News & Articles
Time to Pass Allspitfirepilots.org onto a new group!
2026-06-18
It's been over 10 years since we launched the most detailed database driven archive of Spitfire pilots (WIKI style) and the aircraft they flew. Hundreds of family members, if not thousands, have contributed photos from family albums otherwise lost to the attics, and, details that include log book information, often adding personal anecdotes and stories told to them by the pilots (often their fathers) themselves.The site allows users to link a pilot to the aircraft they flew, which in turn links to the pilots who flew it. We also have squadron maps (and a system to build those), comments, notifications, features, search functions and it's all built on the modern Laravel (PHP) framework, which has allowed us to grow the site features over time.
But now it's time to pass the site on to new owners. We've always felt it's traffic (50% from the UK, rest from allied nations) can serve a group that could benefit from the traffic. A flight museum looking to get further into the digital age, which can promote visitor-ship. An individual or group of enthusiasts who may grow the site and take it in a number of directions. Travel to locations around the world, ... read more ...
David Garrett's work on 154/232 Squadron
2026-03-12
If you've been watching the pilot additions over the last few months, you may have noticed lots of pilots from 154 SQN being added to the site, complete with squadron dates, flight details (our mini-log book entries), bio, and images. If you want to know who has been submitting these pilots (232 SQN as well) then read on. David has been a great help to the site, encouraging us to add some new features, and, taking great care in detailing his entries. I asked David several questions starting with "tell us about yourself" and "why you are adding all these pilots" and questions like "what are your most interesting finds?". You will enjoy this read, including David's own adventures. UPDATE: If you click the 154 Squadron link above, you will now see a map of the squadron's movement over time, including UK, Algeria, Tunisia, Malta, Italy, Israel, Syria, and France. You can animate their movements on that page. It's draft, in that some detachment details are missing and dates are approximate.
"I am David Garrett, I live in Sunbury-on-Thames near Hampton Court, west London. I am 80 years of age (big celebration a couple of weeks ago!). I ... read more ...
Adding / Editing Unit (Squadron) info and Dates on Pilot Page
2026-03-06
Up until now, a user would only be able to add squadron information (unit #, airforce, start, finish) to a pilot page but not edit or correct it.Users often add squadron / unit information but at the time don't know a start date or finish date for the time that pilot was in a squadron/unit. Users want to be able to simply add a squadron number without dates. Dates can come later.
So now, there are two ways to make changes or corrections for our two different cases on the squadron section of the pilot page;
1. If you added that squadron information (logged in) to begin with, you have several days to edit that line (SQN, Airforce, dates) or delete it.
2. Where a date is missing, logged in users can click "add date(s)" to add this extra information.
If you are only adding a date, the other existing information (unit #/airforce) will be greyed out. If these options don't work for you, and, you have to make a correction that isn't covered by either of the above, just use the contact us and we will help you out.
Kurt read more ...
PRU Pilots Revisited
2026-01-19
Time to time, we get a strong interest in PRU (Photo Recon Unit) pilots, whose missions generally involved some extremely dangerous low level flights over enemy targets, with no weapons, a lot of slipping and sliding the aircraft to avoid obstacles, along with considerable sweat and determination. They also flew at very high altitudes such as over industrial plants deep inside enemy territory. We have some fascinating stories such as from the son of pilot John Bendixson, and just now, another user who knew a PRU pilot and now wants to find as much detail as possible.So to start this research, and we are due for a refresher, I am going to list all our PRU pilots (there may be more), and we will fill in this article further on the PRU pilot we are currently assisting on the research. But for an excellent read, check out the exploits of John Bendixson via the comments and sample PRU photos (his father took) that his son added to his father's page.
Also, this is a query we just received, for F/L Maurice Hicks. "I came across this site whilst searching for a former PR spitfire pilot ... read more ...
Squadron Movement MAPPING feature with Animations!
2025-11-13
We are very excited to announce a new feature on allspitfirepilots.org. If you have a look at the following sample pages for RAF; 601 RAF, 92 RAF, 310 RAF, and for RCAF; 411 RCAF, 442 RCAF, and 416 RCAF you will see some examples of the new squadron pages we are creating.UPDATE: All RCAF Squadrons ( that flew the Spitfire in combat ) have now been mapped. That would be 400, 401, 402, 403, 411, 412, 414, 416, 417, 421, 430, 441, 442, 443.
For any squadrons for which we collect this squadron movement data and create a map, the squadron page now starts with a large map showing where the squadron moved over time, and below it, all the pilots we have on the site for that squadron, roughly sorted by date. The map allows you to click through to see aerial views of these airfields as they are today!
Kevin Charles, our chief editor has had a crack at the RAF squadrons, in particular because his father served in 601. Kurt, meanwhile, wrote the mapping software along with features to allow (somewhat) easier imports of location, dates, and, squadron information -- ... read more ...
