B-17 CC Additional Material by Robert M Stitt

prototype/pattern aircraft from Colerne to Farnborough), FA701, FA707, FA713, FK210, FK188, FA697,
FL452, FL458, FK199, FK196 and FK187.
Duffie survived a couple of incidents while posted to 218 MU. On April 5, 1943, he was flying Mustang
I AG548 from Colerne when he experienced an engine failure and fire at 800ft – the aircraft was
assigned to 16 Sqn at nearby Andover at the time and was likely borrowed for a ‘spin’. Duffie landed
with oil and coolant covering the windscreen and his aircraft struck Oxford R6282 on the perimeter
track. The Mustang was eventually issued to 414 (RCAF) Sqn in 1944. And on May 17, 1943, Duffie
experienced a second engine failure, this time in Hurricane I P3861, an aircraft he flew regularly from
Colerne on ‘target’ sorties – likely for testing airborne interception radar fitted to Beaufighters and Mosquitos
passing though 218 MU – and occasionally flew to RAF Ouston for a weekend at home as it was,
according to Duffie, easier to get fuel for a Hurricane than for a car.
On leaving Colerne, Duffie was posted in turn to 30 MU at Sealand, 13 MU at Henlow, 54 MU at
Newmarket, and 14 Radio School, later folded into the Empire Radio School, at Debden. Duffie flew
many of the single- and multi-engined British and American types used by the RAF during his flight
test postings, from Magister, Argus and Vengeance to Lancaster, Fortress and Liberator, for a total of 34
types.
But as the war went on, pain from his earlier injuries became more intense and Duffie eventually
stopped flying in 1947, to be discharged from the RAF on medical grounds. It is believed he never flew
again.
Plt Off Cecil W Duffie in
1941.
With special thanks to Graham Trueman, nephew of Cecil Duffie
Logbook extract showing
Duffie’s first flight in a Fortress,
FK198, and the emergency
landing in Mustang
I AG548 on April 5, 1943,
for some reason mis-entered
as ‘LG953’. (All images via
Graham Trueman, son of
Cecil W Duffie)
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