipped many squadrons such as the RAF's number 610 Squadron, which flew this outstanding fighter in various marks, throughout the war. Having contested the Battle of Britain flying Mark I's, 610 became part of Douglas Bader's famous Tangmere Wing in 1941 with the Mark Vb. As part of top-scoring Johnnie Johnson's Canadian Wing in 1943, the squadron was equipped with the Mark IX - "the best of all Spitfire Marks" according to the great wing leader - getting the better of the Luflwaffe's new Fw190 in the great air battles leading up to the Normandy landings in 1944.
In 1944 the squadron received 90 gallon drop tanks for their new Mark XIV Spitfires and began long range sweeps over Germany. Robert Taylor's emotive painting Top Cover recalls an event from this period: led by Tonv Gaze on 6 October 1944 his flight of 610 Squadron Spitfires have picked up a severely damaged Halifax over Holland as it lumbers homeward after an attack on synthetic oil plants in Germany. Two crew members have been ordered by skipper Ted McGindle to depart the ailing bomber by parachute while he struggles on with other crew members too badly wounded to escape. Top cover provided by
610's Spitfires ensured this 462 Squadron Halifax made it home on that October day.
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