page_title: John Plagis
section_title: First tour of operations
hierarchical_section_title: John Plagis / Air war in Europe and the Mediterranean / First tour of operations
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Air Force Fighter Command, 1939-1945. Flight Lieutenant J A Plagis (Rhodesian) and Flying Officer A J Hancock of No. 64 Squadron RAF, standing in front of a Supermarine Spitfire Mark V at Hornchurch, Essex. They had, between them, shot down 16 enemy aircraft in the air battles over Malta in 1941 and 1942.
context_page_description: Ioannis Agorastos "John" Plagis, DSO, DFC & Bar was a Southern Rhodesian flying ace in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, noted especially for his part in the defence of Malta during 1942. The son of Greek immigrants, he was accepted by recruiters only after Greece joined the Allies in late 1940. Following spells with No. 65 Squadron and No. 266 Squadron, he joined No. 249 Squadron in Malta in March 1942. Flying Spitfire Mk Vs, Plagis was part of the multinational group of Allied pilots that successfully defended the strategically important island against numerically superior Axis forces over the next few months. Flying with No. 185 Squadron from early June, he was withdrawn to England in early July 1942.
  After a spell as an instructor in the UK, Plagis returned to action in September 1943 as commander of No. 64 Squadron, flying Spitfire Mk VCs over northern France. He took command of No. 126 Squadron in June 1944, and led many attacks on German positions during the invasion of France and the campaign that followed; he was shot down over Arnhem during Operation Market Garden, but only lightly wounded.
context_section_description: Plagis's first major operation was Operation Spotter, the first of many British endeavours to reinforce the besieged island of Malta in the face of German and Italian assaults during the Battle of the Mediterranean. Malta was considered to be of vital strategic importance, and its defence was looking increasingly precarious in March 1942. Spotter was a plan to strengthen its British garrison with 16 new Spitfire Mk Vs, which would be carried part of the way from Gibraltar on the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, then flown to Malta; the pilots would then become part of the severely depleted No. 249 (Gold Coast) Squadron. The team of pilots comprised eight British airmen, four Australians, two New Zealanders and two Southern Rhodesians—Plagis and his close friend Pilot Officer Doug Leggo.
  The operation, carried out on 7 March 1942, was largely successful and 15 of the 16 Spitfires reached Malta. Plagis and Leggo arrived to find a third Rhodesian, Flight Officer George "Buck" Buchanan, already attached to the squadron. A further delivery of 16 Spitfires, Operation Picket I, was attempted on 21 March, but this was less successful; only nine of the planes arrived. Thirteen Spitfire reinforcement operations were ultimately launched between March and October 1942, playing a key role in the siege. The Luftwaffe and the Italian Regia Aeronautica meanwhile attempted to bomb Malta into submission, turning the airfields into "a wilderness of craters, the docks ... a shambles, Valletta a mass of broken limestone ..."
  The Luftwaffe launched a major attack against key Maltese airfields at dawn on 20 March. Leggo, who had not slept for over 24 hours, returned to the airfield in the early hours having spent the night with a girlfriend. As the German planes approached he was ordered to prepare to fly. Plagis attempted to stop his friend from going, but Leggo insisted on flying, and took off at 08:05 as part of a group of four Spitfires and 12 Hurricanes aiming to intercept a squadron of Messerschmitt Bf 109s. He was soon seen to be flying poorly. A German pilot noticed this and attacked Leggo from close range, seriously damaging his aircraft and forcing him to bale out. Another Bf 109 then swooped and either fired at Leggo or collapsed his parachute with its slipstream, causing him to fall to his death. When Plagis learned what had happened, he was inconsolable, holding himself responsible. In his journal, he vowed to "shoot down ten for Doug—I will too, if it takes me a lifetime".
  Plagis shot down his first enemy aircraft on 25 March 1942, and on 1 April achieved four more aerial victories in a single afternoon, thereby becoming the Siege of Malta's first Spitfire ace. His downing of four enemies in a few hours won him much praise from superiors and reporters, and contributed to his growing reputation as an aggressive but skilful combat pilot. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 1 May 1942, the citation noting that he had "destroyed 4 and probably destroyed a further 3 hostile aircraft". "With complete indifference to odds against him, he presses home his attacks with skill and courage," it continued—"He has set an outstanding example."
  On 11 May, Plagis attempted to down an Italian Reggiane Re.2001 by flying straight at it to ram it; taking erratic evasive manoeuvres, the Italian aircraft stalled and almost crashed into the sea. Thinking he had downed the enemy, Plagis claimed afterwards to have achieved an aerial victory without firing a shot, but the Italian flight reported no losses. Plagis's Spitfire was lightly hit during this engagement, and the Rhodesian had some luck returning safely; he landed with only three gallons (14 litres) of fuel left. On 16 May, Plagis and an English ace, Pilot Officer Peter Nash, destroyed a Bf 109 for a shared kill that became No. 249 Squadron's 100th victory over Malta. Amid the continuing siege, the need for a major supply convoy to Malta was becoming urgent; the Governor Lord Gort warned Britain in early June that if no supplies came by August, he would have to surrender to prevent a 
caption: Plagis (left) as commander of No. 64 Squadron, with fellow Malta veteran A J Hancock. RAF Hornchurch, England, c. 1943–44
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