"Club run blues." Spitfire Mk Vc (Trop), Operations Bowery (USS Wasp) and LB (HMS Eagle), May 1942

[TonyOD]

So… I’ve been toying with the idea of committing to a third build for the Salty Sea Dog for a few weeks. I thought I would do an Air-Sea Rescue Spitfire Mk Vb, but I discounted that fairly early on as, funky yellow codes apart, it’s another Day Fighter Scheme plane, I’ve done one of those recently. I also considered a French Aéronavale Seafire Mk 15 in EDSG over grey, but I’m not sure I’m ready for another Special Hobby bruiser just yet.

 

At the back of my mind, though, lurked the idea of one of the carrier-launched Spitfires that was delivered to the besieged and beleaguered island of Malta during the 1942 “club run” operations. I’ve been reading a bit about these and it was a truly exceptional episode in the history of military aviation. However I was a bit wary given the sizeable can of worms that seems to get cracked open every time the subject of the colour of these birds is brought up.

 

The airframe I’ve decided to go with is Spitfire Mk Vc (Trop) s/n BR126, whose story was remarkable even for a club run Spit. BR126 was one of the Vc’s transported to the Med by the American carrier USS Wasp for Operation Bowery, the second such operation to involve this ship, following a personal appeal by Churchill to Roosevelt. BR126 was embarked upon Wasp at Clydebank on 3rd May 1942, at the time painted in Temperate Sea Scheme and bearing the codes 3*X. All the Bowery Spitfires were fitted with 90 gallon “slipper” fuel tanks to give them the necessary range to reach Malta. The fuel feeds for these tanks had proven very unreliable during previous ops, to the extent that a the engineer who had designed them was despatched to the Med to sort the problem out. Sure enough, on taking off from Wasp on 9th May 1942, Canadian P/O Jerry Smith found that his auxiliary tank fuel feed was malfunctioning; there was no way he would reach Malta without it.

 

The Spitfires were not equipped for carrier deck landing, having no arrester hook. The logical, and sensible(?) thing to do would be to ditch the aircraft in the sea and wait to be picked up; this, indeed, was what the pilots had been advised to do if encountering problems once airborne. However Smith, not wanting to consign a brand-new aircraft to the depths, somehow managed to land the plane back on deck (on the second attempt) with only a few feet to spare, an extraordinary feat of airmanship for which the American pilots on board Wasp unofficially awarded him his US Navy pilot’s wings. Smith asked for a replacement tank to be fitted and permission to continue alone, but this was denied. Accounts differ on whether Smith returned to Gibraltar with Wasp or flew there from Wasp the day after his famous carrier landing. The caption on the following  photograph suggests he flew there, but I'm not sure of its provenance.

 

 

There is an account of the landing here, although the bit about Smith flying on directly to Malta is incorrect.

 

https://www.flightjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/No_Tailhook_Spitfire.pdf 

 

Jerry Smith being feted by American colleagues on board Wasp after his landing, his hand on his new US Navy wings:

 

 

During its short stay in Gibraltar BR126 was repainted in Dark Mediterranean Blue over Sky Blue. With this new paint scheme and now bearing the codes GL*E for 185 Squadron (though see below), Smith and his aircraft were embarked on HMS Eagle, from which he flew to Malta on 18th May with 16 other Spitfires as part of Operation LB.

 

The reason I’ve chosen this airframe, apart from the fact that blue is my favourite colour, is that it neatly sidesteps pretty much all those “what kind of blue, when, where and how applied” questions. My main references are The Spitfire Story and Spitfire: The Documentary History by Dr Alfred Price and the relevant Colour Conundrums articles by Paul Lucas (I am hugely indebted to @2996 Victor for kitting me out with a copy of the latter), which I hope we can all agree are pretty solid.

 

The kit I’m using is one from Eduard’s Spitfire Vc “Per Aspera Ad Astra” Dual Combo. Now, here it gets a little bit murky. One of the OOB options is identical in every respect to the BR136 as illustrated in Colour Conundrums – same-ish colours (although "Sky" rather than Sky Blue undersides?), same yellow GL*E codes in the same style – except for the serial number, which is shown as a different aircraft, BR294.

 

 

The Spitfire production data on airhistory.com presents the following for the two airframes:

 

BR126 FF 25-3-42 8MU 28-3-42 RAF Abbotsinch 12-4-42 USS Wasp 3-5-42 flown off Wasp but landed back 9-5-42 '3-X' returned to Gib. flown off Eagle to Malta 18-5-42 185Sq 'GL-O' 18-5-42 f/l due glycol leak CB 15-6-42 FSgt RJ Sim safe SOC 31-7-42 FH39:30

 

BR126 First flew 24/3/42, to 8 Maintenance Unit 28/3/42, to RAF Abbotsinch [Glasgow] 12/4/42, loaded onto USS Wasp 3/5/42, flown off Wasp but landed back 9/5/42 coded ‘3-X’, returned to Gibraltar. Flown off HMS Eagle to Malta 18/5/42, to 185 Squadron coded ‘GL-O’ 18/5/2, forced landing due to glycol leak, beyond repair 15/6/42, Flight Sergeant R J Sim safe [later KIA over the Channel with 616 Squadron, 15/6/43 - a year to the day after his forced landing on Malta], struck off charge 31/7/42, 39:30 flying hours.

