M20gull

I'm glad I bought the copy of Straight and Level. For the period that we are interested in it is pretty well covered by Fighters over the Aegean but it helps to see it in context. The book was published in 1993 so far from contemporary and some of the details might be expected to be a bit off. The overall story is there: inability to reach the Ju86 with Hurricanes and Spitfires, modifications of the Spitfire Vs, use of the marker role, Genders' success. So I thought I would just look at some of the details. Cross quotes a controller as using 274 squadron's Hurricanes to try and intercept the first Ju86 flights. There is no mention in their ORB and I think that is because they were based in Lbya during this period. Now I just need to root around to see who it might have been. There is reference to the Air Ministry ordering pressurised Spitfires but these would not be available for some time (we know that they arrived in the Middle East in October - incidentally I finally found the confirmation on its shipping log that Ripley arrived with the VIs in Takoradi on 3.10.42; the document from the National Archives ended in 1941 so I assumed it was incomplete but looked again and it was just copied out of order.) Regarding the Mk Vs, Cross says "there were a few at Aboukir being modified for the DAF and two were allotted to us". So "a few" or "two", not the three usually quoted. At he time he was in command of 219 Group so I assume that is what he means by "us". The Spitfires are flown by the Aboukir test pilots so he is talking about 103 MU interceptions. There is nothing new about the modifications but it does suggest a sequence to them: Remove armour and machine guns, IFF and survival kit Replace cannon with machine guns and use a smaller battery Increase power by increasing compression ratio (with a caveat about throttle opening at take-off) Remove radio and use a Marker Regarding this last one there is another point of detail. The book is not overlong on dates but the introduction of the Marker is a few days before Reynolds' interception on 24 August, the date for which is given. The conventional narrative as per the Aeroplane Spotter article is that the Marker is after that date but we already know that the system was in use on 20 August with 145 Squadron. The other detail relates to Genders' long swim home; Cross suggests he was rescued almost at once by an Egyptian felucca.

The summary is taking longer than I expected. Life has got in the way a bit and the Bing Cross book Straight and Level arrived to distract me and that has added some more data to the mix.

I have been working on the summary but in the meantime came across some more detail on the use of the first Mk IXs in July 1943. 80 squadron were involved in the action on 2.7.43 that resulted in the destruction of a Ju 86. I have discussed the use of the IXs by 80 squadron later in the year but I missed a scramble on 7.7.43 which elaborates on the relationship with 451 squadron. 80 were then based at Savoia and the ORB summary says "A Spitfire IX working with us and four of our Spitfire Vc were scrambled". The detailed record says "Blue and Green sections with 1 Spit IX (No. 16 SOR Pilot F/O Watts from No 451 Sqn) scrambled" The combat report has "1 Spitfire IX of 451 Sqdn temporarily working with 80 Sqdn" Nowhere does it tell us which Spitfire IX. Ken Watts flies both of these in the period and this forum post tells us the plane is JL228. Pilots from 80 Squadron fly JL228 and JK980 in July; I had not spotted one of the references as it is listed as a Vc. The Ju 86 flies above 42,000ft and the Spit IX can not get above 40,000 (indicated). In this operation JL228 only expends cannons shells suggesting it has had its machine guns removed; this is consistent with reports for the other IXs at this stage.

http://2.33.savoie.free.fr/html/gr2_33.html has the photo dated as November and gives EP656 as the serial for the French V.

Wikipedia has gr2/33 arriving in Italy in May 1944 and leaving for France in August, converting from Vs to IXs in September.

And then I'm reading Alfred Price's The Spitfire Story and in respect of the VII it says that for operations at extreme altitudes the cannon, wing tanks and armour were removed! The book also has photos of BS274 on its towing trials.

I'm not so confident about this suggestion now. I realised that I had overlooked the simple fact that BR639 flew with 64 Squadron in August before joining the SS Flight. And while BS274 did not apparently go to Northolt I now know that the AAEE at Boscombe Down had a HA Flight and 274 did go to Boscombe Down. Maybe BS274 was the right answer after all.

