On 7th November 2023, Members and their guests joined us for a three-course Club lunch with wines, followed by an entertaining talk by a Club Member Preston Smith, who spoke about his father’s book, Spitfire: An American WWII Fighter Pilot in the RAF.

Parke F. Smith was the last US pilot accepted into the ranks of the RAF via their training exchange program at War Eagle Field, Los Angeles. After completing the course, he sailed to England on board the HMS Queen Elizabeth, swore allegiance to the King, and was offered a coveted spot training as a fighter pilot. From 1942 to 1946, Smith flew 129 missions in North Africa, Italy, and over the North Sea, before returning home. Amazingly, he made it home, unlike so many of his friends and comrades. It is to them he dedicated his writing. Smith's war stories are only the half of it. Smith is skilled at conveying the human connection and camaraderie that forms in war's trenches and skies. Ultimately, Smith's is a story about finding home-no matter how foreign-and fighting for it with all you've got. Not only did Smith love the Spitfire aircraft, his true gift was how he lived his life: fiercely determined and passionate, a real spitfire. The full gallery of images from this event can be seen below.