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Reflecting on the Spitfire

Heroes Remember

Reflecting on the Spitfire

Transcript
I've, anyone who flew, flew through the war in a Spitfire is convinced that it's the best fighter aircraft ever built. It's a beautiful aircraft, you know, it has feminine lines, I called mine "Lady Killer" and I was so naive at that time I didn't realize it had another connotation. But, here was this deadly aircraft with beautiful feminine lines and yet it was a killer, if you could fly it well. The Spitfire was a tremendous aircraft in that if you were a good pilot you could out-turn any German. The Messerschmitt, certain marks of the Messerschmitt, were better at times than the Spit, the Focke Wulf, was, 190, was also at, had certain marks, you know the, the model of the Spit and each of these aircraft were improved as you went along. The, the Messerschmitt and Focke Wulf, the German aircraft, had jet carburetion, that is they could turn over, and we had normal sort of carburetors and if we turned over like this, did a flop, we'd lose power, we'd lose, whereas the Germans could do a, you'd see, and you're, just about to attack the thing, he would turnover and he would go straight down you couldn't follow him. But the Spit was, as I say, I was a very poor pilot, not poor pilot, what am I saying, I was a good pilot. I was a very poor marksman on a, and the first, I missed more than I ever shot at, and it was only when I realized I was really not good on deflection, I realized that I'd have to get right up the enemy's bottom. And that's when, it was only when I did that, that I started to shoot down Huns. Tell me, Mr. Sager, you referred to deflection shooting, can you describe that for me please? Yes well, if you've shot at ducks, I haven't, but you would, the, you're flying, say, straight and level and now ahead of you, 400, 500 yards away is a German JU- 88 bomber, and you're going to, you have to get within, say, 200 yards, let's make it a Messerschmitt because, and he starts to turn, well, you turn too but you're 200 - 300 yards away and he's, when you get into 200 yards you have a chance but you have to be able to see, in your gun sight, you have to be able to place that target of yours in such a part of the gun sight, you have to be turning at the same rate, not skidding your aircraft, and then you have to be, aim your bullets ahead of the, so that the, so that your target will fly into your bullets, depending on the distance you are away from him.
Description

Mr. Sager takes a moment to remember and describe the Spitfire, and he compares it to the German counterpart. He then describes the skill of deflection shooting (a necessary skill of a good fighter pilot).

Arthur Hazelton Sager

Mr. Sager was born in Hazelton, BC, where his father was working as a medical missionary. He was the eldest boy in his family, growing up with two brothers and four sisters. He and his family were pacifists (against war). Mr Sager quit school at age seventeen and went to work in a gold mine. At the outbreak of war Mr. Sager was living in London, England, working as a professional actor, as well as a reporter and had the opportunity to interview Jews and other people that had fled mainland Europe. The stories he heard from these people led to the changing of his pacifist attitudes. Mr. Sager also had two brothers who served, one in the Royal Canadian Navy and the other in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Mr. Sager joined the RCAF and flew many combat missions over Europe. He had a very successful career earning the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) with bars, and his flying record at the end of the war stood at six destroyed, two probable and five damaged. By the end of the war, Mr. Sager was made a commanding office After the war Mr. Sager also had a distinguished career as a private citizen. Among his many jobs, he spent twenty years working for the United Nations as Project Manager for developing countries, as well as a member of the Executive of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
03:15
Person Interviewed:
Arthur Hazelton Sager
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Location/Theatre:
Europe
Branch:
Air Force
Units/Ship:
416, 421, 443 Squadron
Rank:
Flight Commander
Occupation:
Pilot

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