I would add an honourable mention to some planes that might have been included but I felt didn’t quite match the description: production VIs and VIIs. They are definitely high altitude and compared to the rest of the Spitfires they are special but then they are production standards PS852 see this discussion. There are none more higher but I’m not aware of any special mods for this one EN409, the PR XI used by Tony Martindale for high speed testing. Definitely special and high altitude but not used for interception

Well I think I have reached the end of my subject. I will be adding a summary of the planes we have looked at and what I think about them. I will conclude with a set of questions for things where I think we we can still find more answers. When I started I had no idea there was so much to learn about such a small part of the Spitfire’s history, let alone the RAF’s. It might seem that there were just a few special planes and a few special pilots but that sits at the end of a whole structure from design, development and production, through the delivery systems of ships, naval protection and ferry routes to the squadron structure and the logistics of keeping them running. We have met pilots from all around the world each providing their own slice of history. Oh, I haven’t forgotten I still have books in the post so I hope this subject isn’t closed! Maybe I’ll even get back to some modelling.

AB450 is the prototype VII, converted from a V and with a Merlin 61 fitted. It appears in a number of photos, see for example https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/supermarine-spitfire-mk-vii/ which has some of it in day fighter as presumably its earliest version and some in what looks like high altitude but without cannons. The day fighter version has a fin guard on it. The high altitude version has a very light-coloured spinner, possibly even white? Sadly there are none of it obviously in these colours from the database: "original day ftr camouflage painted over PR blue upper/deep sky (No.2 pattern) under surfaces" which is after its move to Northolt. No 2 pattern simply denotes a high demarcation line like bombers. This has previously been covered on spitfire-vii-prototype-ab540-colours-stated-pru-blue-over-deep-sky The full text from the database is: FF 22-8-42 CRD R-R Contract Cv proto FVII M61 8-42 AAEE for trials R-RH 10-9-42 prop reduction gear change supercharger mods RAF Special Flt Northolt 16-9-42 original day ftr camouflage painted over PR blue upper/deep sky (No.2 pattern) under surfaces AAEE 10-42 carbon monoxide cockpit contam trials cool trials with new reduction gear R-R fitt of tail parachute and fin guard 124S 25-1-43 AAEE 13-2-43 CE 14-6-44

The Aeronautical Society report in the previous post includes a mention of another High Altitude Flight at Bari in Italy. I have found no details on this at all anywhere else. Any ideas?

Before I get to AB450 I wanted to write about James Christian “Jimmy” Nelson III. Jimmy was the leader of the Northolt SS Flight and leader of 124 Squadron. A reasonable biography is here on the American Air Museum site but it has a few issues. Jimmy was born in 1918, the son unsurprisingly of James Christian Nelson II. James Christian I had anglicised his name of Jens Christian Nielsen when moving from Denmark to the USA in the 1870s. Jimmy’s last operations with 133 were 3 out of the 4 patrols on Operation Jubilee. The squadron then had a fortnight off and re-equipped with Spitfire IXs. This seems to be when Jimmy would have moved to Northolt as he does not feature on 133’s ops in September. Luckily for him especially as it means he was not involved in the Morlaix disaster when an entire patrol of 12 aircraft was lost, with 6 pilots killed. Jimmy moved to 124 squadron at the beginning of January just before the rest of the SS Flight and stayed there until July. While at North Weald he had his first son (it’s mentioned in the ORB!), yep James Christian IV who went on to serve in US Special Forces in Vietnam. I don’t think Jimmy goes straight to RAE Farnborough as the ORB has him heading to Boscombe Down. There was another High Altitude Flight at Boscombe Down that according to this report was involved in work on contrails.so that could have been his destination. I’m not convinced by the dates in the rest of the timeline but he certainly was at Farnborough in the Aerodynamics Flight as shown in the photo on this page. I was unsuccessful in finding out the details of his Mosquito crash. His AFC is on the same honours list as Roly Falk’s and Jimmy gets to fly a 707 alongside Roly in the Vulcan on its first flight and its first public display at Farnborough in 1952. After his return to America he became a government official and died in 1971 at the age of 52, the same age as his father.

