August 2018 FLYPAST 69MH434
“In the space of a second, three of
the Spitfires were hit. I immediately
led the flight away from this area. I
carefully flew under and around the
other three to ascertain what damage
they had suffered and we headed
back towards England. All three
landed OK.
“My aircraft was the only one
not hit. Because of this, I copped a
lot of rude ragging. Comments to
newcomer pilots were made like:
‘If you want to get blooded, just go
over with Bill, he knows where all
the flak is!’”
By late 1944, Bill was posted
initially to 126 Squadron and
then returned to 64 Squadron [at
Horsham St Faith, Norfolk] as a
flight commander. There he: “...
flew the Mustang III as escort for the
‘heavies’ on their long-range daylight
bombing missions. These were up to
six hours’ duration – all very tiring. I
completed 18 of these before Adolf ’s
minions threw in the towel
[May 1945].
“I expected to be repatriated to
NZ within a few months. However
apparently the RAF had not quite
finished with me. In 1946 when the
CO of 64 Squadron was demobbed,
as the senior flight commander I had
the command dropped into my lap.
“This proved to be a difficult time,
as we were being re-equipped with
the de Havilland Hornet. When that
was completed, I was posted back
to the Air Fighting Development
Squadron [AFDU had been
renamed in October 1944] then
based at West Raynham, Norfolk. I
eventually got back to NZ in 1947.”
SCHOOLBOY VOW
Having researched Adrian Swire
(Sir Adrian from 1982), owner
and pilot of MH434 from 1969 to
1983 and still a major element in
its operation, the author was guilty
of presumption. His eldest son is
Merlin Bingham Swire but he was
not named after the Rolls-Royce
V12. Adrian pointed out that I was
not alone in making this erroneous
link; Merlin Swire was named after
one of his father’s favourite birds
of prey.
Among his many business
appointments, Adrian is best known
for his time at the helm of the Hong
Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific.
His affinity with the Spitfiregoes back to his boyhood: “I was
brought up in Essex just beyond
the North Weald runway and aged
eight was a close observer of the
Battle of Britain: crashed aeroplanes
everywhere, dogfights, bombs, even
the drama of two dead Germans in
our garden who had baled out from
their Me 110 too late.”
This was probably the collision
of a pair of Bf 110s from
Zerstörergeschwader 2 during
combat with Hurricanes of 310
Squadron on September 3, 1940.
“At the heart of this was, of course,
the heroic Spitfire and I made an
unlikely vow that one day I would
fly one. So it was a schoolboy
love affair.
“The opportunity came to acquire
a ‘Spit’ after the Battle of Britain film
and one or two were being disposed
of, including MH434. I bought her,
from memory for about £12,000.“I thereafter flew her on just under
100 separate occasions for fun, plus
positioning flights and occasionally
in formation but never for displays
as I did not feel qualified to give
safe demonstrations.
“I first flew her on November 1,- Despite having about 500
hours’ flying time and limited
hours on anything apart from light
aircraft, it was no problem. My final
flight was on August 21, 1982, at
which point I was not piloting this
unique historic aircraft enough to be
in responsible practice.”
Keen to have MH434 flown in
front of as wide an audienceas
possible, it was Adrian who
introduced Sqn Ldr Ray Hanna AFC*
to MH434. This was a bond that
remained up to Ray’s death, aged 77,
in 2005.
Adrian described the origins of the
association: “Ray, who I had always
admired as leader of the Red Arrows,
was fed up with a desk job, left the
RAF and was looking for an opening
to do display flying.
“I gave him a flight in MH434
and he was hooked. The rest is
history. He made his public mark on
MH434 in his breathtaking displays
at the annual Biggin Hill airshow.
“Later, I helped him to join Cathay
Pacific. As we all know Ray was
unique, both as a pilot and as a man.”FATHER AND SON
We do not have the space to
adequately encapsulate Ray and
his son, Mark. A tribute to these
exceptional pilots from FlyPast’s
Steve Beebee follows.“The opportunity came to acquire
a ‘Spit’ after the Battle of Britain
film and one or two were being
disposed of, including MH434. I
bought her, from memory for
about £12,000”Left centre
Gun ports on the leading
edge.Left
The front undercarriage.Below left
Its elongated cannon
leave no doubt as to the
fi ghter’s potency in war.