Dedication of CWHM Spitfire Mk. XVIe
A Tribute to S/L Thomas DeCourcy, DFC

Story and photos by Gord McNulty
July 2025
A heartwarming event was held at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWHM) on 7 June 2025, with the dedication of the museum’s Spitfire Mk. XVIe in memory of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Squadron Leader Thomas DeCourcy, DFC, (1921-1945) of Windsor, ON.
The story of the CWHM Spitfire Mk XVI dedicated to Sqdn. Leader Tommy DeCourcy.
The recognition for Thomas DeCourcy, or Tommy as he was known, was fitting. In recognition of his achievements, the museum’s aircraft has been impressively refinished in the 443 Squadron RCAF markings of DeCourcy’s Spitfire.
The CWHM Spitfire, refinished in the markings of Sqdn. Leader Thomas DeCourcy, DFC, at the Dedication on 7 June 2025.
Twenty-eight family relatives attended the dedication ceremony. Veterans, aviation enthusiasts and community members joined in honour of a pilot with a remarkable legacy of service.

DeCourcy survived multiple accidents during the Second World War, only to die tragically in a car accident in Germany a month after the Nazis surrendered.  

Although he was one of Canada’s most experienced and respected Spitfire pilots, his story was relatively little known.  CWHM marketing manager Al Mickeloff described DeCourcy’s life in the Spring 2025 issue of the museum’s Flightlines magazine. Some of the highlights are outlined here.

Tommy enlisted in the RCAF in the summer of 1940, having just turned the age of 19. He arrived overseas in 1941, training on the Miles Master before transitioning to the Hawker Hurricane. Near the completion of his training in February 1942, he suffered a fractured skull and leg injuries while a passenger in a serious vehicle accident involving a service transport during a blackout.
Tommy spent six weeks recovering in hospital. That initial setback was the precursor of three subsequent aircraft crashes that he survived.

F/Sgt DeCourcy flew combat operations in a Spitfire Mk. V with 118 Squadron RAF, in fighter sweeps including the Dieppe Raid on 14 August 1942. He shared in downing a Dorner Do 217 during that battle.

On 19 November 1942, then W/O DeCourcy was forced to perform a wheels-up landing when the engine failed on his Spitfire Mk. V. He landed in a meadow and there wasn’t any fire.

The outcome wasn’t as successful in his next emergency. Tommy was attempting to take off in a Miles Martinet, towing a target for gunnery practice. The aircraft failed to get airborne as the propeller was set in coarse pitch. It hit a tree and burned. Tommy sustained a concussion, cuts and burns. His passenger was killed. Tommy spent the next six weeks recovering in the hospital.
He next flew two harrowing trips as a passenger on the Short Stirling bomber. Such trips were used to give fighter pilots a better understanding of the issues faced by bomber crews. On the first trip, an engine caught fire. On the second, two engines were damaged by enemy fire setting them both ablaze!

W/O DeCourcy, assessed by June 1943 as an “exceptionally keen type and a very good fighter pilot,” arrived at 421 “Red Indian” Squadron RCAF to fly the Spitfire Mk. IX in combat. He finished his first tour in February 1944 and was posted as an instructor fighter pilot in Grangemouth, Scotland.

On 5 May 1944, then F/O DeCourcy was practicing landings in a Miles Master when the engine quit on take off at only 300 feet. There wasn’t any open field to put down. The aircraft had one wing sheared off by a tree as it hit the ground. Tommy’s passenger sustained a head injury and a broken arm. Tommy claimed to have suffered only a scar, but nevertheless he spent 10 days in the hospital recovering.

He began his second tour in September 1944 and was excited to fly one of the squadron’s new Spitfire Mk. XVIs. On 14 February 1945, he “twitched” his way back to base alone after flak took two feet off his port aileron.

In March, then F/L DeCourcy was posted to 443 “Hornet” Squadron RCAF as the Squadron Commander and was also promoted to Squadron Leader. Tommy claimed a new Spitfire Mk. XVIe, one of the few featuring a bubble canopy, serial TD239, for himself and from then he flew only that Spitfire.

On 9 May 1945, Tommy was notified he would be awarded the Destinguished Flying Cross (DFC). The citation paid tribute to DeCourcy, among other attributes, as “a natural leader with a high sense of duty and courage” flying in “a very large number of sorties.”

On 7 June 1945, DeCourcy flew for an hour of formation flying that proved to be his last trip. Later that evening, 23-year-old Tommy was tragically killed in a car accident near Hamburg. During a violent rainstorm, the car he was driving skidded off the road and hit a tree.

Two days later, the entire squadron respectfully attended their leader’s funeral, a gesture demonstrating the high esteem that was held for Tommy.

His hometown newspaper, the Windsor Daily Star, then published an advertisement by Bond Clothes of Windsor prominently describing his DFC citation.

The advertisement stated in part: “Bond Clothes extends heartfelt sympathy to Tommy’s parents and sisters while bowing their heads in humble salute to the memory of this 23-year-old hero of the clouds.”
CWHM President and CEO Dave Rohrer paid tribute to Sqdn. Leader Tommy DeCourcy, DFC, at the Dedication on 7 June 2025.
David Rohrer, President & CEO of the CWHM, read High Flight, written by John Gillespie Magee Jr. after flying a Spitfire, during the dedication. He also credited then deputy prime minister Sheila Copps for her role in securing the long-term loan of the Spitfire from the Canada Aviation and Space Museum to the CWHM in 1997.

The museum plans to restore the Spitfire to flying condition when funds permit.

Watch the CTV News story here.