M20gull

"Fanciful" is a word I have seen used to describe that article but the other modifications do seem to be corroborated. Now I have looked at the rudder there is not much you could remove, maybe just the upper pedals.

@Dave Swindell Oil tank - cannot believe I wrote that as I knew the oil tank was standard for the Tropical Vs Rudder bar - I don't know any more - it is mentioned in the Aeroplane Spotter article. I wonder if there is part of the bar that could be removed at the expense of pushing harder or just accepting that for the interceptor role drastic rudder movements were unlikely Heating pipe - this is visible in the Aeroplane Spotter article above the exhaust and in this photo. It made me think that it might be used for additional cockpit heating given the low temperatures at altitude

I've found the link to the discussion with the mechanic's grandson: https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/aboukirs-high-altitude-spitfire-original-modification.46460/

The modifications to these first Spitfires are pretty well documented: Removal of all armour-plating, including the windscreen Removal of the existing armament and replacement with 0.5" Brownings in the cannon bay Removal of the Vokes filter and replacement with an Aboukir filter Increased compression ratio (I think this would be easiest to acheive by skimming the cylinder heads rather than adjusting the block) Increased oil tank with deeper cowl (I missed this on my model of BR114) The rudder bar was cut in half Additional heating with a pipe from the exhaust Extended wing tips Four blade prop These last two mods are usually associated with the shipment of Mk VI Spitfires but they do not leave Britain until 9-9-42, so that cannot be where they came from at this stage. I will address the VIs later. The extended wing tips are not standard and I think they do not have lights in them. Then the radio and radio mast was removed from the Striker version and a smaller battery installed. This means operating with a radio-equipped Marker to coordinate the interception. One further modification that is mentioned in the Aeroplane Spotter article of October 1946 is that "protruding lengths of nuts through bolts were cut off". I assume that this is just the wrong way round and the bolts were shortened. The poster whose grandad worked at 103 suggested that main bolts were taken out but this approach seems more realistic. I have seen suggestions that operationally they flew with a reduced fuel load (which might explain the loss of Genders' aircraft) and dispensed with Mae West and dinghy (which does not explain his swim home). Apart from the photos of BR114 there is no way of knowing which mods were applied when.

The Reynolds claim on 24-8-42 is treated by the Germans as ditching due to engine failure. The line is that the engine problem occurred before they saw the Spitfire, no firing or hits were observed and therefore it's engine failure. Reynolds version is he fired and then there was more smoke. We will never know the truth. Correction: The ditching is on 29-8-42 and coincides with an attack by Genders for which he did not lodge a claim. Lesson for me: Don't fire from the hip using your phone. Go back and check references on the computer first.

I have been making maximum use of the National Archives allowing access to the Squadron Operation Record Books. Sadly the 103MU one is not digitised. However, every reference I have seen suggests that there is not a great deal of data there anyway. Given how regimented the RAF is, I was surprised at the variability of the content of the ORBs They are still a great read, especially for the fairly idle squadrons around the Nile Delta as they are much more than just a list of operations! Mostly moaning about not being involved in the fighting. A big handicap for modelling is the small number of aircraft and the inherently small number of photographs. While the story would make a great Osprey book (as suggested by someone else) it would not have many pictures in it! Turning to some aircaft: Spitfire Vs start appearing in the Middle East in the first half of 1942, mostly arriving by the Takoradi route (see this link for a description). This forum post suggests that the Mk Vs were successfully used by 103 MU from June to October. I did find (but have mislaid the reference) a discussion where the grandson of one of the 103MU mechanics was adamant that there was only one plane modified, but this cannot be the case for reasons that become obvious. Three airframes are usually considered as part of this series: BP985 (no photo) - departed Britain on 9-5-42 on SS485. The Spitfire database has this arriving in the Middle East 1-8-42 but this is presumably just a reallocation as it looks like it was intended for forwarding to India BR114 (lots of photos) - departed Britain on 4-5-42 on SS Alderamin (actually left Liverpool on 12-5-42 according to convoyweb arriving in Freetown on 30-5-42) and arrived Middle East on 26-06-42 BR234 (no photo) - was on the Nigerstown (originally scheduled for Australia see here) and left Britain on 26-06-42 arriving in Freetown on 2-7-42. This is shown as Middle East 1-8-42 which seems plausible by the time it is forwarded to Takoradi, assembled, tested, ferried to Cairo, re-fettled and released to a unit. Other aircraft do arrive earlier though. Of these three only BP985 looks like a contender for the 26-6-42 and 27-6-42 interceptions. I wonder whether these first attempts were actually with unmodified Vs?

A quick aside: Wendel Nelson was reportedly the OC of the High Altitude Flight at 103 MU in Aboukir. I've ordered copies of the 2009 Flypast magazines that cover his story but there is a hint of it here and details of his final accident here. As might be expected from pilots involved in flying special aircraft there are some interesting background stories!