 

BR294 FF 17-4-42 8MU 17-4-42 USS Wasp 3-5-42 flown off Wasp to Malta 9-5-42, to 185Sq 'GL-E' 30-4-42 Crashed on landing Hal Far 2-7-42 FSgt DG Reid inj SOC 3-7-42 FH55:10

 

BR294 First flew 17/4/42, to 8 Maintenance Unit 17/4/42, flown off USS Wasp to Malta 9/5/42, to 185 Squadron code ‘GL-E’ 30/4/42, crashed on landing Hal Far 2/7/42, Flight Sergeant D G Reid injured, struck off charge 3/7/42, 55:10 flying hours.

 

…all of which would suggest that BR126 wasn’t coded GL*E, but GL*O… and that GL*E were the codes on BR294, which met its end nearly a month before BR126 after flying from USS Wasp on the same morning in early May, the difference being of course that BR294 made it to Malta, which BR126 didn’t, not just yet anyway.

 

Ordinarily that would be the end of the matter for me: BR126 was GL*O… but for the existence of these photographs of the two Spitfires after their respective demises – BR126 quite clearly carrying the codes GL*E, and to my eye at least BR294 looking more like GL*F.

 

 

 

The only quibble in all this is exactly when BR126 received its codes; when BR294 flew from Wasp it would have carried a “number*X” code, the same as BR126, and must have received its 185 Squadron “GL” code on arrival in Malta. Lucas suggests that BR126 already had its “GL” codes when it flew from Eagle. There are a few possibilities here:

 

• Gibraltar ground crew were aware of what codes were now needed on BR126 and they painted them on before it was embarked on Eagle.
• Lucas is wrong and in fact BR126 flew from Eagle to Malta without codes, receiving them on arrival.
• BR126 was originally coded GL*O but was given a new GL*E code sometime before its demise in June.
• The data on airhistory is just wrong.

 

This is the bit I'm going to have to chew over.

 

Anyway, this is how I plan to model BR126: how it looked as it left Eagle’s deck. probably GL codes, all four cannon, 90 gallon slipper tank, nice new paint job as described by Mr Lucas (who helpfully supplied Vallejo paint references – I may be veering away from my faithful Humbrol enamels for this one), very minimal weathering. I can make the serial number decals work – I have the “2”, the “9” upside down will give me a “6”, and with a sharp blade and a steady hand I hope to extract a “1” from the “4” – twice! However, BR126's s/n's are rather ""blockier" in appearance, I may have to do something with that.

 

If you’ve made the time to sit and read this stream of consciousness, I’m grateful. Hopefully I’ll get onto this soon, once SSDGB builds nos. 1 (WIP) and 2 (yet to start, but should be a relatively quick build), and another couple of projects are out of they way. There should be time, and hopefully not at the cost of either of my two planned Reconnaissance GB builds.

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Tony

Edited February 9, 2023 by TonyOD

[Bertie McBoatface]

Oooh, a mystery.

 

You have presented some grounds for debate here. Now, since we have a number of Britmodellers, who need no introduction and just can't help themselves in such circumstances, I predict this thread will be on page seven before you even open the box.  🤣

 

Play nice everyone. 😠

[TonyOD]

5 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

Oooh, a mystery.

 

You have presented some grounds for debate here. Now, since we have a number of Britmodellers, who need no introduction and just can't help themselves in such circumstances, I predict this thread will be on page seven before you even open the box.  🤣

 

Play nice everyone. 😠

I will be quite happy to abuse my hosting privileges and and shut down any canowormery! 😉

[Bertie McBoatface]

It is a fascinating story. 

[TonyOD]

36 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

It is a fascinating story. 

It really is. Those guys were flying right into the jaws of the lion. 

[Bertie McBoatface]

5 minutes ago, TonyOD said:

It really is. Those guys were flying right into the jaws of the lion. 

 

I've read the Albert Price Spitfire in Action/At War books and I believe that's where I read about the Malta resupply runs. It was one of my themes when aircraft modelling, the whole Malta story, I mean. I spent a little working time at Luqa and also visited Gib so I've trodden the ground at both ends in uniform and that was enough to give me a personal feeling of connection. I heard some of the ghosts nattering in the shade. 🙂

 

This build of yours will be one of the more interesting aircraft for me to watch in the SSD.

[Bertie McBoatface]

Good title too as I'm a blues fan myself.