Of the 8 aircraft that transfer to North Weald, BR639 is lost to its accident, AB450 (the Mk VII prototype which I will discuss separately) is transferred back to AAEE, and the other six are used on operations by 124 Squadron. 124 continues to refer to operations by the SS Flight long after the transfer. The two remaining IXs continue to use their BF serials, both reverting to the correct BS serial when they transfer, BS271 to 331 Squadron in April, BS273 to 453 Squadron in May via the same Servicing Unit it used before arriving at Northolt. I've not seen any evidence that the other four aircraft are modified and they do seem to be just absorbed into 124 Squadron without much comment, other than the reference to the SS Flight. Maybe the SS just indicates the flight used for high-level interceptions. 124, which only operate VIs before the transfer and upgrade to VIIs in 1943 are not kept very busy, presumably because the high-level threat is so limited. I am therefore only going to look at AB450 as a special high altitude plane.

The BR639 incident is in the 124 ORB. BR639 suffers engine failure on take off and crashes into Mk VI BR181 in a dispersal bay killing LAC Jones so this is an eighth transfer from SF Northolt. The pilots and aircraft physically transfer to North Weald on the 20th but do not transfer to 124 until 25th. Whether BR639 is modified in any way is an open question. The notes on the production database for BR639 and BR181 are definitely confused: BR639 FF4-8-42 R-RH Cv IX M61 64S 6-8-42 AST 24-8-42 HA Flt Northolt 16-9-42 FA 21-9-42 HAL SS Sqdn Northolt 31-12-42 engine failed on takeoff struck BR181 CE 21-1-43 SOC 28-1-43 AST 15-2-43 405ARF 24-10-43 AST 31-5-44 VA mods 15-11-44 58OTU 8-4-45 sold scrap H.Bath 10-11-49 BR181 FF 21-3-42 8MU 25-3-42 616S 9-5-42 AST 20-5-42 124S 25-1-43 engine failed on takeoff North Weald hit by BR639 CE 21-2-43 FH264.25 BR639 looks like it was salvaged. Not so BR181.

The next job was to form a view on the third IX that was supposed to join. I had hoped it would be as simple as it being BS274 which also suffered being mis-serialled as BF274 but I think there is another contender. I looked again at the database and found the following planes that had a connection to Northolt: Mk V AB380 which joined SF Northolt on 23-10-42 but did not move to 124 squadron Mk VIs BR318 and BR585 which left SF Northolt before the move to 124 Six Mk IXs that joined SF Northolt after the move to 124 There are two Mk IX contenders: BS457 which joined SF Northolt 30-9-42 but moved to 316S 14-3-43 and BR639 which joined HA Flt Northolt on 16-9-42 FA 21-9-42 HAL SS Sqdn Northolt 31-12-42 engine failed on takeoff struck BR181 CE 21-1-43 I’m suggesting BR639 which is another Hucknall conversion, joined at the right time but was damaged before it got the chance to move to 124. I have no other evidence. This link does however suggest a connection to 124 squadron at North Weald that might bear further investigation. [Edit: see next post]

I had hoped to form a view on what the flight was called but I cannot. When the flight moves to 124 squadron at North Weald it is simply referred to as the SS Flight. I have seen Special Service and Special Spitfire. On the production database for BS271 and BS273 it is called Special Flt Northolt, which does not help. The 124 ORB says in January 1943 that when six pilots and aircraft of the SS flight transfer to 124 squadron it has “a VI, besides IXs and some VIIs”. The ORB actually lists 8 pilots, not 6. The database suggests 7 aircraft transfer to 124 squadron on 25.1.43. As well as the two IXs there is the VI BR326 and the following VIIs AB450, BS121 (Says 123 Squadron but they were flying Hurricanes in the Western Desert), BS142 and EN285. Looking at the database these planes are allocated to: HA Flt Northolt - BS121, BS142, EN285 SF Northolt - BR326 Special Flt Northolt - AB450, BS271, BS273

