Blacking Out...Again
"One of 609's German raiders was claimed by Pilot Officer Red Tobin, from California. At 19,000 feet above Portsmouth, Tobin had his first sighting of the enemy-a formation of Bf 110s. He was having a problem with his oxygen feed line, but before he could report the problem the squadron had begun its attack. David Crook, a squadron mate of Tobin's, reported 'sweeping down a curling round at terrific speed to strike right into the middle of the German formation.'
"Tobin pushed his throttle forward and closed with the enemy formation. One of the twin-engine fighters began a gentle banking turn right in front of him-a target too tempting to pass up. When the Messerschmitt filled his gunsight-and before the rear gunner had the chance to start shooting-Tobin pressed the firing button. He could see his hits striking all along the fuselage. One of the bullets apparently hit the pilot; the airplane reared up, almost vertically, as though the pilot had yanked back on the control column involuntarily. Then it stalled out and plunged out of sight.
"He was tempted to follow his victim down and watch him crash, but squadron veterans had warned him never to do this-he would be leaving himself wide open to attack. But Tobin did not have much time to think about it-he spotted another Bf 110.
"Once again, he closed to within machine gun range, resisting the temptation to open fire from too far away. This time, he held his gunsight on the Messerschmitt's engine. A second or two after Tobin pressed the firing button, he saw the engine catch fire and begin to smoke. The Bf 110 rapidly began losing altitude. Tobin dove after it.
"When he had decended to the same altitude as the twin-engine fighter, Tobin yanked back on his stick. But he had pulled out of his dive too abruptly; his vision faded as G-forces drained the blood from his head, and he blacked out. His Spitfire began to spin in. Tobin was unconscious; he kept spinning out of control toward the Channel.
"When he finally came to, Tobin found himself flying straight and level at a height of about 1,000 feet. His Spitfire had saved his life; it had righted itself from its spin while he had been unconscious.
"Tobin made it back to Warmwell, landing his Spitfire despite UXBs and bomb craters. He expected S/L Darley to give him holy hell for blacking out and nearly killing himself. Instead, everybody was glad to see him back alive-they had watched him spin, and thought he had crashed."
