Battle of Britain Spitfire ace and Distinguished Flying Cross winner Paul Webb, a Scotsman, was born in Greenock and educated at Kevinside Academy in Glasgow. As war clouds loomed in 1937, he joined 602 Squadron. Upon graduation from flight school at Abbotsinch (now...
Reade Tilley is an American ace with seven victories, all of which were scored while flying with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Tilley was born in Clearwater, Florida, where he completed public education. He later attended both the University of St. Petersburg and the...
Colonel (ret) Spiro N. “Steve” Pisanos flew 110 combat missions in Spitfires, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-51 Mustangs during World War II, becoming a double-ace. He was born in Athens, Greece, in 1919, the son of a subway driver. At the age of 11, he heard the humming...
For the Americans serving with the famed “Eagle” Squadrons in the Royal Air Force, World War II began well before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Chesley “Pete ” Peterson is the highest decorated and among the most successful of these airmen who...
Long before the United States entered World War II, Americans flew with the Royal Air Force in the renowned “Eagle” Squadrons. Of these US pilots who left their indelible mark in the skies over Europe and in the hearts of the British people, Carroll...
What would you give for freedom? Squadron Leader M. A. “Tony” Liskutin has shown time and again that, for him, freedom is indeed precious. A native of Czechoslovakia, Liskutin was determined to fight the Germans, who, in March 1939, controlled his country....
Thorsteinn Jonsson is Iceland’s only ace! Born in Reykjavik in 1921, his father was Icelandic and his mother was English. He grew up in Iceland but as a young child traveled to England often for visits. Jonnson was an adventurous and high-spirited lad and at age...
As a Korean War double jet ace, Colonel (ret) James K. Johnson’s career produced many “firsts. ” Graduating from the University of Arizona in 1939, he entered the Army Air Corps and attended pilot training at Randolph and Kelly Fields, receiving his...
Francis “Gabby” Gabreski, was a member of “The Inner Seven,” an elite group of pilots who achieved the status of “ace ” in both World War II and Korea. Born in Pennsylvania in 1919, he attended Notre Dame University where he learned...
Jerry D. Collinsworth is one of the few Americans to become an ace flying the Supermarine Spitfire. Born in Dublin, Texas, Collinsworth spent most of his early life in the panhandle oiltown of Borger. After high school, he set a goal to become a military pilot. After...
Clive Robertson Caldwell enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) the day after war was declared in 1939, and, by the end of the war, he had become known as “Killer ” Caldwell, Australia’s highest scoring ace. Born in 1910, he was 3 years...
