Bio / Text:
< =
expand >
In 1943 Malloch was accepted into the Royal Air Force; in December 1943 he received his pilot's wings and was sent to an operational squadron where he saw service as a fighter pilot. In February 1945 he was shot down behind enemy lines and wounded. He was kept safe from German capture by local partisans, who found a hiding place for him in the mountains. In April 1945, he was flown out and was able to rejoin his squadron
In 1978, Malloch persuaded a Rhodesian Air Force base to part with the Mk 22 Spitfire which had been sitting on a plinth outside the air base for over 20 years. He began renovating it the same year, which process included having a five-bladed variable-pitch propeller custom-built by a German firm. In March 1980, he made the first flight in the newly renovated aircraft and it was featured at air shows in Zimbabwe at the time. Malloch was killed in his Mk 22 on the last day of filming the documentary Pursuit of a Dream on 26 March 1982 when he flew the aircraft into a thunderstorm
