On 13th May 1942 a Spitfire of 81 Squadron, BL817, was doing aerobatics over County Durham when his engine failed at 2,000 feet and he plummeted towards the ground. The pilot recovered control at 25 feet and managed a crash landing at Daisy Hill near Medomsley.
The aircraft was taken to 45 MU (maintenance unit), Kinloss, Moray for repairs. In the final analysis, the aircraft was written off as unrepairable but no blame was attributed to the pilot. He was a Canadian, Sgt Douglas Franklin Husband, who went on to become an Ace – scoring 5 kills and credited with a one third share in damaging another enemy aircraft. He was also to become an Officer and won the Distinguished Flying Cross.
He was born on 5th November 1920 in Toronto, Canada. He arrived in Britain in September 1941 and was posted to 81 Squadron. He moved on to 401 Squadron before being discharged, alive and well, on 2nd June 1945. He had also been promoted to Flight Lieutenant at this stage.
Douglas Franklin Husband (J17192) was awarded his DFC as an acting Flight Lieutenant; this was reported in The London Gazette of 26th January 1945 whilst he was serving in 401 Squadron RCAF.
The citation for his DFC reads: “This officer is now on his second tour of operations, having completed his first tour in Africa where he destroyed one enemy aircraft and assisted in the destruction of a second. Flying Officer Husband joined this squadron on June 4th, 1944. His ability and daring were soon recognized by his fellow pilots and his eagerness to attack the enemy both in the air and on the ground, no matter what the odds, was admired by all.
Flying Officer Husband's devotion to duty, regardless of the task, has been an inspiration and an example to the other pilots in the Wing.”
During the first three months of the invasion he destroyed another enemy aircraft, and through his persistent attacks against ground targets destroyed or damaged over 50 enemy vehicles, often against extremely heavy flak opposition. During the hectic days of the Arnhem parachute dropping operations, he destroyed a further two enemy aircraft on one sortie, bring his total number of aircraft destroyed to 4 1/3. Latterly, this officer has been engaged in dive-bombing railway communication and ground staffing locomotives, which are among the most heavily defended enemy targets. However, his fearlessness and dauntless courage have again come to the fore and he pressed home his attacks with absolute disregard for his personal safety, achieving remarkable results.
My thanks to Steve Brew and Allan Hillman for pointing out two of my errors (which have now been corrected).
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