PLANS for Spitfire displays in Kendal have brought memories flooding back for one of the few surviving war-time pilots.

Vinnie Smith, now a sprightly 95, has rarely talked of his death-defying heroics during World War II, even to his family.

But he will be guest of honour at the display on New Road and attend an RAFA members’ luncheon.

Despite his reluctance to talk about his war time exploits, Vinnie was enticed to come forward by his daughter, Penny, and son-in-law, Mark Blamire, who thought his story needed to be told.

Kendal born and bred, Mr Smith joined the RAF at just 17 in February 1941. He had dreamed of flying since being taken up in a small aircraft on a family holiday in the Isle of Man when he was eight.

His brother Desmond, a fellow pupil at Kendal Grammar School, joined the same year.

After passing exams at Emmanuel College in Cambridge, Vinnie flew a Tiger Moth before being sent to Canada and the United States to get his wings.

Sadly Desmond was killed when his engine failed and he crashed during his training in Canada. Vinnie was told of his brother’s death in a telegram from his father back home.

Despite his grief Vinnie travelled from Royal Canada Air Force base in Monkton by train to Florida, where he was trained as a pilot, first on the Stearman, then advanced flying on the Harvard.

Before returning to the UK, Vinnie visited his brother’s grave in Canada. Once home he joined a Operational Training Unit at Church Fenton in Yorkshire and started flying Spitfires, which had gained a reputation as the best fighter plane during the Battle of Britain.

“It was the fastest single engine plane and very easy to fly,” remembers Vinnie. “It was very manoeuvrable and you could do anything in it.”

Pilots flew solo and as well as piloting the plane the operator had to fire eight machine guns, four on each wing.

But Vinnie actually preferred the Typhoons, which he flew when joining 183 Squadron. Each plane had had eight rockets under each wing as well as the guns.

Shortly after D-Day Vinnie joined the squadron paving the way for the army as they marched across Belgium and Holland as the Germans fell back.

“We landed and took off from mesh runways laid in the fields and lived under canvass,” said Vinnie.

“We flew at less than 8,000 feet pursuing tanks, heavy armour and enemy troop concentrations with rockets and dive bombing with 250lb and 500lb bombs released at about 4,000 feet then pulling out of the dive and turning for base.

“Of course they fired back and you could see the ammo exploding around you.

“I was so young I didn’t really feel frightened. I was just doing my job and had to get on with it.”

He was also involved in supporting the American forces at the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes during the bitterly cold winter of 1944.

All of this operational flying was carried out with no personal injuries or significant damage to his aircraft, despite notching up a total of 1200 hours of flying.

Many of his peers died in action or suffered nervous breakdowns. Vinnie claims he was protected by his youth.

His one flying accident occurred after the war when his Spitfire had engine failure and while crash- landing tipped over on its nose and he ended up upside down.

Luckily there was no fire and he escaped with little more than concussion and spent a week in hospital sleeping off the effects.

By the end of the war he was a Master Aircrew (Senior Warrant Officer equivalent for aircrew).

He was geared up to fly to the Far East but the war ended and instead he was involved in the Victory Parade fly pasts above London to mark the end of the war.

Vinnie put his escapes down to luck, but it is clear he was a very good pilot. His demob papers cite: “Warrant Officer Smith has carried out his duties, both in the air and on the ground, in an exemplary manner. He is well above an average pilot and a most reliable and responsible NCO.”

He gained four medals: a 39/45 star; a France/Germany star; a defence medal; and a Victory medal.

He did consider continuing his flying career but was persuaded by his father to return to the family business as a bespoke tailor back in Kendal. He was demobbed at Wembley Stadium in 1946.

He remained a tailor until he retired 30 years ago. He was a stalwart of Kendal Golf Club, playing from scratch and winning the club championship 15 times, ten of them in a row. He is still a life honorary member.

He married Joan Pennington during the war with whom he had two daughters, Penny and Carol. He has five grand-children, eight great grand-children and two great great grand-children. Joan died of cancer at just 43. Eleven years later he married Barbara.