Loading…
Spitfire shoots down Messerschmitt Bf 109
On the morning of 8 October 1940 the Luftwaffe's 4./JG52 was on a "free hunt" fighter sweep over the Thames Estuary when it was bounced from behind by RAF Spitfires from No 603 City of Edinburgh Squadron. 'White 2', a Bf 109E-1 flown by Fw. Paul Boche, the Staffel's technical NCO, was hit in the radiator. The engine overheated and stopped and he made a forced landing at Little Grange Farm near Maldon in Essex - hitting a haystack and wrecking the aircraft. Injured, he became a prisoner of war.
The man who shot him down, flying Spitfire R7020, was P/O. Ronald "Ras" Berry, who had already made a name for himself in the Battle of Britain by shooting down three Messerschmitts in one day. He went on to have a long and highly distinguished RAF career, rising to the rank of Air Commodore. He died in 2000.
My picture was commissioned for a BBMF Yearbook 2015 feature about the Battle of Britain.
The man who shot him down, flying Spitfire R7020, was P/O. Ronald "Ras" Berry, who had already made a name for himself in the Battle of Britain by shooting down three Messerschmitts in one day. He went on to have a long and highly distinguished RAF career, rising to the rank of Air Commodore. He died in 2000.
My picture was commissioned for a BBMF Yearbook 2015 feature about the Battle of Britain.
© Gary Eason gary@easonmedia.com to license
Picture keywords: 4./JG52, aeroplane, aircraft, airplane, aviation, Battle of Britain, Bf 109E-1, cloudscape, fighters, flight, Flight Artworks, flying, freie jagd, Fw Paul Boche, iconic, iconic aircraft, iconic design, Little Grange Farm, Luftwaffe, Merlin engine, Mk I, No 603 City of Edinburgh Squadron, RAF, Reginald Mitchell, RJ Mitchell, Ronald "Ras" Berry, Royal Air Force, Spifire, Spiftire, Spitfire, Spitfire Mk I, Spitfire R7020, Supermarine Spitfire, White 2+, World War 2, World War II, World War Two
