SPITFIRE ON MY TAIL

摘要

New Zealand born and raised Alan Peart was a baby-faced teenager and an all too eager Supermarine Spitfire pilot new to combat when he decided to tackle 12 Messerschmitt fighters. He had shot down an Italian bomber a few days before in the Desert War in North Africa, and shortly after he was on another patrol with a flight commander. When he saw a gaggle of 12 German Messerschmitt Me-109s, he called, "Tally ho!" and dove down to meet them. He reflected in a 2017 interview on YouTube~([1]) that he was "stupid, aggressive and pretty new," so he decided to attack. His leader, flying on his wing, didn't like the odds and chose not to follow him. The flight leader returned to base and reported that Peart had probably been killed.