Galitzine’s Mk IX is famous so I will start there. The subject of Northolt was larger than I expected so there is quite a bit to discuss and i will start with a well-documented one. Sadly there is no photo of BS273 while in its Northolt specification so some elements remain speculative. Orders were given for three IXs to be taken straight from the production line so it seems strange that the production database shows an earlier visit to 64 squadron FF 14-8-42 R-RH Cv IX M61 64S 16-8-42 AFDU Duxford 16-8-42 Cranfield 3501SU 27-8-42 Special Flt Northolt 5-9-42 (the companion BS271 does too). I suspect that the movement card will show this struck out as neither plane show up in 64’s ORB and BS273 moves to the Air Fighting Development Unit on the same date before going to a service unit. There is a photo of BS273 at one of these earlier stages in its factory paint here, for example, showing it with the incorrectly applied serial BF273 (BS271 was apparently similarly afflicted). It is converted from a Mk V but seems to have a production engine cowl. The following modifications are included in the database: Wood prop, armour removed, armament reduced to 2x20mm can i think Galitzine suggested they dispensed with his Mae West and dinghy, presumably in the hope that any interception would be over land! It is suggested here that the rear view mirror was dispensed with. Unlike in North Africa the radio was retained which allowed Galitzine to operate solo. I have not seen confirmation that the changes were made to BS271 but would have to think it likely, though its database entry does not show any visit elsewhere. The next bit of the database entry is where the most discussion arises. “lightweight pt finish”. This has been well covered on these pages but I’m going to have a view. It’s blue. There is no photo so which blue you choose is up to you. If you opt for PRU blue you are in good company, the AZ kit chooses this and the flight were told to paint it PRU blue so that seems a reasonable choice. In my mind, painting it a standard RAF paint is not a “lightweight paint finish” so I could conceive that is was first painted PRU blue (as ordered) then stripped and re-coloured to save weight. At this point you are definitely free to choose. DK decals opt for Sky Blue but anything that fits Galitzine’s comment of “a special lightweight finish, which gave it a colour rather like Cambridge blue” would seem to suffice. Incidentally http://planehunters.com/63-2 suggests that “as an interim, similar to the earlier Mark VC, two latest model Spitfires, Mark IXs, were painted a light blue” adding weight to my earlier proposal that Reynolds’ BR114 should be a light colour, though without a supporting reference. I’m confident that, regardless of it being repainted, and unlike this example, BS273 still has the wrong serial. When it ends up at 124 squadron (more on this to follow shortly) it is still referred to as BF273. The next bit of the database entry has “operated under code Windgap reached height of 45000ft”. Don’t know about Windgap but I guess it could just refer to the high-flying programme in general.

On to Northolt. The story of Galitzine’s famous interception is well covered in a couple of Alfred Price’s books and on this webpage. It is also a feature of this discussion. The discussion on ww2aircraft.net mentions the policy of not warning for raids of single aircraft and hence the bombs arrived in Bristol without warning. The bombing is dealt with briefly here and illustrates the urgency. Unusually i am going to start with the pilot. See this obituary for Galitzine’s story.

Just before we leave North Africa I wanted to return to the photo of ‘BR114’ in the Aeroplane Spotter article and those B roundels. Today I was reading August 2009 Flypast which has an article about these Spitfires and also has this photo. The caption suggests it is in High Altitude scheme. Summer of 1942 is too early for that scheme to be finalised but it did make me look again at the photo. I’m still confident this is BR114 because it has the ‘Irene’ name on the side and the extra pipe from the exhaust. We have photos of BR114 from its later periods with the Mk VIs and in 451 squadron and it is in camo for both of those. So I think it has to be from the earlier summer 1942 period. As well as having the B roundel it appears to my untrained eye that there is no obvious demarcation suggestive of a desert scheme and the upper colour looks identical to the lower one. So I tentatively suggest that while with 103MU this plane, and possibly therefore the others, was painted in a pale colour all over and the B roundels added. As for the colour I suppose there are several contenders like Sky or one of the pale blues. I like the idea of Sky all over but I’m guessing obviously!

