Crossofiron1971 Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Hello all, Could I ask for some help from your libraries please? I am researching for a Project; Mosquito Mk PR XVI, NS739, 25th Bomb Group USAAF; I don't suppose there are any other photos out there are there? Or any other information on the Aircraft? The only other one I have is this; Can anyone shed any light on what the lettering under the wing? Many thanks for looking. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) All I could find was it was SOC in September, 1947. No clue as to the significance of the underwing codes- perhaps postwar buzz numbers that identified the station, which IIRC, was Watton? Sorry- best I could do. Mike Edited February 5, 2018 by Mike removed unnecessary photo quote 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Bell Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Hi Steve, The aircraft was with the 653rd Light Weather Recon Sq, received by the unit on 6 Dec 1944. It flew only eight operational Bluestocking weather recon missions (with the first on 3 March 1945) and a single Skywave Loran calibration mission (on 25 Mar 45). I'm not certain what the aircraft was used for the rest of the time. The WX was the squadron code, with the F the individual aircraft code. The underwing markings weren't added until after VE day, though the individual letter was carried on the tail during operations. No luck on additional photos - I've got the two you showed, but I still can't read the text on the left side of the nose. BTW, I suspect the aircraft never carried any form of invasion stripes. Cheers, Dana 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) The text (the "name" on the starboard side) looks like "PhotoOp" to me, but I did have to squint and use some "interpretative skills". Edited February 5, 2018 by gingerbob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossofiron1971 Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 Thanks for all the comments everyone! The wording on the port side, reckon it could be this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 No, not that name. If you look closely the unreadable script starts much closer to the nose glazing and has a slight upwards tilt from left to right. However, it would be a good bet that it is the pilots name! So who flew it????? Christian, exiled to africa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Bell Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Hi Steve, Your third photo shows the group commander - Leon Gray - with his aircraft. As Christian noted, the spacing and orientation are slightly different in your second photo. All I can read is "Pilot Maj xxxx xxx xxxxx." Back when I was trying to track the 25th BG's missions (1977?), I recorded the date, mission type, and serial of each aircraft, but neglected the crew names and targets. If you can contact the USAF historical research agency at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, someone there may be able to check the eight mission reports for you - surely the pilot whose name appears on the aircraft must have flown at least ONE of those missions. The dates that you need to review are 3, 6, 10, 12, 22, 29, and 30 March 1945, and 18 May 1945. The Skywave was flown on 25 March. I don't know if you can see them in your shot, but that same image has eight white clouds with red thunderbolts to represent the eight Bluestocking missions. If there was any sort of mission symbol for the Skywave mission, I see no evidence of it. The name on the right side has always been an issue. Jeff Ethell came up with the slide, and my copy is a generation removed from his. The first letter is almost certainly a stylized capital "P" - but the top of the letter wraps around and stops just short of the middle of the character, so it could be a really strange "T." Next is an "a," then what looks like an "m" with an odd wrinkle in the border above it, then what seems to be an "e" (with "c" also possible). The next letter is partially on the edge of the nose glazing, partially on the glazing itself, and looks like an "l" with an odd wrinkle at the top - almost the number "1." The last two characters are completely on the glazing, an difficult to read because of the light shining through. First is almost certainly an "i," and the last is another "a." Jeff read this as "Pamelia" - even though neither of us had heard of such a name before, but a quick check of Google today (it didn't even exist back then) reveals that is is still a very common name. A French company (was it Skywave? That would have been a coincidence!) released a 1/72nd conversion kit for the Airfix Mosquito many years ago - they included decals for this bird, but their name looks like "Thusifer" to me. I'm not sure if anyone else does any version of the decals. I look forward to seeing your completed model - the 25th has always been my favorite WWII unit, and I get a kick out of any build of any of their aircraft. Cheers, Dana 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossofiron1971 Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 Dana, Wow! I completely bow to your knowledge! Have contacted the AFHRA and will of course post any reply I get. See what you mean with "Pamelia", I will name my Mozzy this anyway in your honour, for the help you have given me! Cheers Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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