Born in Richmond Virginia, USA, Parke F Smith is one of the few American pilots to have spent the whole of his World War II service life wearing a British RAF uniform. Unlike most of his US contemporaries who elected to transfer to the USAF when the chance arose, Parke chose to stay with his British colleagues and went on to serve as a pilot of single-engined aircraft on three operational RAF squadrons in the UK, North Africa and Italy.
Coming from the USA, Parke found Britain to be full of surprises and his exceptionally well-written book presents a fascinating outsider's perspective on many aspects of both life in the RAF and in the wartime UK in general. Full of interesting stories and funny anecdotes, it is guaranteed keep readers both amused and entertained for over 260 pages, in which he recounts his many wartime experiences.
In 1942 Parke was the last US pilot to be accepted into the ranks of the RAF via their training scheme at War Eagle Field, Los Angeles and Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. He sailed to England on board HMS Queen Elizabeth from No. 31 Personnel Depot at Moncton, New Brunswick in Canada and, after swearing allegiance to the King was offered a coveted place to complete his training as a fighter pilot at No 5 Advanced Flying Unit (AFU) Tern Hill and No. 41 Operational Training Unit (OTU), Hawarden, North Wales.
In April 1943 he sailed for Africa, where after a short spell as a ferry pilot, delivering new Spitfires to their squadrons, he was posted to his first operational squadron – No 253 – then flying Hurricanes from La Sebala aerodrome near Tunis. Soon the squadron moved on to Italy: Salerno, Montecorvino, Battipaglia and Capodicino (Naples), flying patrols over the sea to guard allied shipping.
In late Dec 1943 he joined 225 Squadron, also based at Naples. This was a Tactical Reconnaissance (Tac/R) squadron tasked with assisting the big guns of the Army and Navy artillery to locate and zone in on their targets. Known as Artillery Reconnaissance or ‘Arty/R’ this involved dangerous low-level flying behind enemy lines in modified Spitfire Vb’s. Many pilots were lost due to the intense and accurate anti-aircraft fire put up by the German batteries.
Parke moved with the squadron to an airfield at Lagos and continued to fly sorties during Operation ‘Shingle’ – the invasion at Anzio – and its aftermath, including Monte Cassino, until, having completing 109 sorties, he was ‘tour-expired’ in May 1944.
He returned to England and after a spell at RAF Hawarden as a flying instructor was posted to 65 Squadron, at the time (1944) the last operational fighter squadron in UK, tasked with flying Mustangs from Peterhead in Scotland across the North Sea as fighter cover during attacks on targets in Nazi occupied Norway. Parke flew 11 hazardous low-level missions with this squadron until hostilities in Europe ceased in 1945.
After further duties with Transport and Ferry Commands, he was finally demobbed in 1946 and returned home to Richmond Virginia, where he lives to this day. But he never forgot the camaraderie he shared with his RAF colleagues and dedicates his book to the memory of so many good friends who did not live to see the end of the war.
| The foreword is written by Alex Henshaw MBE, Vickers-Supermarine's chief test pilot during the wartime years, whose prowess in the Spitfire, in particular, is the stuff of aviation legend. In postwar years, he and Parke became good friends. Alex ends his foreword thus: |
| "It has been my good fortune to have known many great men and women of our time and to have had entree to places and incidents that but for a lifetime of aviation, might not have been possible. In all that time, those I have admired the most have usually been quiet, modest individuals who seek neither fame nor fortune. They have their own code of conduct and behaviour. Parke, in my opinion, is a prime example and his reward has been the respect of his friends and the love, pride and admiration of his family." |
