A Spitfire WWII Veteran Pilot Sees His Crash Landing After More Than Half A Century

Jim Savage, known to his family as “Doc,” was a doctor from San Bernardino, California. He attended Stanford University in the 1930s, where he met and married Barbara Steinbeck, his wife and the sister of the author’s grandmother. After graduating from Stanford Medical School in 1939, he started a family, having three children. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as a doctor and was assigned to a reconnaissance squadron in Europe. He would not see his family again until 1947.

While overseas, Doc recorded his experiences using a personal 16mm film camera. He shot around 90 minutes of footage and sent the film back home. Each roll was developed and reviewed by censors before reaching his family. After the war, he occasionally played the footage for visitors in his home, but most of it remained stored in a closet for decades.

Discovering a Forgotten Story

Jim Savage passed away in 2005 at the age of 91. His nephew decided to digitize the old footage and was struck by a thought: what if someone in these films could be identified and shown the footage? He spent time researching the 14th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron but found little information. Then, he realized that the answer had been in front of him all along—aircraft serial numbers were visible in the footage.

Among the many scenes, one stood out. A fighter plane made a crash landing on a grass field, and Jim was in the right place to capture it. The aircraft, a Spitfire, skidded across the ground before coming to a stop. The next shot showed a pilot smoking a cigarette, looking shaken but relieved. The Spitfire had U.S. markings, raising questions. Was the pilot American or British? Did Americans fly British planes? The investigator froze the footage and noted the aircraft’s serial number. A quick online search led him to a World War II flight accident database. There, he found everything—the date of the crash, the location, and the name of the pilot.

A Veteran Recognizes Himself

A letter was sent to the pilot, along with still images from the footage. Two weeks later, a reply arrived:

“Dear Mr. Lorton, the person in the photo with a cigarette is me. Someone gave it to me, and I didn’t even smoke. I had just returned from a mission behind enemy lines. Many people don’t believe that Americans flew unarmed long-range Spitfires. I flew 51 missions over Berlin, Munich, and other locations. I would be happy to work with you on your documentary.”

A film crew, including Doc’s grandson, traveled to Seattle to meet the veteran, John Balle, and record an interview. When they arrived, they introduced themselves and set up their equipment. Balle then recounted his experiences, beginning with his early morning departure on the day of his crash landing.

Flying Without Protection

Balle described being woken up at 4:00 a.m. for a reconnaissance mission. He took off before sunrise and landed briefly at Bradwell Bay in England. There, a group of British pilots asked him a series of questions. When he explained that he had no guns, no escort, and was flying alone to Germany, one of them muttered, “I wouldn’t go over there with eight other people.”

Balle had enlisted through the Flying Sergeant program, which allowed young men with only a high school education to receive flight training. He graduated in July 1942 and was sent to Colorado Springs. There, he was assigned to fly the F-5, a reconnaissance version of the P-38 Lightning. However, these planes had issues at high altitude, especially in the cold European climate. The turbo supercharger regulator would sometimes freeze, which could cause engine failure. On two separate missions, he lost an engine in flight.

Switching to the Spitfire

British pilots at a nearby base were flying Spitfires and seemed to have fewer mechanical problems. Balle had long admired the aircraft since its role in the Battle of Britain. His commanding officers arranged for their squadron to receive Spitfires for reconnaissance missions. Unlike the armed versions, these had their guns removed and extra fuel tanks added to increase range.

The Spitfire offered better maneuverability, a higher climb rate, and comparable endurance to the F-5. Without any special training, Balle began flying the aircraft immediately. His version, the Mark XI, was adapted from the Mark IX, the Royal Air Force’s main fighter at the time. It was painted a special shade of blue, known as PRU Blue, to help it blend in with the sky.

The Crash Landing

Balle completed many dangerous missions, flying deep into enemy territory without weapons or escort. On one mission, mechanical failure forced him to bring his Spitfire down in a wheels-up landing. Jim Savage’s camera captured the event as the plane skidded to a stop. Moments later, Balle was filmed standing nearby, cigarette in hand, looking both relieved and exhausted.

Over 60 years later, he watched the footage for the first time. Seeing himself as a young man, just moments after surviving a crash, left him stunned. Thanks to Jim Savage’s camera and a nephew’s curiosity, a long-forgotten moment had been brought back to life.