The Argentinian pilots who risked their lives ...for Britain

IN EARLY October 1942, Flight Lieutenant Donald McLarty was shot down over Libya on his 199th mission of the Second World War. Although he was flying for the Royal Air Force, his uniform was emblazoned with an unexpected word: Argentina.

Many foreigners fought for the various Allied air forces, but, until now, historians have largely focused on pilots from Czechoslovakia, Poland, France and Norway - all of which were occupied by German forces.

Few realise that more than 800 young men from neutral Argentina, some of them schoolboys, rushed to sign up as pilots and then made the long, dangerous trip to Europe by boat.

When Flt Lt McLarty climbed into his Hurricane fighter-bomber for a low-level attack on a German base in Libya, he needed to complete just two more missions to earn a long break from active duty. It was not to be.

"It was a very stupid operation ... the moment we crossed the coast, I could see the soldiers waiting," recalled Mr McLarty, now 85.

"I was hit immediately by ground fire in the engine and had oil all over my windscreen. All I could do was fly in formation with the guy next to me, and then my tail was blown off."

Flt Lt McLarty's plane smacked into the ground, barrelled straight through two parked German fighters and ended up in a pile of empty fuel drums.

German officers produced a glass of White Horse whisky for the 20-year-old - and then shipped him off to a prison camp.

Mr McLarty and others have been persuaded to speak about their wartime experiences by the Argentine historian Claudio Meunier, who spent a decade unearthing hidden stories of heroism and heartbreak.

"No-one had asked them, no one remembered them. The memories were painful," Mr Meunier said.

Some of the pilots were native Argentines, while the surnames of others reveal they were descended from British professionals who had helped develop the country's railways, mines and farms.

Michael Welch, another pilot, said: "Other people had fought for the freedoms we'd been living under and so I felt it incumbent on us to do the same thing, as the evil of Hitler was very, very serious indeed."

About 400 of the volunteers were accepted as pilots, while the rest served as gunners, bomb aimers or wireless operators. Some 150 were killed. Photos of the new recruits often show wiry young men on horseback.

Ricardo Moreno, 89, said: "The Argentines had the advantage that they were very sports-minded. They were good. They did very well in Britain because they were used to roughing it."

Many fought for the Royal Air Force while others flew with the Royal Canadian Air Force. The majority did their basic flight training in Canada, which became home to a host of the air crew after the war.

Mr Meunier has just finished a Spanish-language documentary, Voluntarios (Volunteers), about the pilots. In it, one recalled aborting a strafing run on ground transports because there was a horse-drawn cart and he didn't want to hurt the animal.

Voluntarios was shown for the first time last month in Canada's Aviation Museum during a ceremony to honour the 14 Argentines who died while serving in the RCAF. It has not been shown commercially.

Arturo Bothamley, the Argentine ambassador to Canada, told the gathering: "Without Meunier, the story would have been lost ... it is very significant to help keep the memory of courageous people living forever."

Their stories remained untold for a number of reasons, but partly because the pilots scattered, some staying in Europe, some going home and others emigrating.

"There hasn't been an occasion to make anything out of it," said Mr McLarty, who moved to Canada after the war to marry a woman he had met during training. He was later joined by some of those who had initially gone back to Argentina.

Mr Meunier says some of the veterans who returned kept quiet because of the political atmosphere under Argentina's then ruler, Juan Peron. Although Argentina had declared war on the Nazis in March 1945, it was no secret that some in the government were pro-German.

After the war, many senior Nazis escaped to Argentina, where they were openly welcomed, and the atmosphere made it hard for former RAF pilots to talk openly about fighting for the Allies.

"The pilots did not feel very comfortable," Mr Meunier said.

The silence did not erase the memories. Mr McLarty, who spent a year in an Italian prison camp before escaping, said: "During the first two or three flights, you had no idea what was happening. It was frightening. My feet were shaking on the rudder pedals."

FLYING IN THE FACE OF NAZI THREAT

SO MANY Argentines joined the RAF that a special squadron was created.

The motto of 164 Squadron was Firmes volamos (Determined We Fly) and its insignia was a British lion in front of a rising sun representing Argentina.

Some pilots adorned the side of their aircraft with a picture of a popular Argentine cartoon character called Paturuzu, an indigenous Indian with incredible strength.

The end of the war did not mark the end of everyone's fighting career. When Britain and Argentina went to war in 1982 over the Falkland Islands - known as the Malvinas in Argentina - some veterans volunteered to fight again.

Meunier says a few flew diversion flights near the British fleet while others commanded cargo planes carrying troops to the islands.

"People in the Second World War wanted to keep the world free. They didn't want Hitler to take over Argentina. They were fighting for others," he said. "In the Malvinas, they were fighting for Argentina."