More info - Rusty Leith - An Australian Spitfire Pilot’s wartime memorabilia and photos

Contact us
If you have any questions about Rusty or his wartime collection of photos and memorabilia, please contact:
David Leith
david.leith@westnet.com.au (please copy and paste this address into your email application)
+61 411 229 233 (from within Australia 0411 229 233)
Recommended reading
If you would like to read more about Rusty's squadron, three books by military historians Adam Lunney and Bill Simpson are highly recommended.
In addition, John Bennett's history of No. 453 Squadron Defeat to Victory which includes the failed campaign against the Japanese in Malaya, is also available in PDF form.
We Together
This is the history of a group of men who were bonded by war and their love of flying. 451 and 453 (RAAF) Squadrons were both formed in 1941 and would both fly and fight until the end of the Second World War.
Ready to Strike
The Spitfires and Australians of 453 (RAAF) Squadron over Normandy
The story of the only Royal Australian Air Force squadron to operate from airfields built immediately behind the front lines of the Normandy battlefield after the landings in France of June 1944.
Spitfire Dive-bombers versus the V2
Six squadrons of Spitfires from 12 Group bases in Norfolk (including Rusty's squadron) were given the task of discovering and then dive-bomb the mobile V2 launch sites scattered throughout the Dutch towns and countryside.