M20gull

I think I may have misread a serial number. MA399 may be one of the IXs that flies with 238 Squadron. On 18.9.43 238 squadron received 6 Spitfire IXs, four of which were held as a detachment at Aboukir and two at El Gamil. On 25.9.43 the detachment moved to Idku. On the ORB the two IXs at El Gamil are MA407 and MA456 (no suggestion that these are anything special). MA407 was rendered Cat II on 29.9.43 in wheels-up landing at El Gamil. There are three IXs mentioned in the detachment: BS342, MA478 and one that I had read as MA599 but could easily be MA399 given the quality of the scanning. @cdk' s post in this topic says "I have a small book titeled - Supermarine Spitfire - written by Peter Moss. On page 60 is a picture showing a line of four Mk IX. The caption say " Four Spitfire Mk.IX Bs in the Middle East-unit unknown- with Aboukir filters and extended wing-tips of local manufacture. ...". The picture is not in very good quality but it shows BS342, coded R, with the cowling in the RR conversion with the small bumps. The wing show the 20 mm cannon, but not the stups for the unused cannon bay. If the machine guns are installed are not visible in the picture. The wing extension looks to me not so pointed as the factory applied ones. The filter under the cowling is much in shadow, but it looks more like a Aboukir then the small one for the early Mk IX. I agree with you that this is not a really B wing. I suppose that this are weight reduced Spits, eventually with only the cannon armament and have something to do with catching the high flying Ju86 recon birds. The caption says also that BS342 and MA399 are wrecked in accidents during November 1943." The "small book" is the one that I have ordered. I presume that the "Four Spitfire Mk.IX Bs in the Middle East-unit unknown" could be the four on detachment (as they include BS342). Three are identifed from 238's ORB, one unknown. There is a stock photo of BS342 which is presented in the DK decals High Altitude set. The stock photo certainly looks like standard high altitude scheme. AZ Models did model BS342 but described as Italy, October 1944 which cannot have been correct if it was wrecked in November 1943. In October one of 238's IXs is a total loss and P/O FO Hawkes was killed. Four more are transferred to 274. In November 238 has two listed: MA484 and MA479 (again no suggestion these are special). 274 does not mention Mk IXs in October or November. [Edit: 274 is mentioned in 238's ORB; the absence of any reference in 274's ORB made me look further. In 74 Squadron's ORB for October "Two days after arriving at Idku (25.10.43) four Spit IXs were taken over from 238 Squadron". So this looks like a mistake in 238's ORB and should say "74" not "274". 74 do not bother with serial numbers in their ORB so not much help.]

A question related to BS342. In this topic there is discussion of a photo of BS342 from an old book(I’ve just ordered a used copy) and reference to an airframe I have not come across: MA399. In Spitfire the History this is referred to as a FIXT. Does this mean anything? On the Spitfire production database there are 17 IXTs, which one might interpret as tropical IXs.

Sorry, got distracted again. I had used up all my orders at the National Archives. I was waiting for some data on BS342 (which I now have - see below). In the meantime I thought I would look for some B pattern Mk Vs and stumbled over the Galitzine story in Alfred Price's book, spotted a reference to Jimmy Nelson and before you know it I am reading about Vulcans and Shackletons. Jimmy Nelson's story is definitely going to feature when we get to Northolt. So BS342. BS342 data includes "Algenib 20-12-42 Alexandria 31-12-42 Suez 17-3-43". The only other Spitfire with an Algenib reference that I have found is BS343 which includes "Algenib 31-12-42 Suez 17-3-43 Middle East 31-3-43" Taking advantage of the National Archives shipping register I find for the Algenib: Glasgow - arrived 31.12.42 sailed 3.1.43 Port Sudan - arrived 12.3.43, sailed 14.3.43 Suez - arrived 31.3.43, sailed 2.4.43 On 17.3.93 it looks like it was trying to unload at Suez but "no tugs available". In April Algenib calls at Port Sudan (again), Suez, Port Said (twice), Alexandria, Suez (again) and Aden before heading to Mauritius. Make of that what you will but it looks like BS342 and BS343 arrive in Egypt in April 1943.

I don't think we have mentioned the B roundel on this topic yet and it is, no doubt, a challenging point. Although survivors were converted to PR roles I have only seen reference to this in respect of the Mk VIs. BR114 is still in the interceptor role as late as May 1943 with 451 squadron. So why the B roundel? I don't know. We know that BR114 has a normal roundel in its two other schemes and we are reasonably confident that this is BR114. We do not have photos of the other Mk V interceptors to corroborate whether it was consistently applied during the summer of 1942 by 103MU. I cannot immediately see that it gives any advantage in high level interceptions for a plane that is in desert camouflage.

