Photo By Erin Thompson | Capt. Blyth’s plane after performing an emergency belly landing in Oxfordshire,...... read more read more
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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
PHOTO RECONNAISSANCE PLANE CRASHES IN ENGLAND
On 12 September 1944, U.S. Army Air Force (AAF) pilot Capt. John S. Blyth performed an emergency landing of his Spitfire Mark XI in Oxfordshire, England. Blyth flew dozens of unarmed photo reconnaissance missions over Europe during World War II.
Captain Blyth enlisted in the Oregon National Guard in 1938 at just fifteen years old. After completing high school, he signed up for the Flying Sergeants program, which allowed high school graduates to attend flight school. He graduated as a staff sergeant in 1942 and was sent to the Photo Reconnaissance (PR) Operational Training Unit at the Colorado Springs Army Air Base, Colorado. As a photo reconnaissance pilot, Blyth received intensive training in navigation, map reading, photography, photo interpretation, and the same basic intelligence courses given to all Army intelligence soldiers during the war. PR pilots trained with the F–5, the reconnaissance variant of the P–38 Lightning twin engine aircraft. The F–5 was stripped of its armaments and refitted with cameras and a larger fuel tank. This permitted the craft to reach high speeds and altitudes for longer periods and allowed PR pilots to penetrate deep into enemy territory.
In 1943, Blyth was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to the 22d PR Squadron, 7th Photo Group, Eighth AAF, at Mount Farm, Oxfordshire, England. He flew approximately fifteen missions over mainland Europe in the F–5, though he desperately wanted to fly a Spitfire, a single-seat fighter aircraft developed for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). With its Rolls-Royce engine and superior streamlined design, it was one of the fastest and most agile aircraft used during the war. While stationed at Mount Farm, Blyth discovered the RAF was loaning a reconnaissance variant of the Spitfire to the 14th PR Squadron, 7th Photo Group. He turned down a promotion to captain to transfer to that unit.
The 14th PR Squadron was one of the few American units to fly foreign-made aircraft during the war. The special reconnaissance variant, the Spitfire Mark XI (or Supermarine Spitfire PR.XI) was delivered to the 14th Squadron in November 1943. According to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, the Mark XI was “modified for photographic reconnaissance with cameras, a more powerful engine and a larger oil tank in the nose. All guns and armor were removed, and the fuel capacity was greatly increased.” The craft’s design features made it perfect for long-range PR missions over mainland Europe. Pilots like Blyth penetrated deep into enemy territory without armed escorts or weapons systems of their own to procure vital photographic intelligence for strategic bombing campaigns and invasion planning.
On 12 September 1944, Blyth, who had recently been promoted to captain, was returning from a reconnaissance mission over Germany when the cord for his headset got caught in the manual landing gear system. Unable to safely land the plane, he managed a “belly landing” of his Spitfire Mark XI, tail number PA 944, in the grass at Mount Farm. Captain Blyth was unhurt, and he flew dozens more reconnaissance missions over Europe over the next few years, eventually receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. Blyth retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1968 as a lieutenant colonel. He passed away on 27 September 2016 at the age of ninety-four.
Flight surgeon Dr. Jim “Doc” Savage caught Blyth’s landing on 16mm film. A short film about the crash and Blyth’s wartime service is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie3SrjLlcUY.
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| Date Taken: | 09.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.06.2024 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 480308 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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