Carmichael, John 'Hogy'

John Damien 'Hogy' CARMICHAEL

RAAF, number 414991

453 Squadron, Flight Sergeantåç

Hogy was born 11/7/1923 in Brisbane Queensland. He enlisted on the 7/12/1941.

After reading Don Smith's Obituary in the last issue of The Spitfire News (The Spitfire Association's official journal) Hogy was reminded of an incident in which he was involved in whilst serving as a pilot under Don Smith's command.  Hogy wrote as follows...

'I flew with Don Smith from air strips in France on many occasions, one of them after the Allies invasion of Europe. Don was renowned for his map reading ability and amongst  other things liked to bring his squadron back from wherever they had been in tight formation and on the deck and to hit the strip 'spot-on'.  If not for this ability, I would not be here today writing this brief story about a sortie I took part in.

I knew I was to be the No. 2 to the C.O., but had no idea where we were going or that our aircraft had 45 gallon Drop tanks aboard.  On the return journey my fuel gauge was showing zero just before landing. It was my intention, if my motor had cut out, to do a 'wheels up' belly landing on the nearest French field. If I had done so, my ignorance of having a Drop tank attached underneath would have been disastrous for me as the 45 gallons of high octane fuel underneath would have spelt curtains for me.

When I did land I asked the Erks to check the main fuel tank and they then advised me that the tank was bone dry but why didn't I use the spare fuel.

He was discharged from the RAAF on the 13/11/1945. Hogy Carmichael, 1 Hutton Ave., Wynnum Qld 4178.

Edited by Paul Carter

The Spitfire Association