Malta Spitfire Mk.IX’s

[11bravo]

Just read that by 1943, some Mk IX’s were flying off of Malta.  Haven’t been able to find any pictures, wondering if these aircraft had the ad-hoc blue camouflage that the earlier Mk V’s had?  Any information is appreciated. 
 

John

[Graham Boak]

I haven't seen any such.  The last appearance I've seen in photos was dated March 1943, of Mk.Vs of 249 Sq., looking remarkably freshly painted!

[FinnAndersen]

I have studied the subject of blue spitfires on Malta for years, but (in order not to overwhelm you with all the discussion and data) believe that the blue was an attempt to have camouflage that suited the primary battlefield, namely the air above the Mediterranean - not the Western Desert.

 

By 1943, the war had moved on and the attacks on Malta almost disappeared, so the need for at better camouflage was not critical and/or covered by the Dark Green/Ocean Grey standard fighter camouflage.

 

Where did you read about Mk IX on Malta?

 

/Finn

[fubar57]

Supermarine Spitfire MkIX EN199 https://www.maltaaviationmuseum.com/supermarine-spitfire-mk-ix

[tonyot]

Here is a model I made some time ago based on a photo of a 249 Sqn Spitfire IX on Malta. 185 Sqn also flew some GL coded Mk.IX`s;

There are pics of the 249 Sqn a/c,...... a 185 Sqn a/c and a 226 Sqn a/c based in Malta on this post,... amongst others;

http://www.spitfireperformance.com/spit9v109g.html

 

Cheers

        Tony

Edited October 26, 2020 by tonyot

[11bravo]

2 hours ago, FinnAndersen said:

 

 

Where did you read about Mk IX on Malta?

 

/Finn

Osprey’s Malta Spitfire Aces.  Mentioned that Flt Officer Irving Kennedy’s last two kills on Malta were scored on 10JUN43 in a Mk IX.  
 

 

[FinnAndersen]

10 minutes ago, 11bravo said:

Osprey’s Malta Spitfire Aces.  Mentioned that Flt Officer Irving Kennedy’s last two kills on Malta were scored on 10JUN43 in a Mk IX.  
 

 

Outch... Should have known that. Must read again, thanks.

 

/Finn

[Welkin]

Just been reading Tony Spooner's "Warburton's War" - mentions Warburton flying Spitfire IX (EN338) to Malta in 1943.

[Graham Boak]

There's no doubt about the Mk.IXs on Malta in 1943: look for Cull's Spitfires over Sicily for a good account of the operations at this time.  Must dig it out myself.  But not blue ones...  at this stage mainly still Desert camouflaged examples although some in DFS will have been appearing later.  It is possible that some had the Middle Stone overpainted by Dark Earth, as seen on some Mk.Vs and P-40s, but I don't know of specific examples.

[11bravo]

On 10/26/2020 at 7:16 PM, Graham Boak said:

There's no doubt about the Mk.IXs on Malta in 1943: look for Cull's Spitfires over Sicily for a good account of the operations at this time.  Must dig it out myself.  But not blue ones...  at this stage mainly still Desert camouflaged examples although some in DFS will have been appearing later.  It is possible that some had the Middle Stone overpainted by Dark Earth, as seen on some Mk.Vs and P-40s, but I don't know of specific examples.

That’s too bad. Given that their are no decent MK V’s in 32nd scale, I had hoped  to do a blue scheme on Tamiya’s IX. 

Edited October 28, 2020 by 11bravo

[MACALAIN]

19 hours ago, tonyot said:

Here is a model I made some time ago based on a photo of a 249 Sqn Spitfire IX on Malta. 185 Sqn also flew some GL coded Mk.IX`s;

There are pics of the 249 Sqn a/c,...... a 185 Sqn a/c and a 226 Sqn a/c based in Malta on this post,... amongst others;

http://www.spitfireperformance.com/spit9v109g.html

 

Cheers

        Tony

I have made the same with the DK decals in 1/72

 

Alain

[Graham Boak]

Well, if anywhere it would certainly have been for 249 Sq.  As a fellow Takali unit, 185 were much the same.  I'm just glad I started with "I haven't seen any" rather than a simple denial.  After the Calendar delivery, blue camouflage seems to be much rarer on Hal Far units.  Sadly, none of the Mk.IXs in Spitfires over Sicily show blue aircraft,  the only identifiable Malta units being 126 and 185 in what appears to be Desert.  I thought that there were more but they turned out to be Mk.Vs.   After mid-1943 the number of Spitfires went up dramatically but the chance of nice exotic colour schemes went down.