I don't think I have much to add for the Natural Metal aircraft. I did see a suggestion that the engines were improved and I note from one of the ORBs that on taking over the planes from another squadron the engines had to have a 50 hour inspection, which I think is consistent. The only markings they have is the serial number. Overall they are bare metal, the armoured panel over the fuel tank is a slightly darker colour as it is an aluminium alloy (Duralumin IIRC). The extended wingtips are locally made and I do not think they have lights. The Natural Metal planes see very little action and their removal from the squadrons in November follows the withdrawal of the German recco unit from Crete in October 1944. I am certain there will be more to add to this story and I will find out more things (I still have another book in the post) and I want to cover Northolt too. There is a flourish that seems to tie the end of the Mediterranean HA Spitfires with its beginning. BP985, which is assumed to be the first modified plane, is struck off charge on 27.10.44 after forecelanding on a beach and overturning at El Gamil on 7.10.44. The ORB of 9 SAAF, based at Gamil and then flying two of the Natural Metal Spitfires, contains the following: "On 7th October Lt. Bartman executed a skillful forced landing on the strip of beach 10 miles from the aerodrome... While belly-landing the aircraft struck a soft patch, turned on its back and was broken up. Lt Bartman luckily escaped uninjured."

There are good photos of some of these Natural Metal SHFs here: https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/84234-special-lightened-high-altitude-african-spitfires and watermarked photos here: http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2760&sid=68aa477f02a285f68c2be1586a38f658&start=75 I wonder if this one from the second link might be MJ227.

And on the subject of Natural Metal markers, I still cannot see radio masts on any of them. I assume Aboukir must have found a way of wiring an aerial another way.

My current thinking is: Strikers: MA504, MA792, MH931 Markers: MJ227, MH946, MH993 Though I am prepared to be proved wrong...

Further up I commented on respect of the Natural Metal IXs: "There are 6 SHFs and this is referenced in 41's ORB for April ... The other 4 are allocated to 213 and 94 squadron,... 213 are allocated MH931 and MH993. No detail on the other four. " I think I'm now prepared to hazard a guess on who gets which. We know 931 and 993 are with 213 as it says so in their ORB. These two transfer to 41 SAAF in June. In July, 10 SAAF receive MA504 and MJ227, these must come from 41 as in August 227 goes to Aboukir and is replaced with MH946 from 94 squadron. That means MA792 must be the other 94 squadron plane. 10's pair are passed to 9 SAAF when 10 is shut down in September and then this pair are "lost", presumably back to Aboukir. 41's remaining pair operate on detachment in Cyprus until October when they return to base before 41 is shut down in November.

Ok, enough distractions. Back on track. I thought I had got a bit muddled with the Natural Metal IXs so I have gone back to the beginning, which is a shame as I thought this would be the easy bit. It did not help me that the hunter/killer naming is used instead of the old striker/marker pair. I will only use striker and marker, with the marker having the radio. I first wanted to summarise the armament as it develops to get to 1944, which helped me to clarify which one is which. To start with, the then new-to-theatre Mk V was used in standard configuration. When that could not get high enough they were lightened by removing the machine guns. Then to gain a bit more the pair of cannon was replaced with machine guns (I think usually a 0.5" but some sources suggest 0.303"). These machine gun-equipped strikers lost their radios and were then paired with a radio-equipped marker. My impression is that the markers varied over the period until the IXs turn up. After all, you only need the marker to get close to the target so it doesn't need all the height of a striker. So you can use a standard Vc , or a Hurricane, if that's all you have. When the IXs arrive there is a change. The difference between cannon and machine gun is only about 100ft of altitude. So the special IX strikers keep the cannon and lose the machine guns. I suspect that the IXs in camouflage that accompany BS342 act as markers and probably keep all their armament. As before, other planes can be used as markers when needed. 80 squadron operate their specials in pairs at three sites. When they lose two of their IXs in flying accidents at different sites they use Mk Vs. The flight that operates in Italy is different as all the planes have radios but no machine guns. The Natural Metal IXs have cannons on the strikers and machine guns on the markers.