PLTOFF Bruce Little 403521
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| Squadron/s | 457 SQN |
| Rank On Discharge/Death | Pilot Officer (PLTOFF) |
| Date of Birth | 24 Jan 1921 |
| Contributing Author/s | Paul Carter, Phil Listemann Updated by Vince Conant July 2013 The Spitfire Association |
Bruce Little was born on 24 January 1921 in North Sydney, NSW and enlisted in Sydney.
A58-81 F.VC BS199 Arrived in Australia on SS Teak 14/11/42. Rec Sydney ex UK 20/10/42. Issued 2AD ex Wharf for erection 26/10/42. Rec 1FW ex wharf 29/10/42. Rec 457Sqn RAAF ex 1FW 05/11/42. Accident on landing at Richmond 05/11/42 with damage to airscrew. NFDs. In service 457Sqn RAAF 15/11/42. Coded "S" then ZP-S with Gremlin motif: Sky fuselage band. Operational loss 0910hrs 10/05/43 when Millinginbi detachment of 5 Spitfires scrambled to intercept an enemy raid with 9 enemy Zekes approaching 9000 feet. During the intercept, two Zekes were shot down with a probable destruction of another by pilot of BS199. On returning to base and landing (with damage to his trim by e/a previously) he discontinued his landing roll and took off again when he saw approaching flight of 3 Zekes. He had a dogfight with the trailing Zeke which lasted some 10 minutes between 100 and 300 feet above the aerodrome. During his last manoeuvre, after taking his eyes off the Zeke, he realised his aircraft was approaching the ground from 200 feet and at 160mph. His aircraft's air scoop hit the ground and caused the aircraft to somersault 3 times, roll, losing both wings, airscrew and tail. Pilot; P/O B Little Serv#403521 was injured, but managed to walk back the three miles to the aerodrome. Issued 7RSU ex 457Sqn RAAF 13/05/43. AMSE Approval to convert to components per File#9/16/827 Min#9 07/06/43. May 1998 held by Robert Eastgate, Point Cook, Australia. Photos held. ADF SERIALS
This photograph of Pilot Officer Bruce Little of 457 Sqn graced the front page of official RAAF magazine Wings dated May 11th 1943. On the previous day of this issue, this young man had a very eventful first contact with Japanese fighters attempting to raid Millingimbi Island. Flying Spitfire Vc A58-81, coded ZP-S, he received damage that obliged him to hurriedly put down on Millingimbi's east-west runway. Observing three Zeros strafing along the north-south runway, he realised his danger and immediately took off again, engaging in a fiercely twisting and turning fight with one of the enemy at extremely low altitude and scoring hits from 500 – 300 yards.
The highly manoeuvrable Zero had little trouble out-turning Bruce's Spitfire and was soon on his tail, though failing to hit him. It all came to a spectacular end when he found himself diving straight at the ground with no room for recovery, just managing to pull the nose up before impact at something like 200 m.p.h. Both wings and the tail unit were ripped off, but miraculously the fuselage remained intact to slither to a halt. Amazed to be still alive and unhurt, Bruce Little unstrapped, climbed out and walked back to base.
The Zero was seen heading north with a very rough-running engine and correspondingly slow airspeed, and an explosion was heard shortly afterwards. With the subsequent report of an oil slick about a mile offshore, P/O Little was credited with a 'probable'. Tough luck for the Zero pilot, but Bruce must have considered himself very fortunate indeed!
Interestingly, the remains of A58-81 still exist in the hands of Mr. Bob Eastgate, who has it stored along with the remains of four other Spitfires at Point Cook, Victoria.
This cover photograph shows Bruce Little whilst still a Sergeant-Pilot and climbing aboard another of the squadron's Spitfires. [Wings, text by Tim Prosser]
