Biography John Gillespie Magee
- Time Period1922 - 1941
- Place
Poet Biography
While the Battle of Britain raged on, a countless number of Americans crossed the border into Canada to enlist with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Although they were aware that they were breaking the law they volunteered to fight Hitlers Germany. The United States Government was still considered neutral during this time.
One of those such Americans, was John Gillespie Magee, Jr. He was born in Shanghai, China, in 1922, and was only 18 years old when he began flight training. He was sent to England within the year and posted to the newly formed No 412 Fighter Squadron, RCAF, which was mobilized at Digby, England, on 30 June 1941. He was then authorized and went to fly the Supermarine Spitfire.
Magee flew fighter sweeps over France and air defense over England against the German Luftwaffe and soon rose to rank of Pilot Officer. At the time, German bombers were converging the English Channel with great uniformity to assault Britain's cities and factories. Although the Battle of Britain was over, the Luftwaffe was still obligated to keep up the pressure on the British industry and the country.
On September 3, 1941, while Magee was test flying a newer model of the Spitfire V., reaching high altitudes of 30,000 feet, he was struck with the inspiration for a poem, To touch the face of God.
When he landed he wrote a letter to his parents in which he commented, I am enclosing a verse I wrote the other day. It started at 30,000 feet, and was finished soon after I landed." On the back of the letter, he jotted down his poem, "High Flight ."
On December 11, 1941, just three months later and only three days after the US entered the war Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., was killed. The Spitfire V he was flying, VZ-H, collided with an Oxford Trainer from Cranwell Airfield while over Tangmere, England. The two planes were flying emerged in the clouds and neither saw the other. He was only 19 years old.
