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Tuck's last flight...Spitfire RS-T crashlanded near Boulogne During his wartime career, Tuck was forced to bale out twice and force-landed twice. The second forced-landing put him down in enemy territory after falling victim to accurate flak on a strafing mission over France on 28th January 1942. Tuck was entertained by JG26 at its mess, where he met Adolf Galland, before being imprisoned as a POW. He escaped on 1st February 1945 with a Polish POW, and reached Russian lines. He was a Russian-speaker and stayed with the Russian troops for two-weeks before making his way to the British embassy in Moscow. Tuck led the September 1945 Battle of Britain Flypast but left the RAF in May 1949 having attained the rank of Wing Commander. He became a successful mushroom farmer and campaigned for charity and for Anglo-German reconciliation after the war. Robert Roland Stanford Tuck died on 5th May 1987, aged 70. Below you can see the amazing pictures of Tuck's Spitfire RS-T, the last flight of this legendary fighterpilot in his beloved Spitfire. The pictures were used as propaganda material and are the only known pictures of Tuck's crashed Spitfire. | |||||||||
 Robert Stanford-Tuck flew several Spitfires over his career, however his MkV (believed to be BL336) which Tuck flew on the mission which resulted in his becoming a P.O.W. was coded with his initials, RS-T. On 28 January, 1942, this aircraft was hit by flak, causing Tuck to crash-land in France. One of several books to show the markings of this aircraft is Osprey's Spitfire Mark V Aces 1941-45 by Dr. Alfred Price. This book also has a colour illustration of this aircraft. Several people are interested in the markings of Tuck's RS-T Spitfire. Unfortunately these pictures doesn't say anything about the serial number of his last flown fighter. Robert Bracken from Canada added the following: I am also puzzled by the serial number for Bob Tuck's Spitfire "RST". I have an account of his last operational flight in my book Spitfire: The Canadians Vol I {Boston Mills Press). The story was provided by his #2 on that flight, Al Harley. Harley claims to have been flying a Mk. VI on that flight, without authorization. 401 records give Harley's serial as AA851. The serial for "RS-T" is not very legible, and I have strained my eyes more than once trying to make it out on the microfilm, but it seems to be P8783 for Tuck's aircraft. David Williams from England: Norman Franks' book 'Fighter Command Losses' gives the serial BL336 to the Vb flown by Tuck on is last operation. 'Spitfire Mark V Aces' also carries a photograph and coloured drawing of the same aircraft and 'believes' the serial to have been BL336. The story continues?  | |||||||||