As we move on Mk IXs I wanted to go back to these two posts about the exports to North Africa. 92 and 145 squadron were in Tunisia in March. This is consistent with delivery from Gibraltar through Algeria. Looking at the production database there are 55 airframes shipped in December that end up in Gibraltar. No IXs are shipped via Takoradi, but Vs continue to be until July 1943; I will check but I assume these are used to replace Hurricanes in the Egypt squadrons, such as 451. So most IXs that end up in Aboukir will come through North Africa or the Mediterranean after May 1943. I have found some exceptions which do not and will look further. BS342 and BS343 are shipped on the Dutch ship Algenib in December 1942 and end up in Suez in March 1943. I'm still looking at this. I think my conclusion is that while IXs were in Africa from early 1943 only a very small number would have been in Egypt before June.

I agree with your interpretation of my "non-standard" comment. I was using a description I had seen elsewhere. In "Camouflage and markings" it says that the B scheme was dropped in January 1941 for new airframes so I was not expecting many, if any, Vs to have it.

BR114 This is one the most celebrated specials and luckily one of the most photographed. It's been covered well on the topic: spitfire-mkvc-103-mu-at-aboukir and the modifications have been discussed on this topic in a detailed post from @Dave Swindell here. The first photo is the one included in the Aeroplane Spotter article. It is not possible to see the serial so there is no guarantee that, just because the article says it is BR114, it is BR114. The main connection I can see is that 'Spitfire: the History' has this down as a presentation airframe called Irene. In the picture there is a name written just in front of the open cockpit door which looks to me like Irene. So if BR114 is Irene then this photo could be BR114. There is not much to be judged from this partial photo but it is supposed to be from the period when Reynolds was reaching the heights. The next batch is the ones where BR114 has the code 'B' and the one on the Joe Willis site with 'C' in the background. I think this has to be a bit later as the Mk VIs do not arrive in Africa until October. BR114 is in a non-standard paint scheme which looks like desert on the top. I have seen various suggestions for underside; personally I cannot see why it would be anything other than Azure. BR114 had a crash landing in July so could easily have been repainted twice and should have been in desert anyway. None of that guarantees it so other options might make as much sense. The filler/paint on the panel joins has been suggested as white, silver or brick red; again any of those could be right. The last photo is this one with 451 squadron. The airframe has been repainted and looks very tidy, though I think it is in 'B' pattern which I would not expect for a Mk V. It even has a stencil on the First Aid hatch. The pilots lounging around are Ken Watts and Kirk Bann, both of who flew this plane in May 1943. In my previous post I referred to BR114 flying regularly with BR363 during this period. Based on the photo you would have to conclude that BR114 was the Striker (machine guns, no radio mast) making BR363 a Marker. BR363 flies a few missions in April without another Spitfire but is accompanied by a pair of Hurricanes instead. BR114 has had some visible modifications since the previous batch of photos. I note from the attempted interceptions with 451 squadron that they do not get close to altitude needed to combat the Ju86s. This could be just be because the planes were never in the right place. It takes 20 minutes to reach the ceiling so directions need to be good; I wonder if 103 MU detuned the specials for operating with squadrons so they needed less maintenance at the expense of perfomance (no evidence for this; just speculating). It seems that what was needed now was the extra performance of the Mk IX. With victory in Tunisia Mk IXs start arriving in North Africa in numbers. Some of these find their way to 103 MU and start to be used for high altitude intereceptions around the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Spitfires with 94/238 squadron mostly seem to meet Ju88s. The Luftwaffe data shows that there were still Ju86s on strength throughout the winter of 42/43 and the numbers increase in April and May. Of course, they may not have been serviceable for operations or may have been used elsewhere in the Med. The Australian squadron 451 does see a lot of Ju86s in the spring of 1943 but mostly from a long distance away! 451 squadron are flying Hurricanes in February 1943 and move to Idku on 7.2.43 when four pilots travel to LG175 to fly Spitfires to Idku. Three Vc are held to be reserved for scrambling after high-flying high performance reconnaissance aircraft. In February, BP985 is listed with BP987. 451 includes names that will become familiar: H R Rowlands, J K Bann, A F Arnel, W K Watts and G H Purdy. In March, 451 operates BP985 with BP981and BP987. BP985's last op with 451 is on 7.3.43 leaving just BP981 and BP987, both of which had flown with 145 squadron in 1942. As they served with an Australian squadron both of these aircraft are listed on the adf-serials website: BP981 Mk.Vc T (Spec) ff 07-04-42 39 MU 08-04-42, 47MU 17-04-42, SS485 09-05-42 Middle East. 01-08-43 MU 103MU modified with extended wing tips, RR Merlin two stage superchargers and four blade prop.for high altitude interceptions at Aboukir. 451 Sqn. crs into sea 18 miles north of Rosetta, Egypt 02/04/43. BP987 Mk.Vc ff 11-04-42, 6 MU 12-04-42, 82MU 17-04-42, SS483 09-05-42 Middle East. Sudan 01-08-43. SOC 29-08-46. On 23.3.43 both are ordered back so one would assume must have R/T. On op on 26.3.43 BP981 (A/C “J”) and BP987 both use 20mm and .303 ammo. On 27.3.43 BP981 and BP987 scrambled to intercept a hostile that was shot down by 238 squadron (this was Aylott’s JU88). BP981 disappears in to a cloud bank and is lost with pilot (P/O J A Cox) on 2.4.43. Although the ADF data suggests that BP981 is a Special Spitfire it is not obvious from the operational history. In April add BR114 and BR363. 451 squadron take part in trials of the Hawker Typhoon and this is covered on the ADF site, which includes the following references to the Spitfires: "At this time, 451 Sqn was flying Hurricane IIcs along with a small flight of three “Marker” Spitfire Mk Vs on loan from 103MU*. The latter were to be used to intercept high flying enemy aircraft that were, at that time, performing reconnaissance missions over Alexandria, Egypt. ...*Two of these were BR114 and BR363. (These “Markers” were specially modified Spitfire Vs that could fly to a height of 40000 ft)." BR363 and BR114 fly together on 3.5.43 and BR114 is ordered to pancake, followed by BR363. On 5.5.43 one of them (unidentified) is called the Marker. On 11.5.43 the Marker pilot blacks out through lack of oxygen (after engine trouble) and eventually levels out at 12,000ft, the Special spitfire has to follow having no R/T. BR114 is not seen again in 451. In May BP987 and BR363 transfer to 123 squadron and ER504 is added. BR363 is not listed after August. In July 451 Squadron start receiving Mk Vs and on 19.7.43 MA Kemp is flying Vc JK115 “nothing seen of E/A which dived on to deck when attacked by Spitfires from 103 MU”. The only aircraft that I have seen pictured with 451 Squadron from this list is BR114, which I will come to next.

