Western Air Command was the part of the Royal Canadian Air Force's Home War Establishment responsible for air operations on the Pacific coast of Canada during the Second World War.
 When Canada declared war against Germany in September 1939 the command consisted of only five squadrons.
 Four of them equipped with obsolete aircraft including a bomber squadron with aircraft from the Great War and there were no fighter aircraft at all for its only fighter squadron (113 Fighter Squadron was thus disbanded).
 With the Japanese threat after Pearl Harbor it grew rapidly and played a critical role in fighter and anti-submarine operations in Canadian and American waters during the Aleutian Islands Campaign.
 It was there that Squadron Leader K.A. Boomer of No. 111 Squadron shot down a Rufe fighter, the RCAF's only kill in the Pacific Theatre.
 On 7 July 1942 a Bristol Bolingbroke pressed home an attack on the Japanese Submarine Ro 32 the pilot F/Sgt.
 P.M.G. Thomas of No. 115 Squadron RCAF then led American Destroyers to sink the damaged submarine.
 By January 1943 Western Air Command had expanded to include many bomber, fighter and operational units under its control.
 By the end of the war the command would involve some twenty squadrons when the last units to join were added in 1943.
 These were the 163 Army Cooperation Squadron in March flying Bristol Bolingbrokes and Hawker Hurricanes, in May the 160 Bomber-Reconnaissance Squadron was added flying Cansos from Sea Island BC (before moving to Yarmouth NS in July) and the 166 Communication Squadron formed in September flying various types.
 In addition to the new squadrons, new aircraft types came on line replacing the command's remaining Supermarine Stranraers and Blackburn Sharks with Canso's and the Bolingbrokes and Beauforts with the Lockheed Ventura.
 Countless training missions and operational patrols bolstered the air activity over the coastal areas but there was not much action until RCAF Western Command was on the look out for General Kusaba's Fire Balloons that the Japanese called the Fūsen Bakudan Campaign.
 In February and March 1945, P-40 fighter pilots from 133 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force operating out of RCAF Patricia Bay (Victoria, British Columbia), intercepted and destroyed two fire balloons, On 21 February, Pilot Officer E. E. Maxwell While shot down a balloon, which landed on Sumas Mountain, in Washington State.
 On 10 March, Pilot Officer J. O. Patten destroyed a balloon near Saltspring Island, British Columbia.
 During another interception a Canso forced down a fire balloon which was examined at the army headquarters.
 Patrol activity was joined by the Operational Training Schools (OTS) operated by Number 4 Training Command of the BCATP.
 They were the No. 3 OTS flying the Canso and Catalina and No. 32 OTS with Ansons, Beauforts and Swordfish at Patricia Bay.
 In April, 1944 the No. 5 OTS Heavy Conversion unit stood up at Boundary Bay when 16 B-24 Liberators arrived fresh from American factories.
 By the end of September 1944 RCAF 5 O.T.U. had grown to sizeable force of some 87 aircraft including 38 B-24 Liberators, 35 B-25 Mitchells, 5 Bolingbrokes, 8 P-40 Kittyhawks and a single Norseman.
 With the end of the war in Europe these aircraft were joined by a number of Victory Aircraft Lancaster X bombers which were to be used to train the British Commonwealth's Very Long Range Bomber Tiger Force that would soon be sent to bomb the Japanese mainland from Okinawa.
 With the unconditional surrender of Japan the RCAF's Tiger Force bomber squadrons were disbanded before they flew overseas and the total draw down of the Western Air Command was suddenly undertaken.
 Within several months almost all the flying squadrons would be completely stood down.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder, {'1': ", '2': ", '3': ", '4': "} (11 July 1890 – 3 June 1967) was a senior Royal Air Force commander.
 He was a pilot and squadron commander in the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and he went on to serve as a senior officer in the Royal Air Force during the inter-war years when he served in Turkey, Great Britain and the Far East.
 During the Second World War, as Air Officer Commanding RAF Middle East Command, Tedder directed air operations in the Mediterranean and North Africa, including the evacuation of Crete and "Operation Crusader" in North Africa.
 His bombing tactics became known as the "Tedder Carpet".
 Later in the war Tedder took command of Mediterranean Air Command and in that role was closely involved in the planning of the Allied invasion of Sicily and then the Allied invasion of Italy.
 When Operation Overlord—the invasion of France—came to be planned, Tedder was appointed Deputy Supreme Commander at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force under General Eisenhower.
 After the war he served as Chief of the Air Staff, in which role he advocated increased recruiting in the face of many airmen leaving the service, doubled the size of RAF Fighter Command and implemented arrangements for the Berlin Airlift in 1948.
 After the war he held senior positions in business and academia.
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force along with many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War and afterwards into the 1950s as both a front line fighter and also in secondary roles.
The Hawker Tornado was a British single-seat fighter aircraft design of World War II for the Royal Air Force as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane.
 The planned production of Tornados was cancelled after the engine it was designed to use—the Rolls-Royce Vulture—proved unreliable in service.
 A parallel airframe with the Napier Sabre continued into production as the Hawker Typhoon.
Anthony Ross Henzell Hayter (20 May 1920 – 6 April 1944), known as Tony, was a Royal Air Force Vickers Wellington bomber pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War.
 He took part in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, but was one of the men recaptured and subsequently shot by the "Gestapo".
No. 87 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) air intelligence squadron.
 It saw action during World War II as a photo reconnaissance squadron, being raised in September 1944 through the re-designation of No. 1 Photo Reconnaissance Unit, which had been formed in June 1942.
 Throughout the war, No. 87 Squadron flew a variety of aircraft from bases in Australia, gathering photographic intelligence on Japanese forces and installations throughout the Pacific.
 At the conclusion of hostilities, the squadron was disbanded but was later re-formed in 1948, carrying out aerial survey operations in Australia until 1953.
 In 2006, it was re-raised again as a non-flying squadron tasked with air intelligence analysis as part of the Information Warfare Directorate within the RAAF's Air Warfare Centre.
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War.
 Replaced by newer designs later on during the Second World War it has not survived as well as its contemporary the Supermarine Spitfire.
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries before, during and after World War II.
 The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations, and was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft.
 It was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war.
 The Spitfire continues to be popular among enthusiasts; about 54 remain airworthy, while many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world.
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–1940s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force (RAF).
 Although overshadowed by the Supermarine Spitfire, the aircraft became renowned during the Battle of Britain, accounting for 60 percent of the RAF air victories in the battle, and served in all the major theatres of the Second World War.
Alastair Donald Mackintosh "Sandy" Gunn (27 September 1919 – 6 April 1944), was a British Supermarine Spitfire photo reconnaissance pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War.
 Gunn took part in the "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, and was one of the men re-captured and subsequently executed by the "Gestapo".

Question: Alastair Donald Mackintosh "Sandy" Gunn (27 September 1919 – 6 April 1944), was a British photo reconnaissance pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War, who flew which British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries?
Answer: Supermarine Spitfire