Scottish Aces of WWII

[Beardie]

Hi all ,

I wonder if anyone out there can help me with information and any pictures of Scottish second world war pilots and their aircraft.

I haven't got much in the way of reference material myself but have a desire to pay plastic tribute to the guys from my home country who flew in the second world war.

Any and all information will be very much appreciated and maybe similar threads for Irish, Welsh, English, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand etc. aviators would be good for those wishing to pool information on aviators from their homelands.

[JackG]

No photos, but here is the first link found from google:

http://jpgleize.perso.neuf.fr/aces/ww2eco.htm

Once you know the name of a pilot, do a google image search.

regards,

Jack

[Boman]

Most Scottish aces would be found amongst UK- or Great Britain listed aces, so not necessarily easy to sort out. Similar With Welsh aces. But you can look here:

http://aces.safarikovi.org/

Edited December 23, 2014 by Boman

[Miggers]

AFAIK,"Killer" McKellar was a Scotsman

[John]

There are profiles (at least) of McKellar's Hurricane and Rankine's Spitfire in the relevant Ospreys.

Finlay Boyd' Spitfire VIII is described in this article - I think Colorado Decals do the markings : http://www.hyperscale.com/features/2001/spitfireviiigt_1.htm

There are loads of photos of 602 and 603 Squadron Spitfires in the early part of the War on the net and in a variety of publications.

That's a start!

J

[Beardie]

Thanks for the replies so far, it is surprising how hard it is to find information on some of these men who fought so hard and risked so much without the expertise of a military historian. In these days where you become used to being able to find out just about anything about anyone it is easy to forget just how little detail was recorded even about important events of the first and second world wars.

I am thinking that I might start with doing Sandy Johnstone's 602 squadron spit as he was a friend of my father from his time in the RAF and I had the priviledge of meeting him a couple of times many moons ago.

[Graham Boak]

Look for the book Aces High, by Christopher Shores, which gives biographies of all WW2 RAF aces. There is a follow-up book on those who only claimed four.

[Edgar]

The original "Aces High" was reprinted in 1994, under ISBN 1-898697-00-0; there then followed (logically) Volume 2 ISBN 1-902304-03-9, and then there was "Those Other Eagles," in 2004, ISBN 1-904010-88-1, which listed those who claimed 2 - 4.

[VoyTech]

I suppose you have to start by defining "Scottish ace". Do you mean:

1. an ace of Scottish descent

2. an ace born in Scotland

3. an ace who lived all/most of his life in Scotland

4. an ace who declared himself as a Scotsman

or

5. any of the above?

For example, Michal (Michael) Cwynar, born in Poland and an ace with the Polish Air Force in WW2, lived in Scotland for the next 60 odd years, until his death, and loved your country as much his native Poland.

[Beardie]

I think that I am particularly interested in those who are born of Scottish parents and who, at some point in their past may be distantly (or not so distantly) related to me (That is those of my homeland). i am distantly related to one WWI Scottish ace, my Grandfather was a Scottish born Canadian Hurri pilot and my grandmothers second cousin was a decorated WW2 Lancaster pilot.

I have a great respect for the Polish who served in all the services during the War and have known many people who are the children and grandchildren of those who chose to remain in Scotland after service. There is also a far more historical link to Poland as, as I understand it, from the late 1500's onwards a lot of Scots merchants settled in Krakow and other places and prospered (Someone once told me that there is a Polish proverb which while I can't recall exactly how it went it basically is something along the lines of "as canny as a Scotsman" (Canny means scheming, tricky, expert in getting the better of a deal)

[elger]

There's a profile of James Rankin's Spitfire on the Victory Productions Aces of the Empire decal sheet (#19) http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Rev1/201-300/Rev289-VPD48006-Victory-Models/00.shtm

[VoyTech]

I think that I am particularly interested in those who are born of Scottish parents and who, at some point in their past may be distantly (or not so distantly) related to me (That is those of my homeland). i am distantly related to one WWI Scottish ace, my Grandfather was a Scottish born Canadian Hurri pilot and my grandmothers second cousin was a decorated WW2 Lancaster pilot.

I have a great respect for the Polish who served in all the services during the War and have known many people who are the children and grandchildren of those who chose to remain in Scotland after service. There is also a far more historical link to Poland as, as I understand it, from the late 1500's onwards a lot of Scots merchants settled in Krakow and other places and prospered (Someone once told me that there is a Polish proverb which while I can't recall exactly how it went it basically is something along the lines of "as canny as a Scotsman" (Canny means scheming, tricky, expert in getting the better of a deal)

I'm sorry to say (considering that I have some Scottish friends) that the only Polish saying (couldn't call it a proverb) that refers to the Scots that I know of is "as stingy as a Scotsman" ("stingy" meaning "preferring to spend as little money as possible, prefereably none"). And I know from my personal experience that it makes little (if any) sense, as the Scots I have met were usually quite willing to spend any amount of money that was needed, or more.

As regards Scotish settlers in Poland, they were not limited to Cracow (Krakow) area. There has been a town called Nowe Szkoty (literally: New Scots) which is now part of the city of Gdańsk. Scottish nationals were mayors of the city of Lublin in 17th century.

[Beardie]

I do seem to remember reading somewhere about the Scottish Mayors of Lublin. I know that Scots merchants and travelling workmen were common throughout East Prussia as well. Of course Scots mercenary soldiers were spread throughout Europe for many centuries and served in the Armies of Russia, Germany, France, Spain and anywhere else there was money to be had, military service was often the only way to live when you came from a land as poor (In money and resources) as the North West of Scotland. "As stingy as a Scotsman" is a common stereotype in Britain though the Scots prefer to think of themselves as "canny" that is we consider carefully before spending any penny we have and try and make the best use of it, at the same time we have traditions of showing hospitality and kindness to strangers (Makes sense that in time of need the stranger you helped may well return the favour)

[sanguin]

You might find this website helpful:

http://www.aircrew-saltire.org/index.html

All manner of things about aviation with a scottish flavour......

They may be able to answer your question.

all the best,

John, a Kentish Man (or a Man of Kent, I care not which) of either French or Spanish ancestry.

[John]

The European Scottish diaspora also gave rise to the phenomenon of Douglas Pitcairn - Luftwaffe pilot!

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=3632

J

[Beardie]

Thanks Sanguin that is a useful website to garner some information, I am particularly interested to browse this as my grandmothers cousin was a decorated Lancaster bomber pilot (So she told me but I have yet to track down any information) She has long since passed-on and I have been unable to find any details on him. His name was Reid Cochrane, as far as I know he was a banker prior to the outbreak of WWII but after the war he carried on flying, moving to Canada and becoming a pilot with Air Canada.