The New Zealander Montague James Rowland comes back from Iraq and i have a note that he is credited with another claim for a Ju88 damaged under 103MU on 12.6.43. He shortly moves to 1435 squadron based in Malta. On 10.7.43, the first day of the invasion of Sicily, he is shot down and killed by a Me109 during an evening sortie over Syracuse. Most internet references have him down as flying with 435 squadron, presumably because that is how he is recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Rhodesian Eric Dicks-Sherwood was a Malta ace with 603 squadron before joining the high altitude flight. His career is well covered by this site, http://www.cieldegloire.com/002_raf_dicks-sherwood_e_s.php (sorry it’s in French). It’s not completely accurate but close enough. By July he is flying with 92 squadron. On 10.7.43, like Rowland, he is flying over Sicily. Like Rowland he is shot down in to the sea, though this time by AA fire. Unlike Rowland he baled out and was picked up by a fishing boat. He turns up at the docks when the squadron is assembling for the move to Sicily on the 13th! After one more claim he becomes an instructor, returning to Rhodesia and eventually the Southern Rhodesia Air Force. One final biography for this stage for Mike Cooper-Slipper who is credited with a Ju88 damaged on 15.6.43 while with 103MU http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/as-cooper-slipper.htm

Google continues to be interesting. BR487 shows up as a 417RCAF aircraft based in Tunisia according to Tamiya. I've checked 417's ORB for April, May and June. They have BR470 and BR483 but not BR487 and I now see from https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234997362-supermarine-spitfire-mkvb-trop/ that this has been now identifed as BR483.

Regarding BR586. Google suggests that this is a Malta Spitfire (See here for example) but I think that has already been shown not to be correct. Google does however have this photo described as "line up of three Spitfires, nearest BR586, and two Hurricanes on a desert strip. ... UK ... ... 1942 ... Egypt".

