OTTAWA (Reuters) - In early October 1942, Flight Lieutenant Donald McLarty was shot down over Libya on his 199th mission of World War Two. Although he was flying for Britain's Royal Air Force, his uniform was emblazoned with an unexpected word: Argentina.
Many foreigners fought for the various Allied air forces, but until now historians have largely focused on pilots from Czechoslovakia, Poland, France and Norway -- all of which were occupied by German forces.
Few realize that more than 800 young men from neutral Argentina, some of them schoolboys, rushed to sign up as pilots and then made the long, dangerous trip to Europe by boat.
When McLarty climbed into his Hurricane fighter-bomber for a low-level attack on a German base in Libya, he needed to complete just two more missions to earn a long break from active duty. It was not to be.
"It was a very stupid operation ... the moment we crossed the coast I could see the soldiers waiting," recalled McLarty, now 85.
"I was hit immediately by ground fire in the engine and had oil all over my windscreen. All I could do was fly in formation with the guy next to me and then my tail was blown off."
McLarty's plane smacked into the ground, barrelled straight through two parked German fighters and ended up in a pile of empty gasoline drums.
German officers produced a glass of White Horse whisky for the 20-year-old and then shipped him off to a prison camp.
Complete article at
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUKN0232993420071212?rpc=92
Many foreigners fought for the various Allied air forces, but until now historians have largely focused on pilots from Czechoslovakia, Poland, France and Norway -- all of which were occupied by German forces.
Few realize that more than 800 young men from neutral Argentina, some of them schoolboys, rushed to sign up as pilots and then made the long, dangerous trip to Europe by boat.
When McLarty climbed into his Hurricane fighter-bomber for a low-level attack on a German base in Libya, he needed to complete just two more missions to earn a long break from active duty. It was not to be.
"It was a very stupid operation ... the moment we crossed the coast I could see the soldiers waiting," recalled McLarty, now 85.
"I was hit immediately by ground fire in the engine and had oil all over my windscreen. All I could do was fly in formation with the guy next to me and then my tail was blown off."
McLarty's plane smacked into the ground, barrelled straight through two parked German fighters and ended up in a pile of empty gasoline drums.
German officers produced a glass of White Horse whisky for the 20-year-old and then shipped him off to a prison camp.
Complete article at
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUKN0232993420071212?rpc=92