The background for the North African Spitfires is the reconnaisance threat offered by German planes flying out of Crete, especially the Ju86 P2. The database on this link shows that the JU86s operated from June 42 to October 43 and then again from April to October 44. I would point out: only 2 JU86s are shown as lost to enemy action; this is less than the number of claims but that is far from unusual! there are six losses not due to enemy action just because they have some in service does not mean they are serviceable; this seems to have been a persistent issue for the Ju86s and Ju88s they are shown as R1s but Wiki suggests that R1s only existed as prototypes. Plenty of other sources suggest they should be P2s

Well, I said in this Aboukir thread that I would try and summarise in one place what I had found about the various special high flying Spitfires in RAF service. I didn't realise how absorbed I was going to get and I suspect that I might be spending a lot more time on this than I intended. Basically every time I read something to extract some detail I find another interesting story! So I will set out what I have found so far and add to it if I come across anything interesting. I'm no expert on modelling or Spitfires and will certainly update stuff when I'm challenged. I only model Spitfires and, being a bit old, my skills are not the best but are getting better. When I started modelling again I said I would not correct mistakes, just learn from them and so far I have stuck to that. With what I now know my earlier attempt at BR114 has a load of mistakes; the next attempt will be better! I have learned a lot from this forum and hope it continues. I'm not sure I'm going to present anything new but who knows? I've divided the work in to the following parts: The Vs and VIs operated by 103MU The IXs operated by 103MU IXs attached to 1 squadron SAAF Natural Metal Finish 'SAAF' IXs in 1944 Northolt SS Flight I'm going to leave Northolt until after I have seen the article in next month's SAM. I found this month's very interesting. It has not made me change my mind about the colours I have used and reinforced the point regularly made here that you should be confident in your choices when interpreting colours and respect other people's choices. I won't be posting photos but will link to them where appropriate. I also won't be quoting very much from Paul Lucas's article; I don't want to stop you buying SAM.

The NMF IXs are the same and luckily it does not change what I am doing. The same cannot be said for the BR114/BS124 combination I finished last year.

Thanks @Graham Boak for the heads up. I'm in the middle of completing a pair of the 1944 NMF Mk IXs and have spent the last month reading up on the various special high altitude flights. I was going to attempt to summarise what I found on this forum but I won't do anything until I've read Paul's article.

Might be my final comment. As soon as the 2 SAAF planes arrive, 4 SAAF send their 16 Vcs off to Malta for the 4 cannon conversion returning on 13 December. I cannot find much in the way of aircraft numbers and no photos. When they are lost on operations as dive bombers they are replaced with 2 cannon versions.

Thank you for the pictures. I note that this one (unlike those in the video and related photos) is dark through the canopy suggesting already repainted (have I got that right?). The "mechanic taken up on tailplane" that caused this crash was BL Watson, aged 19, who was thrown from the plane when it hit the ground and died. The pilot's first plane was u/s and in the rush to catch up he didn't notice the erk.

Back on the original topic JL115 DB-V submits a combat report on 29 November for a damaged Me109 and the operation report is only for 4 cannon machines.

I wasn’t looking for it but this is a great shot of a 152 squadron Vb with underwing bombs in Tunisia.

Every time I look I see something new (or correct something I got wrong the first time!). On the flight on 21 October (i.e. when still 2 cannon) which is the report here it is actually described as armed recce and shows drop tank, 2 bombs, cannon and machine gun!

On a bombing test on 21 October the Vcs have 2 250lb bombs each but that does not seem to be repeated on subsequent ops.

I cannot find any reference to 4 cannon aircraft before 25 November. All of the Spitfires go to Malta on 2 Nov for fitting the second cannon. When this is first mooted it suggests that the machine guns will be removed but fighter operations with the 4 cannon still carry machine guns rounds.

The addition of the cannon to the 2 SAAF Vc was done in Malta during Novmber 1943. The day after their return the ORB quotes for 26 Nov 1943 "As this squadron was the first in the wing to do dive-bombing with Spitfires an aircraft was sent out today by the Photographic Unit to take photographs of the squadron whilst dive-bombing." I wonder if this is when the photos here were taken. 2 SAAF describe the Spitfire as "most unsuitable as a dive-bomber ... and would prefer the old Kittyhawk"! The bomb racks are put on an off when needed. On ops it looks like they only use a single GP250lb per aircraft so presumably on the centre line. When used as a fighter they usually carry a 30 gallon drop tank. I was wondering why they did not repaint them while they were in Malta for three weeks.

I'm still digging around SAAF record books and it is fascinating. It's going to help with modelling but the historic research is very rewarding. JL174 was not 2 SAAF. Google takes a journey to the Guinea Pig club and suggests the pilot was Freeman Strickland (Obituary) who was intially admitted to SSQ, Sicily. No.2 MFH, Catania, Sicily. Then No.1 General Hospital, Tunis (10/10/43). RAF Hospital Wroughton (29/12/43) to East Grinstead. The Museum there remarks that he crashed on take off in a Spitfire, struck by returning aircraft and suffered burns to face and arms. He was in a RAAF squadron at the time, though I have not yet identified which one.

