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Surrey flying ace brought ‘swift death to the enemy’

John McKay served with Canadian, English and American forces
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Spitfires from the Falcon squadron taking off. MacKay’s Ram squadron worked with the Falcons during the end of the Second World War. (Photo courtesy of Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-136915)

The Swallow was a cruel nickname for a plane that was built to decimate allied forces.

The first jet-powered fighter plane to enter combat in the Second World War, the Messerschmitt ME-262 could reach speeds of close to 900 km/h and was armed with four automatic cannons that could pump out more than 650 rounds a minute. They were so fast that the slower bombers couldn’t move their crosshairs quick enough to take them down.

And one was just in view of John MacKay’s propeller-powered fighter plane.

Flight-Officer MacKay had been in combat for just over two months when he took an afternoon patrol with other members of the RCAF Ram squadron. They were stationed just south of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, an area that had seen heavy fighting during the Allied attempt to capture the area’s bridges. This flight was a simple patrol, a check up on the surrounding area.

The morning flight had been smooth, and the flight after lunch was expected to be the same. Then they saw the Messerschmitt.

It was heading towards Nijmegen. MacKay and four other pilots dove after it in their single-seat fighters. Each took shots at the jet plane, and soon it began to burn. It crashed into a field on Allied territory; the pilot had baled out of the plane, but crashed as well, as his parachute failed to open.

According to The RCAF Overseas, it was the first jet plane taken down by Allied aircraft. The war was off to a good start for 24-year-old MacKay.

He had been eager to get there. MacKay was 21 and travelling in the United States when war was declared. Although he returned to Alberta to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force that year, the RCAF was not accepting applicants. He travelled to Ontario, then to the United Kingdom via Vancouver in an attempt to get in with the RAF, then finally to Toronto where he was accepted as a recruit in 1942.

Some sources say MacKay had his permanent home in Cloverdale while he was attempting to join the RCAF. MacKay’s own record makes no mention of it, although Surrey held a draw for him later in life.

Although he joined the war effort in 1942, it was almost two years before MacKay could get a posting overseas. He was first brought in as a flight instructor, and then later accepted as a pilot. He was eventually sent to Europe in July 1943, although problems with ship transportation to the UK delayed his European debut by almost six months.

When MacKay finally finished his operational training overseas, D-Day had arrived. By Aug. 9, 1944 — MacKay’s first flight in combat — Operation Overlord was in full swing, and pilots were using their skills primarily on trucks, tanks and artillery positions on the ground.

But that didn’t mean MacKay left the war without his share of fights. The official motto of the Ram (401) squadron was “Very swift death to the enemy.” The unofficial one was “We leave f**k-all behind.” MacKay seemed to take them both to heart.

Flying around 230 hours as a combat pilot in Spitfires — one of the best and most varied fighter planes in the British arsenal — MacKay fought Focke-Wulf FW-190s (a single-seat, single-engine fighter plan), Messerschmitt BF-109s (known as the backbone of the Nazi fighter force) and the powerful, though flawed, Messerschmitt ME-262s.

MacKay’s skill in combat was not limited to his firepower. Although he destroyed many planes in dog fights, some he managed to take down with simple maneouvers.

On New Year’s morning in 1945, the Rams were getting ready to take off and escort the Falcon squadron on their first operation of the day when more than 40 German planes swept over the airfield.

Once in the air, MacKay found himself alone in combat with an FW-190. He aimed, fired, and the plane exploded.

Returning to the group, he saw another FW-190 on the tail of a Tempest, an Allied fighter plane used primarily by the British. MacKay fired at the German plane, but ran out of ammunition before he could take it down.

Undeterred, MacKay closed in on the enemy pilot, pushing them closer to the frozen lake below. The German attempted to turn around, and clipped the wing of the plane on the ice. The impact caused the plane to explode, and MacKay returned to the relative chaos of the air.

Above was a Messerschmitt ME-262. Although powerful at high speeds and high altitudes, the jet planes were vulnerable at the sluggish pace close to the ground. In a bluff, and without any ammunition, MacKay brought the Messerschmitt close to the ground. Unable to maneouver quite as well as it could higher up, the German plane bounced into some trees and broke apart.

For his efforts, MacKay was awarded the distinguished flying cross — a medal given to Commonwealth pilots for heroism on duty.

Although the war in the European theatre officially ended on May 8, 1945, MacKay’s last combat flight was on April 27, 1945. He volunteered to fight in the Pacific theatre, which would see continued action until September 1945.

MacKay never made it to the Pacific, as he suffered a fracture in his spine while he was waiting overseas. Instead, MacKay was sent back home to Canada, and started a series of ground tours with the Northwest Air Command, a section of the RCAF that provided support on the Canadian section of the Alaska Highway.

Eventually, MacKay left the Yukon and began training as an instructor. He was in Manby, England, learning more about the application of aircraft in war when the Korean War began.

MacKay wanted to go, although he didn’t get to Korea right away. He first worked in Canada to help the 416 squadron get used to its new F-86 Sabre, the first North American jet plane to use the same “swept-back” wings the Germans had included on the Messerschmitt ME-262.

The Sabrejet, as it was sometimes called, fought in some of the earliest jet-to-jet battles. It was pitted against the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 in dog fights during the Korean War: both were able to achieve speeds near the speed of sound, and advances in tactics and design kept the two reasonably well-matched.

This was the plane MacKay found himself in when he finally did join the Korean War in April 1953. The 33-year-old veteran was posted with the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing as part of the U.S. Air Force, and over the next four months would log just under 75 hours flying the Sabrejet in combat.

It was his last time in combat. After receiving the U.S. Air Medal for his efforts in Korea, MacKay retired to peacetime flights and training. In the 1960s, MacKay moved into staff positions for both the air force in both Canada and the UK. By February 1969, MacKay decided to retired from the RCAF completely.

He moved to Surrey, and at 49 started his undergraduate degree at Simon Fraser University. He graduated with his masters in Economics and Commerce, and eventually moved back up North to work for the federal government.

In 1998, MacKay had retired completely and moved to Costa Rica. He moved to back to British Columbia by September 2003, and died 10 years later at the age of 83.

In the last years of his life, MacKay registered his coat of arms — a symbol of those things which had been most important to him over his life.

At the top of the crest was a bison, a representation of his birthplace in Manitoba. Below it, five stars — a reference to the Costa Rican coat of arms. In the centre: a spitfire, two wings, a book and a ram. It represented his combat in the Second World War, and the years of instruction he gave after, encapsulating the efforts behind his 10 medals and distinctions.

And finally, at the bottom of the coat of arms, was MacKay’s motto: “¡Cuidado!” Be careful.



editor@cloverdalereporter.com

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