Lea T (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer
Description
English: Royal Air Force- Italy, the Balkans and South-east Europe, 1942-1945.
Wing Commander W G G Duncan-Smith, Wing Commander Flying, No. 244 Wing RAF, with "Bonzo", a bulldog mascot of one of the squadrons of the Wing, standing by his personal communications aircraft, a commandeered Italian Saiman 202, at Tortorella, Italy. Duncan-Smith joined the RAFVR as a Sergeant pilot before the War and flew his first operations with No. 611 Squadron RAF in October 1940. As his successes steadily mounted he was commissioned in spring 1941 and was then posted as a flight commander to No. 603 Squadron RAF in August 1941. Following a period of illness he was posted as adjutant to Southend airfield in January 1942, but eventually joined No. 411 Squadron RCAF as flight commander. In March 1942 Duncan-Smith was given the command of No. 604 Squadron RAF, and then led the Norwegian Spitfire Wing at North Weald until December 1942 when he was appointed Wing Commander Tactics at HQ Fighter Command. In May 1943 he arrived in the Mediterranean theatre, temporarily commanding the Luqa Fighter Wing on Malta before becoming Wing Leader of No. 244 Wing RAF in late July. Duncan Smith was promoted Group Captain in November 1943 and took command of of No. 324 Wing RAF with whom he continued to fly operationally until March 1945. His final victory score was 17 enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed and two shared.
Date
between 1942 and 1945
date QS:P571,+1942-00-00T00:00:00Z/8,P1319,+1942-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1945-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
This image was created and released by the Imperial War Museum on the IWM Non Commercial Licence. Photographs taken, or artworks created, by a member of the forces during their active service duties are covered by Crown Copyright provisions. Faithful reproductions may be reused under that licence, which is considered expired 50 years after their creation.
Part of
InfoField
Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection
Subjects
InfoField
Associated people and organisations
Royal Air Force, 244 Wing, Royal Air Force, 324 Wing Squadron, Royal Air Force, 603 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 604 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 611 Squadron
Associated places
Tortorella, Campania, Italy
Associated events
Italy 1943-1945, Second World War
Associated themes
Italy 1939-1945, Royal Air Force 1939-1945
Associated keywords
Aerial Warfare, Animals, Operations
Category
InfoField
photographs
Image Sorted
InfoField
yes
Licensing
This image is in the public domain because it is a mere mechanical scan or photocopy of a public domain original, or – from the available evidence – is so similar to such a scan or photocopy that no copyright protection can be expected to arise. The original itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
This tag is designed for use where there may be a need to assert that any enhancements (eg brightness, contrast, colour-matching, sharpening) are in themselves insufficiently creative to generate a new copyright. It can be used where it is unknown whether any enhancements have been made, as well as when the enhancements are clear but insufficient. For known raw unenhanced scans you can use an appropriate {{PD-old}} tag instead. For usage, see Commons:When to use the PD-scan tag.
Note: This tag applies to scans and photocopies only. For photographs of public domain originals taken from afar, {{PD-Art}} may be applicable. See Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag.
{{Information |description = {{en|''Royal Air Force- Italy, the Balkans and South-east Europe, 1942-1945.''<br/> Wing Commander W G G Duncan-Smith, Wing Commander Flying, No. 244 Wing RAF, with "Bonzo", a bulldog mascot of one of the squadrons of the W...
File usage
The following pages on the English Wikipedia use this file (pages on other projects are not listed):