Lou Spence, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Lou Spence

Royal Australian Air Force fighter pilot

Date of Birth: 04-Apr-1917

Place of Birth: Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia

Date of Death: 09-Sep-1950

Profession: aircraft pilot

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Louis Thomas Spence, DFC & Bar (4 April 1917 – 9 September 1950) was a fighter pilot and squadron commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
During World War II he flew with No.
3 Squadron, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), and commanded No.
452 Squadron, receiving a Mention in Despatches.
He led No.
77 Squadron in the opening months of the Korean War, and was awarded a bar to his DFC, as well as the US Legion of Merit and the US Air Medal, for his leadership. Born in Bundaberg, Queensland, Spence worked in a bank before joining the RAAF in March 1940.
In August the following year he was posted to North Africa with No.
3 Squadron, which operated P-40 Tomahawks and Kittyhawks against German and Italian forces; he was credited with shooting down two German aircraft.
Spence commanded No.
452 Squadron in 1944, flying Supermarine Spitfires in defence of Australia's North-Western Area against the Japanese.
After a brief return to civilian life following World War II, he rejoined the RAAF in October 1946.
He took command of No.
77 Squadron, operating P-51 Mustangs as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, in February 1950.
The squadron went into action within a week of the outbreak of the Korean War in June.
Spence was killed during a low-level mission over South Korea in September 1950.