Spitfire Diary: A Former R.A.F. Pilot Tells the True Story of Air-to-Ground Combat in World War II

A former R.A.F. pilot tells the true story of air-to-ground combat in World War II. Before his eighteenth birthday E.A.W. Ted Smith was in the British Royal Air Force where he served five years on over thirty RAF bases in South Africa Southern Rhodesia England Scotland France Belgium and Holland. Joining the RAF 127 Squadron after D-Day as a fighter and bomber pilot he flew Spitfire aircraft on ninety missions a third of which were bombing attacks while the land forces were beating back the German army beyond the Rhine. Following the war in 1946 he became one of the worlds first jet pilots flying Gloucester Meteors on 74 Squadron.Smith kept a diary of his exploits in World War II and this was the basis for Spitfire Diaries. Smith immigrated to the United States in 1948 and eventually became the general manager of Lady Bird Johnsons radio stations KLBJ-AM and KLBJ-FM in December of 1980 in Austin Texas.