In response to the thread amazing-resource-of-private-ww2-aircraft-photos-saaf-check-it-out I did some reading on the subject of the SHF IXs, especially of the Operation Record Books at the National Archives. I looked at records for 41, 91 and 213 RAF and 9, 10, 11 and 41 SAAF. I have restricted comments here to modelling but would heartily recommend reading the ORBs for details of the running of squadrons during a fairly dull period. There is discussion here as well. There are 6 SHFs and this is referenced in 41's ORB for April when they get excited about being allocated 2 SHFs as there are only 6 in Middle East Command. The other 4 are allocated to 213 and 94 squadron, the latter of whom are less than impressed as they arrive with no instructions, equipment or directions as to use! 213 are allocated MH931 and MH993. No detail on the other four. Looking at the ORBs and photos the 6 planes are: MH931 IX CBAF 33MU 19-9-43 52MU 8-10-43 Charlton Hall 24-10-43 Casablanca 17-11-43 218Grp NAfrica 30-11-43 Middle East 21-6-45 REAF 29-3-46 MH993 IX CBAF 33MU 4-9-43 52MU 10-9-43 Crawford W Long 22-9-43 Casablanca 10-10-43 NAfricanASC 31-10-43 RHAF 27-3-47 MA504 IXT CBAF 33MU 13-6-43 222MU 22-6-43 Fort Vercheres 1-7-43 Casablanca 14-7-43 Middle East 1-9-43 80S 10SAAF 9SAAF 94S SOC 28-2-46 MA792 IX CBAF 9MU 18-7-43 47MU 30-7-43 SS732 5-8-43 Casablanca 18-8-43 218Grp NAfrica 30-11-43 Middle East SOC 31-10-46 MH946 IX CBAF 33MU 28-8-43 82MU 2-9-43 Empire Grebe 15-9-43 Casablanca 29-9-43 NAfricanASC 31-10-43 Middle East 21-6-45 Cv LFIX M66 24-7-45 RHAF 30-1-47 MJ227 IX CBAF 33MU 18-10-43 222MU 7-11-43 Fort George 4-12-43 Casablanca 22-12-43 Middle East 21-6-45 REAF 29-8-46 It seems that there are photos of five of them (other than MJ227), though I have not seen the photos of MH931 and MH993 in the rare book of Spitires in the SAAF. There is a lot of movement as squadrons come and go. MJ227 ends up going back to Aboukir in June. All of the planes are gone in November, presumably as the threat recedes. Armament as stated in many places the SHFs operate in pairs, one with 20mm cannon, one with 0.5 Browning (the armourers in 9 SAAF are disappointed to lose the work on the 0.5s in November). Looking at MH946 it seems to me that the Browing sits in the cannon bay, as with the earlier MkV high level. I think that the planes can be converted, e.g. MA504 which has cannon in some shots, not others and definitely has cannon in October Radio only fitted to the machine gun versions, 41 squadron in June complain about not being able to communicate with the cannon versions. I cannot see an aerial on any pictures of the SHFs but there must be one somewhere! Wingtips the Aboukir MU had produced their own extended tips for the Mk V so could have done so for the IXs. Certainly a couple of photos suggest extended tips but you cannot be sure everywhere. Fuel In almost all operations the SHFs are recorded as having 30 gallon jettisonable British tanks which I assume means the slipper style. Some asides: MA504's period in 80 Squadron was brief and ended with a forced landing on 15 Oct 43 after losing a tyre on take off two pilots of 41 squadron make it to 42,000ft on 24 Sept there is much reference to pilots having to complete decompression chamber tests to fly the SHFs, which are unpressurised I'm happy for any comment, especially if I have missed anything. I'm intending to model a pair but still not decided which.

Thank you for this. Just before I saw your message I came to the same result. By the simple path of remembering that the serials for the RAF pair came from a set of high altitude spitfire decals and the SAAF pair are on there! I don’t consider the time wasted as the ORBs are great reading. 10 squadron did almost no operational flying so the ORB is full of camp detail that provides a great companion to the photos and includes the squadron newsletters that inject quite a few lighter moments. Another feature is they have daily status reports that clearly distinguish the SHF from the other IXs. Serials are shown when planes are on and off strength. This shows that 10 squadron had a third SHF, MJ227, that was replaced by MH946 in August 1944. The status reports have the replacement as MA946 both when it joins (from 94 squadron) and leaves (taken over by 9 SAAF). For modelling of course you can plainly see that it is marked as MH so that is what it is. Edited to add: I forgot to comment that there is no spitfire MA946

This kept me distracted for some hours today. I saw a photo of the pair some time ago and it never occurred to me why there were two of them. Even though I have recently modelled the RAF equivalent V/VI pair! So I thought I would look up serial numbers for the SAAF and by the time I have read the ORBs for 9 and 10 squadron hours slipped by... I still don't have a definitive answer!

This is a superb resource. Thank you for the link.

According to allspitfirepilots this should be AB929. I've found the picture of BL818 and added it to my todo list, which is getting longer by the day...