109's and 190's

At that time the German Air Force was, not, they were, they had other duties elsewhere but particularly over Anzio we would get forty or fifty coming in at a time and on one occasion there were eight of us being led by our flight commander, and we were coming in from the south and there was about fifty 109's and Focke-Wulf 190's and we just happened to get stuck in. It started at about 28,000 feet and it was just a complete mess and I never saw so many black crosses in my life as they went by and you’d lose altitude and I ended up on the deck, chasing a 190 that was trying to get back north of Rome and we were literally on the deck and I just was unloading everything, and I finally got him. The fella just pulled up and crashed. So that was a 190 and then another one on the same day, on another day, I got a 109 damaged. We had nothing but respect for the Focke-Wulf 190, a fine aircraft, radial engine and also the 109. It was pretty fast, not as quite as maneuverable as the Spit but fine aircraft. And they were excellent, excellent pilots. We had nothing but respect for them, they were good. I think the Spit was more maneuverable because of the elliptical wing but when it came to speed and particularly in a dive, the 109 was pretty damn good, Messerschmitt and then the Focke-Wulf too. Nothing but respect for them.

Mr. Yarnell describes encounters with German ME - 109's and Focke Wulf 190's in Italy and talks about the differences between the planes.

Cyrill St. Clair (Cy) Yarnell

Mr. Yarnell was born August 9, 1920 in Carlow, Ireland. He moved to Canada when he was 8 years old. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940 at the age of 20. Mr Yarnell received his initial pilot training in Victoriaville, Quebec where he learned to fly the Fleet Finch, he then graduated on to the Harvard. He received flying instructor training in Trenton and trained pilots from many countries. After instructing for a year, Mr. Yarnell was sent overseas. He flew missions over North Africa, Italy and Germany and was involved in the battles at Liri Valley and Monte Cassino. Following the war, Mr. Yarnell continued with the RCAF, retiring in 1975 as a colonel. He is a member of the Air Force Association of Canada and is very active with the Air Force Museum in Trenton, Ontario. Mr. Yarnell and his wife, Phyllis, have three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.