1844 NAS Hellcat info needed

[Adam Maas]

Does anybody else find it ironic that 119/X of 1844 sq was the Hellcat Bill Atkinson made Ace on, and 119/X of 1841 sq was most likely Hampton Grey's regular Corsair? (of course, Grey's usually associated with 115/X, the aircraft he was most likely flying the day he died)

Edited January 22, 2018 by Adam Maas

[Procopius]

22 minutes ago, Adam Maas said:

Does anybody else find it ironic that 119/X of 1844 sq was the Hellcat Bill Atkinson made Ace on, and 119/X of 1841 sq was most likely Hampton Grey's regular Corsair? (of course, Grey's usually associated with 115/X, the aircraft he was most likely flying the day he died)

More synchronicity than irony, perhaps?

[galgos]

Interesting thread. Sub Lt Foster on HMS Formidable was my brother in law's father. Bill sadly died last year but his logbooks are with another family member in Cornwall, I hope to borrow and copy them this year. I'm sure they'd be of interest.

Max 

[Seahawk]

2 hours ago, galgos said:

Interesting thread. Sub Lt Foster on HMS Formidable was my brother in law's father. Bill sadly died last year but his logbooks are with another family member in Cornwall, I hope to borrow and copy them this year. I'm sure they'd be of interest.

Max 

Well, you can see how keen we are for any additional information.  Or photos!

[Grey Beema]

I have been in contact with the Manitoba Naval Museum.  They have recently been in receipt of a number of Bill Atkinsons possessions including a model of his aeroplane that he commisioned and some diaries, Im not sure if they have hos log book.  They are trying to figure out what they have at the moment.  I asked for a photo of the model if they could send it on but have as yet not recieved a reply..

[Timescape]

On 7/13/2017 at 7:09 AM, iang said:

 

I've seen unpublished film that shows JX772: X/119 (also includes film of  X/122, X/125, X/126).   This may be the source of the footage showing the pilot boarding, as this film includes this sequence. Unlike in the video clip embedded in Jim's post, in the  film that I've seen, JX772 has the serial applied above the carrier code on the fin in white. 

 

IG

Hi Ian,

 

I am about to begin decalling my Hellcat.  Do you have any clips showing this placement?  Was the 'ROYAL NAVY' in the normal location; or just not present?

[iang]

Sorry, I don't know any more now than I did when I made the post you quote.

 

 

[Seahawk]

Apologies for going off at a tangent here to OP's question but look at the Corsair IV in right foreground at 1:27 to 1:32 of Jim's film cut in post 3.  It appears to have had the European roundel painted out in a darker colour than the surrounding Glossy Sea Blue (would Roundel Blue appear like that?) and to have the BPF roundel and bars painted in white outline only.  Neil Robinson had the idea of BPF markings painted in white-only on GSB when he devised the SAM (or SAMI) British Pacific Fleet transfer sheet, because he provides quite a lot of transfers for it, but till now I've never seen any positive photographic confirmation that appears to confirm the existence of such markings.

 

Or am I barking up the wrong tree?  Interested in thoughts, esp from @iang.

[iang]

You might be right about the Corsair with white outline only, though it's hard to tell. For the original compliment of Formidable's lVs for Iceberg, the European roundels were painted out commencing on March 19th 1945 in Sydney Harbour and the squadron diary notes that "correct type of paint for the markings was forthcoming in only minor quantities."  This continued until the next day, but wasn't complete before the ship departed for Manus.  They remained with the original number-letter codes (applied on 14th February) until they were replaced by BPF numbers from March 28th en route to Manus.   From this it seems to me that GSB was the paint in short supply. I'd guess that the overpainting was either with Roundel Blue or EDSG, as they would both be available from the ship's paint locker. 

 

HTH

Edited February 20, 2018 by iang

[JackG]

I've a question about the individual letter 'X' marking on the tail fin.  What would be it's dimensions? 

 

I estimate the one on the Corsair to be 20 inches in height, would the one on Atkinson's Hellcat be the same ...  or is size based on available surface area, or perhaps kept in line with the dimensions of the numbers on the fuselage, in which case 119 appears to be around 18 or 20 inches  (based on Eduard's decals for Hellcat no. 145).

 

regards,

Jack

Edited February 5, 2020 by JackG

[Grey Beema]

This is a model of JX772 that was owned by Cdr Atkinson’s family.

 

My own rendition of JX772 where I tried to follow @iang‘s advice about placement of the X and serial on tail..

 

Although 1844’s Formidable detachment described themselves as ‘dog eared’ I am not sure they were as dog eared as my rendition..

 

 

 

 

.

[85sqn]

Well done Phil. Lovely!

[JackG]

Beema, thank you for posting both those photos of the models.   Looks like I will be going with a slight variation of your rendition. 

 

 

Going to assume it was the crew on Formidable that added the X marking on the tails, and followed that which was on their Corsairs in terms of size and position - 18"x 20" with 3 inch brush stoke is as near as I can determine.   Tried some perspective stretching of the graphic for a better feel, but difficult to get a 3D look on a 2D program.

 

regards,

Jack

[Grey Beema]

@JackG I like that - it’s another good interpretation.  I think I would go with a glossier finish than I did judging by the picture on Formidable.

 

BTW in an earlier post I said I was no relation to Cdr Atkinson.  That should be amended to ‘might’ be related.  

 

Mrs GB has done some study of my family tree and Bill Atkinson’s family tree.  My Great (x4) Grandfather Arthur Atkinson, a Wool Stapler from Huddersfield.  Bill Atkinson’s Great (x3) Grandfather, Arthur Atkinson a Wool Stapler from Huddersfield.  Same Arthur Atkinson? We can’t prove....