Funding Season - Hosting Cost Donations Drive
2025-11-01
Well it's that time of year we look at hosting costs and how to cover them. As volunteers who host the site at our cost and offer all the information, reserch, new features and user support, our only ask is that if you have found the site helpful, that you consider donating once or even annually. We want to keep developing new features, and, some new ones are almost ready to announce (announced now, see our maps).Our site is well used globally, and, we enable research by digging deep into the military records, including the ORBs. Users who add pilot data such as aircraft flown help us relate pilots to aircraft flown, and in turn to other pilots who flew the same aircraft in the same squadron (or later).
Now, we've come up with a very interesting set of maps that show squadron movement, with animations. What discoveries will that feature enable?
We will unveil that shortly, but as volunteers and administrators of this site -- we are here for your requests, and, provide development and support. There are no fees paid for development - we are the developers. We use the laravel software framework to create relationships ... read more ...
Can you help Identify this Spitfire Shot down in North Africa - a User Asks
2025-10-11
Recently, a user from France came to us with an aircraft mystery to help solve based on a photo he acquired in a WWII era photo album of German origin. Purchased recently, the album contained German fighter aircraft and airfields from the North African campaign, but it did have one image of a downed Spitfire.In the image, one can see a mostly intact Spitfire with German troops examining it. This photo has a serial number only partly identifiable, so Francois kindly contacted us for our take on identifying it.
One of our editors, Kevin, got to work on it as he enjoys a good Spitfire mystery. One can see in the image a partial serial number with 100% confidence on the number 7, 80% confidence on the last digit being a 6 (I did not discount the 8 immediately) and low confidence on the middle digit, which Francois gleaned through steady stare to be a 2. It’s the middle digit that created the mystery along with the fact that there was no squadron code on the aircraft.
So with that information we went to work on this image, and it kind of went like this;
1. Kevin first assessed ... read more ...
Spitfire And Hurricane Pilot Memoirs of Battle of Britain - Empty Skies Video
2025-09-24
Youtube has accumulated a number of Spitfire pilot memoirs. While adding one such to Geoffrey Wellum's page on this site, I came across this video, which is a good pilot's summary and recollection of flying the Spitfire and Hurricane in combat, in the Battle of Britain. If a new pilot could survive the first two months mastering the aircraft and learning to shoot, as one pilot states, they had a better chance overall of surviving.The Spitfire was a nimble plane to fly that pilots "strapped on" but it did have it's limitations with visibility on take off and also in combat. As such the Spitfire pilots talk about trying to get as close as possible to an adversary before shooting. The video is here, EMPTY SKIES, featuring interviews with both Hurricane and Spitfire pilots as filmed some years ago. It is an excellent video, as it's the actual pilots voices (in their senior years), giving you the facts and insightful details in their own words.
These are the survivors, but as Geoffrey Wellum states, being remembered is about remembering all of them, those that fought and survived, and those who fought and did not -- ... read more ...
Allspitfirepilots.org is 10 Years Old Today Sept 15, 2025
2025-09-15
Founded 10 years ago, launched on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, a large global memorial event that timed well with this site's launch. While the site was launched on that occasion; Malta, North Africa, Southeast Asia, India, England/France/Belgium/, Germany/Holland/Norway/Italy (European theatre), Yugoslavia/Italy, and, various other countries and theatres are now treated on the site in detail.The site now has over 4,300+ pilots, with bios, serials flown / dates / events, images and a links section. The response from relatives has been tremendous, and, we've likely collected thousands of images from the day, many from private catalogues otherwise lost to history. If these were printed into a book, I think it would be the largest Spitfire pilot book ever printed.
We've had some very detailed bios added including pre-war, war, and post-war (for those that survived) information. Many sons/daughters, nephews & nieces, and grandchildren have added information and also at times ask us for help in their research. Two such requests asking us to research pilot details are ongoing presently, and every week brings new stories and linkages between pilots. We often find a contributor not only focused on their relative, they want to know about other ... read more ...
Which WWII pilot flew the most number of Spitfires?
2025-08-07
As you can see on this site, we like to match pilot to aircraft, for a given date. If contributors add a note, the line becomes a mini-ORB entry (sortie details). But once the serial is added, it links to the actual Spitfire page which in turn lists all the pilots who have flown it.In the case of this pilot, she was one of the ATA pilots flying Spitfires from factories to various RAF airfields. Her name, now quite well known of course, is Marry Ellis (NEE Wilkins). Our chief editor Kevin Charles has added many or most of the serials flown he could find for 1/Off Ellis, and you can see the list of her Spitfires flown as part of her ATA duties on her page on this site here.
When one clicks the serials she delivered, a list of other pilots who later flew that Spitfire in training or combat is then shown (if added to this site). Often times, there are images of this aircraft, taken at a later date before or after operations.
This pilot has flown, along with other ATA pilots, a very large number of Spitfires (and other aircraft too) in WWII, ... read more ...