Of Spanners and Spitfires

Affectionately dubbed “Spanners” by his squadron mates, Greggs Farish was the sort of Engineer Officer who could make a Spitfire sing. A maestro with all things mechanical, he and his loyal band of groundcrew kept those magnificent machines soaring through the skies. Spanners was a bit of a rebel, mind you, and wasn't shy about bending the rules to get the job done. This approach occasionally landed him in hot water with the top brass.

One particularly memorable episode saw him daringly set out to rescue a Spitfire and its pilot that had crash-landed near the Anzio beachhead where a fierce battle was raging. In order to get there, he ‘borrowed’ another Spitfire and flew there himself, despite lacking the requisite pilot’s credentials – highly irregular, you might say. He landed the plane without so much as a scratch, handed it over to the stranded pilot to make his getaway and then, under intense gunfire, set about repairing the stranded Spitfire. You’d think he’d get a medal for his initiative, but no, the RAF being the RAF, he was arrested by the MPs and hauled up in front of a Court Martial.

This caper took place later, while serving with 111 Squadron in Italy. Before that, Spanners spent most of the war with 72 Squadron, kicking things off in North Africa during Operation Torch, the big British/US invasion in Algeria and Morocco in 1942 that led to Tunis falling to the Allies. No. 72 Squadron was a mobile Spitfire outfit, without a fixed base, roving about with the front lines, making use of anywhere they could find as a landing ground. They fought across Tunisia and later in Sicily during Operation Husky.

Throughout this period, our plucky Engineer Officer defied regulations by keeping a diary and snapping photos to chronicle the squadron’s progress as they battled their way into Italy, heading north towards Rome. It's from this diary, penned in the thick of things and mercifully free from the distortions of hindsight, that this book's narrative unfolds. Fresh and vivid, it's a historically valuable account of squadron activities in these oft-overlooked campaigns, bolstered by a treasure trove of the author's own photographs, now stunningly colorized using AI technology, which brings the past to life.

Publisher - Woodfield Publishing Ltd

Language - English

Perfect Bound

Contributors

By author

Greggs Farish

Published Date - 2024-06-06

ISBN - 9781846832055

Dimensions - 23.4 x 15.6 x 1 cm

Page Count - 184