238 squadron are not very busy. The Hurricanes are used mostly for local convoy protection and rarely encounter enemy aircraft. The 3 Spitfires don't do much either but two scrambles confirm the continuation of the Striker/Marker operation. On 9.2.43 BR487 and BR586 are scrambled together. Dicks-Sherwood in BR487 expends all of his ammunition without success against a Ju88. 238 (unusually) record ammo usage and this shows 1200 rounds, i.e. the maximum for four machine guns. On 27.3.43 BR586 is scrambled alone, piloted by CJ Aylott. A Ju88 is successfully brought down for the expense of 80 20mm rounds only, which is consistent with 586 being a Marker. In April the pilots are posted to 274 squadron in Libya and carry on the interceptor role in a Hurricane squadron, though now with Spitfires not recorded as anything special. 238's ORB states that the Spitfires are moved to "form a new Squadron" with no more detail than that. I've not found them yet.

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234946653-sidney-cottons-spitfires/ gives a hint, despite now missing most of its photos, of the difficulty suggested in the post above

September 1942 finds us with the 601 and 145 Spitfires gone (presumably back to 103 MU), the confirmed destruction of a Ju86 by Genders and Gold in BR234 and another on 6.9.42, and Reynolds claim on 10.9.42 presumably in BR114. These flights are covered in the Aeroplane Spotter article and elsewhere. There is a further claim for 103 MU in September. This is for a shared claim on 3.9.42 for a Cant Z 1007bis with Richard Webb RNZAF in BR487 and Ross in BR586. This pair of aircraft, both diversions from the Nigerstown aircraft intended for Australia, are successful together in December with 94 squadron. BR487 is the Striker seen previously with 145 squadron. The next explicit reference I have found in the squadron ORBs is the transfer of the "Spitfire detachment at Shandur" to 94 squadron on 30 November. The detachment is referenced online as the Delta Defence Flight or Heliopolis Defence Flight. After the transfer 94 squadron operate 4 Spitfires: BR487/BR586 and our old friend BP985 with EP192. While with 94 squadron there is a claim for a Ju88 on 20.12.42 shared by F/Lt Webb in BR487 and F/O Montague Rowland in BR586. The 94 squadron Spitfires are also flown in December by Eric Dicks-Sherwood and P/O Aylott. In January Rowland and Webb are posted to 119MU for test pilot duties. 119MU is based at RAF Shaibah in Basra, Iraq. Shaibah seems to have been used as a base for planes heading to Russia as well as being a stop on the ferry route to India. Also in January the Spitfire attachment with 94 squadron is transferred to 238 Squadron.

I do seem to be suffering from distractions. I will get back to the special Spitfires soon. I just want now to tick off the contribution from Alastair Forbes Wilson. His claim of 26.7.42 is for a Ju88. As it is a 103 MU claim I cannot shed much light on it but it is in a Spitfire which I have no evidence of being specially modified so I will move on. Wilson reached ace status later in Italy including another Ju88. I have used my ancestry subscription and found that Wilson was the son of a golf pro and returned to Sidcup, England after the war with his wife Rayon who had been a sister in the Queen Alexandra Nursing Service.

On reflection I do not think that the PRIV is going to be BP882: BP882 PRIVT ?f FF 31-1-42 1PRU 6-2-42 2PRU Middle East 15-3-42 Gibraltar FACE 1-4-42

Once again I came across something while looking for something else. The photo in question here is in Spitfire: the History (p250) and is described there as an early PRIV operated by 680 Squadron for sorties over Salonika modified with filled and polished finish, Aboukir filter, extended wing tips and specially tuned engine. I am inclined to think that makes some sense as I cannot see any protruding guns and the fuselage roundel looks like a PR one. In the text Shacklady hints this could be BP882. The first PRIVs arrive with 2 PRU in the Middle East in March 1942. The Flypast article about Wendel Nelson refers to him reaching a height of 50,000 feet in a PRIV operated by Aboukir so maybe that's where the truth lies. In terms of timing Nelson arrives for test pilot duties in October 1942, while 680 comes into being in February 1943.

I suspect the answer is going to be "it's complicated". I recall when modelling the very early model not coming to any firm conclusions due to conflicting evidence. I suspected that the photos that exist were deliberately taken to confuse, with markings and serials obscured.

I have been very kindly sent two photos by a member of this forum. They are from a private album, unattributed to an individual and undated but they are from a 6 Squadron source. They show one of the Mk VI Spitfires BS134 with the aircraft letter ‘C’, so the previous attribution of ‘C’ to BS133 is thrown in to question. These photos show a lot of detail, especially the absence of the short cannon stub and the covering of the machine gun ports. This looks to my eyes to show the high contrast one would expect of a desert scheme, though does not help with the the underside colour. The repeated connection to 6 Squadron must be significant. I have noted that some of the Spitfires are detached to Shandur during the period when the Vis were available to 103 MU. 6 squadron maintained a training flight at Shandur during this period so that may be the connection. I know I said I would not post photos but these are new ones.

