Desert spitfire

By Matthew Holden

Subjects: Desert Air Force, Royal Air Force, El Alamein, Second World War

Description: Autumn 1942 - and in North Africa, Montgomery's 8th Army is massed in preparation for the attack at El Alamein. Codenamed Operation Lightfoot, the attack is scheduled to commence on 24th October - a day that Rommel and the Afrika Korps would live to remember with dread. In the air Piper squadron had joined the Desert Air Force to give all-important support in the battle against the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe. The young pilots were eager for airborne combat and the glory of battle, but for many, El Alamein would end in a lonely desert grave.