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F/Lt Don Andrews, flight commander of No. 453 Squadron RAAF, in the cockpit of his Spitfire Mk. IXC, serial number unknown. Establishing the date of the photo without the serial number isn’t easy, but it has been established that the previous FU-?, Mk. VC EE727 crashed on approach to the airfield on 13 September that year killing the pilot. On the other hand, a month later (15 October) the squadron moved to Skeabrae in the Orkneys. This would time the photo to September-October 1943 in in Perranporth, Cornwall. At the time the unit used a mixture of Spitfires Mk. IX and Mk. V for convoy patrol and anti-shipping operations.
Watch for the forthcoming story about Don Andrews’ career as Spitfire pilot in our collection of Articles.
The article on Don Andrews has made Don a very contented fellow, he will be delighted to see that this is published by teh Spitfire Site.
Don is a q quiet retiring man but obviously a bit of a gun slinger in his youth… Don is now residing in a Nursing Home in Sydney and although frail is still very sharp mentally.
If you woudl like to drop Don a line contact us at the Spitfire Association.
secretary@spitfireassociation.com.au