Jim McCairns

James Atterby McCairns, (21 September 1919 – 13 June 1948) was an English pilot with the Royal Air Force.

He flew the Supermarine Spitfire fighter before becoming a prisoner of war, escaping and returning to England.

McCairns was born on 21 September 1919 in Niagara Falls, New York, United States, the son of Kate Elizabeth and Thomas McCairns an English engineer who was working in the United States.

His mother brought him to England for the first time aboard the ocean liner Regina sailing from Montreal and arriving in Liverpool on 18 June 1922.

They visited family at Brigg, Lincolnshire before returning to Quebec on 30 September 1922 aboard the ocean liner Canopic.

The family returned to England on 30 September 1930 from Boston, Massachusetts aboard the liner Duchess of York, the family settled at 20 Chapelgate, Retford, and he completed his education at King Edward VI Grammar School, Retford.

He had an early fascination for flight and joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in March 1939 as a trainee pilot, service number 754718.

He completed his basic training and progressed through flight training to earn his pilot's wings aircrew brevet.

On 14 October 1940 sergeant pilot McCairns joined No. 616 Squadron RAF flying Supermarine Spitfire fighters and was operational a short time later.

Flying with the squadron from RAF Tangmere under the command of Douglas Bader on 30 June 1941 McCairns had a close call during an offensive sweep over occupied France when his aircraft was hit and explosive shells entered his cockpit.

He retained control of his Spitfire and nursed it home to land safely.

On 6 July 1941 after applying for a commission in the morning he was flying over the French coast with Douglas Bader when the squadron was involved in a fast moving combat with Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters from which McCairns did not return.

Initially posted as missing in action his aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mark IIa (serial number "P8500") was positively identified by its squadron code letters painted on the fuselage when sighted by another member of the squadron on 8 July 1941, crash landed near the beach at Gravelines-Dunkirk.

His cockpit canopy jammed in the crash and he was fortunate that the Spitfire did not catch fire, he had to be released by German soldiers.

The records of No. 616 Squadron later recorded that he was "a very capable and keen pilot" and also that his status was "prisoner of war, slightly wounded".

Held at Stalag IX-C Bad Sulza McCairns was interested in escape activities.

After one failed attempt, McCairns teamed up with a Belgian prisoner for a second escape on 22 January 1942.

They made a good distance away from Bad Sulza, covering about 250 miles by rail on the first day.

He travelled across Germany alone after they were separated and crossed the frontier with Belgium on foot and exhausted during the terrible blizzard of 1942.

Unable to communicate easily he was fortunate to make contact with the Belgian resistance network who sent him to Brussels where he was put in touch with a Belgian agent who had been parachuted back into occupied Belgium from an RAF bomber some months before.

London was made aware of his escape by the agent and guides and passage arranged to Gibraltar which he successfully reached via France and Spain.

At Gibraltar he was debriefed by Lieutenant James Langley of MI9, the British Intelligence escape organisation.

Langley discussed with McCairns the use of the Westland Lysander to insert and extract agents and escaped prisoners of war from the occupied countries.

McCairns was taken with the idea of flying for the Royal Air Force Special Duty Service.

Back in England he was promoted to flight sergeant and on 14 August 1942 was awarded the Military Medal for his bravery and achievement in his successful escape.

before commencing a lecture tour for airmen who might at some stage have similar experiences.

Originally refused permission to fly the aircraft for these operations due to his junior rank, lack of the required 500 hours night-flying experience, inability to speak fluent French and a ruling forbidding escaped prisoners of war from operations in the theatre in which they were captured, he and Langley fought their case and won.

He applied for and gained a commission as pilot officer on 1 May 1942, service number 125754.

McCairns received intensive training and proved his ability to fly the Westland Lysander at night finally gaining approval from Wing Commander Edward Fielden in command of No. 161 Squadron RAF at RAF Tempsford which provided aerial support of all types for Special Operations Executive.

The Lysander pilots would fly low and slowly across the English Channel and cross the French coastline, then head to their allocated area, where the French resistance would signal a pre-arranged code before lighting up a makeshift runway across a field, hoped to be flat enough to land a Lysander.

The pilot would land his aircraft for the agents to climb down while any returning passengers climbed aboard and he would then hope to take off again before the Germans arrived.

Problems were sometimes encountered with aircraft getting stuck in waterlogged fields, bushes and small trees causing damage and animals straying into the way.

Wing Commander Charles Pickard assumed command of the squadron in October 1942, and McCairns flew his first "special duties" mission as navigator to Pickard on the night 22 November 1942 when a pair of Lysanders landed in France to insert 2 agents and bring 3 back to England safely.

He was promoted flying officer on 1 November 1942.

On the night of 25–26 November 1942 he flew his first solo mission delivering two agents into France and returned with two passengers, one of them Colonel de Linares, military assistant to General Henri Giraud.

Over the next thirteen months he flew 33 more covert missions for SOE of which 25 were successful, a greater success rate than any other pilot.

Nineteen of his missions were highly risky "double Lysander" missions which involved both aircraft landing in the selected field and taking off again before being caught.

On 13 April 1943 the London Gazette announced the award of a Distinguished Flying Cross to McCairns.

He returned to active service as a "special duties" pilot working with Special Operations Executive, carrying agents to and from occupied France, before returning to combat in 1945 as a successful fighter pilot.

He was decorated for gallantry five times and was killed in an air crash in 1948.