TEXANTOMCAT Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 Am sure many of you will have seen this before but if not you can happily while away the hours here with these collections of private albums- Hurris, Tomahawks, Kittyhawks, Harts, Tiger Moths, B-24s, even a Puss Moth! PLUS loads of captured Axis aircraft before and after their repaint into RAF/SAAF colours, military vehicles and more - truly wonderful!! Merry Xmas! TT https://biltongbru.wixsite.com/ww2-saaf-heritage/photo-albums 9 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M20gull Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 This is a superb resource. Thank you for the link. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 Very interesting huge set of photos. I have found one with description of "Wellesley?" - so with question tag: I will vote for Breda 65 rather . How do you think? Regards J-W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishplanebeer Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 Utterly amazing set of photos, thank you for sharing. Regards Colin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari Lumppio Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 (edited) Hello! Thanks! I remember seeing some of the albums years ago. Which brings up questions I wanted to ask then but did not know where. What colour are the 1 Sqn SAAF codes AX-? They look almost white. Smaller code was under the nose, likely the same colour and much lighter than the underside. Were RAF cockade centers always orange on the 1 Sqn SAAF planes? 1 Sqn SAAF planes, Spitfires at least, did have RAF marking red spinner and wing tips upper and lower sides? Cheers, Kari Edited December 17, 2020 by Kari Lumppio 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Aereo Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 4 hours ago, JWM said: Very interesting huge set of photos. I have found one with description of "Wellesley?" - so with question tag: I will vote for Breda 65 rather . How do you think? Regards J-W No, it is definitely a Wellesley, the extended canopy version. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPuente54 Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 i gave a little look at the photos; I agree with @fishplanebeer and @M20gull and the others. It's a great resource. I shall look more into it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 29 minutes ago, Super Aereo said: No, it is definitely a Wellesley, the extended canopy version. I did not thought about that variant. Ok, the Venturi nozzle/tube is right where it should be and an identical square is below and a bit aft the canopy... The set of photos is really vast! I am collecting materials for Valentia, there are already 3 photos I have found. Many thanks @TEXANTOMCAT for sharing! Some photos I have found in past when I was googling for SAAF Hartbeest, but not whole archive! Regards J-W 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 Ben, You've played a blinder! Hours of good stuff to see here. And bless those who took the pictures while they were at the front. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard502 Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 No joy: Safari can not find the server..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafetyDad Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Oh there's some great stuff there! At random I've dipped into Peter During's album and found (about half way down) a pic of 2 spitfires in NMF captioned 'Special high altitude Spitfire IX's; SHF. Canopies were bolted on, no paint, the one had no guns and the other no radio. Highest altitude reached by 9 sqdn pilot 14878 m !!' Mindful of copyright I'll not link to the picture directly but it's easy to find. Thanks! SD 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXANTOMCAT Posted December 18, 2020 Author Share Posted December 18, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Richard502 said: No joy: Safari can not find the server..... Instead of using the hyperlink can you just search for SAAF WW2 photos? Glad y'all are enjoying them as much as I did - there is something for everyone there as well as being a fascinating snapshot of squadron life on the move! TT Edited December 18, 2020 by TEXANTOMCAT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M20gull Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 12 hours ago, SafetyDad said: Oh there's some great stuff there! At random I've dipped into Peter During's album and found (about half way down) a pic of 2 spitfires in NMF captioned 'Special high altitude Spitfire IX's; SHF. Canopies were bolted on, no paint, the one had no guns and the other no radio. Highest altitude reached by 9 sqdn pilot 14878 m !!' Mindful of copyright I'll not link to the picture directly but it's easy to find. Thanks! SD 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! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornet133 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 (edited) @M20gull The 2 special high altitude Mk.IXs in overall Natural Metal finish were MA504 and MH946 Edited December 19, 2020 by Hornet133 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M20gull Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, Hornet133 said: @M20gull The 2 special high altitude Mk.IXs in overall Natural Metal finish were MA504 and MH946 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 Edited December 19, 2020 by M20gull 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalea Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Can't find the Puss Moth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Thanks for sharing this, utterly fascinating and absorbing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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