Survival Against All Odds

Born in 1922 in north London and fascinated by a flight in 1938 in one of Sir Alan Cobham s Flying Circus aircraft, John Misseldine enlisted in the RAF as soon as he was 18. After training in California in 1941 (in the very first batch of air cadets to be sent there and where he met many Hollywood film stars), in March 1942 he was posted to fly fighters with 611 Squadron, whose CO was Battle of Britain veteran DH Watkins DFC, and wing commander flying Peter Townsend, later a royal suitor.On 8 June John was shot down over northern France and for over two months was on the run from the Gestapo, being aided and abetted by the French resistance and British Intelligence, with not a few alarms along the way. Journeying south through occupied France, he eventually escaped from Gibraltar in August, arriving in Scotland and thence to 65 (East India) Squadron. Commissioned as a pilot officer, he was posted to Algeria to ferry new Spitfires and Hurricanes to front-line squadrons supporting the Eighth Army.This role too