Spitfire Mk.XII "Nigeria" marking

[malpaso]

I'm planning to build both varieties of Mark XII at some point - the main difference being the tailwheels.  And one from each squadron too.  Which leads me to this query about the markings.

 

DL-K EN625 – is there any evidence for the signwritten “Nigeria” on the port cowling?  Airfix include it in their 1/48 kit decals but not Brigade in their 1/72 ones for the Mk.XII, neither do Sword for a later Mk.XIV DL-K.  There is a nice photo of 91sqn on parade with shiny brand new Vbs showing nicely signwritten cowlings – maybe that was the only time it appeared?  Seems feasible that a special effort was made just for that photo publicity session.  Also close up it seems beneath each swirly Nigeria it dedicates each aircraft to a different province of the country .

 

I have only found the one photo for the Mk.XII DL-K which shows the starboard side.  There is a photo of the portside of a crashed 91Sqn Twelve, but it doesn’t really show signwriting (or the bloke in the foreground is in the way).  None of the photos of 91 Sqn XIVs I ‘ve seen show “Nigeria”.

 

NB - Anyone offering a profile as “evidence” will be fined 5/- or a round in the mess.

Cheers

Will

[FinnAndersen]

Osprey's aviation elite #3, No 91 'Nigeria' Squadron, has a photo on page 81 of a XII with "Nigeria" on the port side forward of the cockpit.

 

HTH

Finn

 

BTW: We had a very long XII thread a while ago, did you see that?

 

Edited March 22, 2019 by FinnAndersen

[malpaso]

Thanks Finn, I’ll look out for that book.  At least now I know there is evidence to find!

i did see the previous XII thread, no doubt there’ll be another when I finally get around to the build.  Cheers 

Will

[Ivor Ramsden]

In our museum archives there is a clear photo of the port side of Mk.XII DL-R. There is no Nigeria marking. Most of the serial is missing but it's one of the MB-series.