I have previously referenced this topic on the 12oclockhigh forum. I just want to pick up a few points that are discussed there before moving on: Was the 'high altitude flight' an official (sub)unit name? I have not seen any suggestion of a formal name. I will use the names given in the ORBs when I find them. I thought the Flt only had 3 pilots in 1942 - F/O Reynolds, P/O Genders & P/O Gold. This is in response to a claim credited to Alastair Forbes Wilson on 26.7.42 under 103 MU. As we will see there were other pilots involved in 103 MU claims during 1942. Montague James Rowland in Errol Martyn´s book For Your Tomorrow, Vol Three. He served in the High Altitude Flight from from 23 Aug 42 to 30 Nov 42 when he joined the Detached Flight (C Flight) of 94 Sqn. And here is one more pilot. I will cover Montague Rowland in a later post and the detached flight with 94 squadron. Wendel Nelson apparently served with 600 Squadron on Beaufighters (and possibly with 6 Squadron on Hurricanes) before being wounded and posted to the MU on recovery According to the ORB for 6 Squadron, Nelson joined 6 Squadron on 16.9.42 from 22 Personnel Transit Camp and left 14.10.42 on posting to 206 Group for disposal on test pilot duties. We know BR202, which was lost after an engine failure on 6 September 1942. It was replaced by BR114. I cannot see how BR202 would have been involved and I think we have established that the loss on 6 September was BR234. BR202 was involved in the 170 gallon slipper tank testing in 1942 and did not arrive in North Africa until 1943

And at a temperature of -67° f/-55°c. Later, when the Mk IXs are being used by a number of squadrons and flying well beyond 40000ft the prospective pilots have to go for a test in a decompression chamber. Not all of them pass the test, even that must have been an unpleasant experience.

This is just what I have been reading about! In Morgan and Shacklady the absolute ceiling for a Mk V with four-blade propellor is about 4,000 ft higher than the service ceiling. In the same book the four-blade propellor adds 1,200 ft which is more than my estimate. Now we are getting closer to the 50,000 when allowing for tropical conditions. I'm still learning!

A copy of the wartime RAF Middle East booklet arrived today. The first page is essentially the same as the description of the two Reynolds flights. What struck me is that on 24 August he managed to get to 40,000. On the second flight, which I believe to be 10 September, he reached 50,000 spending an hour above 45,000. I think that requires more than the modifications identified so far.

Before moving on to events from September 1942 onwards I thought I would have a look at how much of an improvement would need to be made for a Vc to catch the ceiling of a Ju86P2. The tropical Vc according to Shacklady has a ceiling of 36,500 feet. According to weaponsandwarfare.com the ceiling of a Ju80P is 39,300 feet so the Spitfire needs to gain about 3,000 feet. The changes that were made were: higher compression ratio four blade prop wing tip extensions reduced armament and removed armour additional weight reduction - radio, battery, reduced fuel load, etc. removal of Vokes filter Assigning an additional ceiling to each of this is going to be arbitrary but I'll try. A Spitfire IX has about a 20% increase in power at altitude compared to the Vc and a ceiling of 42,000 feet, The higher compression ratio should add about 3% power increase and the propellor change must make some difference, so lets say a total of 5% which could add 1,000 feet. The reduced armament and removed armour was measured explicitly by 124 squadron when they started using the Mk VII. Removing the cannon and armour increased the ceiling of the VII From 42,900 to 44,000 feet, so let's call that another 1,000 feet. So you would only need another 1,000 from the remaining changes, which doesn't seem unreasonable. We're not going to get near to 50,000 but we should be able to reach the Ju86P. Both aircraft would of course benefit from the denser air of the tropics. There is one interesting point in the weaponsandwarfare link above, They claim that some Ps were converted to R1 which is at odds with my earlier comment based on Wikipedia that R1s only existed as prototypes; if they were being used then you might need another 10,000 feet. I cannot see the Vc doing that.

We now have an interesting challenge. In Brian Cull's excellent Fighters over the Aegean there are two photos of high-flying Spitfires. One is a familiar photo of BR114. The other one is an unidentified Mk V that I am sure I have seen elsewhere but cannot find. I am not going to post a copy of the photo so I am stuck with discussing it without being able to illustrate what I am talking about, so bear with me. What I see is a Mk V, apparently a special version as there is no visible cannon. Compared to what we know about the special Spitfires this one has an apparently standard cowling over the oil tank, a three-blade prop and a radio mast. All of this suggests to me a very early special and therefore probably BP985 but I certainly welcome input from people familiar with the photo. Modelling this aircraft with its patchy rubbed-down paintwork would be quite something, once you've established a paint scheme.