Video: Fascinating WWII Story Of Spitfire 944 And Lieutenant John S. Blyth (Must See)
Thursday, January 2, 2014 at 10:13AM
There are millions of fascinating stories from WWII, but not very many of them include 16mm film of actual events, and then connect directly with people involved in those events decades later. This short film is all about connecting the personal film footage shot in Great Britain during WWII by flight surgeon Jim Savage with the pilot of a photo recon Spitfire named John Blyth. Blyth had to make a gear-up landing in 1944, and his flight surgeon was on hand with his camera for the landing.
This 14 minute video is all about the story that connected pilot John Blyth in 2005 with the film of his gear-up landing that he'd never seen before, film that had been shot during WWII by his flight surgeon Jim Savage who had passed away earlier in 2005.
If you haven't seen this story, I encourage you to take the time now to do so. My understanding is that John Blyth, who as a very young man flew an unarmed Spitfire over German targets for photo recon, is still alive today... #thegreatestgeneration
Video screenshot: American operated Spitfire in WWII... and a fascinating story!
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Reader Comments (5)
That is quite a story. The look on the pilots face when he realized this footage ( which he had never seen before)was of him was priceless.
I never knew they flew these airplanes unarmed Way cool!!
Excellent post, Martt! Loved it!
-Aaron
Great story. I agree with Larry, the look on his face was great.
Yep, that man was, and IS, a badass to do what he did. I knew an old P-38 pilot from the Pacific Theatre, and I'm not sure even he would've tried something like (then SSgt) Blyth did. After the war, he went right back to being "just another American". Now we all know better, and just as importantly, so do his kids. They can now retell that story with a renewed respect for their Dad.
How cool it was, also, that the filmmakers gave LTC Blyth that footage.
--SYG
My uncle, Captain Max Eugene McKinnon, flew recon flights in Spitfires during the war just like Lt. Blyth, although I doubt he ever had to make a wheels-up landing. These men were certainly courageous!