[TonyOD]

8 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

I've read the Albert Price Spitfire in Action/At War books and I believe that's where I read about the Malta resupply runs. It was one of my themes when aircraft modelling, the whole Malta story, I mean. I spent a little working time at Luqa and also visited Gib so I've trodden the ground at both ends in uniform and that was enough to give me a personal feeling of connection. I heard some of the ghosts nattering in the shade. 🙂

 

I have those books too, recommended by @Troy Smith and I picked them up for a song. Great references.

 

I also visited both Malta and Gib - not in uniform, the former on a business trip, the latter on holiday - fascinating places both. I guess what is now the airport that you have to cross to get into Gibraltar was the airfield during the war.

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 hour ago, TonyOD said:

what is now the airport that you have to cross to get into Gibraltar was the airfield during the war.

 

There's nowhere else to put it. It must have been an amazing sight when they were busy

[2996 Victor]

Great intro, Tony, this is going to be a great build and a stunner when finished - glad I could be of help in some small way!

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Grandboof]

Sure to be a great model whichever code you choose to go with . And you do have that photo . Best of luck .

Martin H 

[Ngantek]

Great research and great story behind this one. I've always like the blue Malta schemes too, so it makes for a really interesting subject. It'll be a nice comparison too, doing a spit from SH, Airfix and Eduard, though I imagine you're pretty familiar with all of them at this point!

 

Only since it was brought up in your previous build, in case you haven't got to it yet, Mike Crosley (They gave me a Seafire) spent this period of the war on Eagle doing club runs up until Pedestal IIRC.

 

Looking forward to it.

 

Andy

 

[TonyOD]

47 minutes ago, Grandboof said:

And you do have that photo .

 

There you go. I only fret about the codes a little simply because I'd like it to appear as it left the deck from Eagle. Once landed in Malta the slipper tank would've been taken off (or even more likely jettisoned en route), and I think I read somewhere that one pair of cannon was removed. I notice the codes are a little bit smaller on BR126 but given all the lines are straight only light surgery would be needed to put them right.

 

I've come across the following two captioned photos (one referred to above) purporting to be P/O Smith in the cockpit of BR126. Well, at least one of the captions is wrong - they can't both have been taken on 9th May, as the aircraft is painted differently in each picture. I suspect the "BOB'S THE BOSS" picture was taken on Eagle with the new paint scheme applied - note absence of exhaust and cannon staining (though the one in the second picture looks decidedly worn for an aircraft only two months old - pictures I've seen of Spitfires being lifted aboard Wasp show them all but factory fresh). "Bob" was possibly New Zealander F/O Robert J. Sim, also of 185 Squadron, the same R J Sim who force-landed in BR126 and was killed exactly a year later.

 

 

[TonyOD]

6 minutes ago, Ngantek said:

It'll be a nice comparison too, doing a spit from SH, Airfix and Eduard

 

They are indeed the "big three" in my stash, all quite different in character but essentially giving the same end result! I have a couple of Tamiya Mk I's and a few ICM Mk VIII/IX's but haven't got to them yet. 

 

7 minutes ago, Ngantek said:

in case you haven't got to it yet, Mike Crosley (They gave me a Seafire) spent this period of the war on Eagle doing club runs up until Pedestal IIRC.

 

Funnily enough, I read a chapter of his book last night - I've just picked up Special Hobby's "D-Day Fleet Eyes" Seafire Mk III and the airframe I plan to build belonged to the NAS that he commanded on D-Day.

[John Laidlaw]

I'll be pulling up a seat for this one - anything with any connection to Malta has my attention.

[Dave Swindell]

On 01/02/2023 at 13:28, TonyOD said:

I suspect the "BOB'S THE BOSS" picture was taken on Eagle

Both are taken on Wasp - wooden deck with athwartship tiedown metal strips. Eagle, like other British carriers had a steel flightdeck. Another clue is the "gassed" chalkmark by the fuel tank, that's an American expression, not British.

[TonyOD]

Thanks for that, @Dave Swindell. This reinforces my suspicion that the captions on the two photographs above are not to be trusted; BR126 can’t have received a new paint job between landing back on Wasp and taking off again (possibly) for Gibraltar shortly thereafter. One of them might be BR126, but they can’t both be. I’m also a bit puzzled by the extent of the weathering in the second picture, for what would have been a very new aircraft it looks pretty well worn (the cannon gunpowder streaking indicate that it had fired off rounds while airborne at some point), though it’s definitely a Spitfire and it appears to be definitely on Wasp. What may be the very bottom of a “BR” or “BP” serial number is just about visible under the starboard wing, but that would include any of the Spits on board Wasp for Bowery, or for that matter Calendar – same carrier, different op.

 

Just to add to the fun, this photo shows Jerry Smith purportedly talking to F/O Robert (“Bob”?) Sim after landing back on Wasp. Note that he is wearing a light coloured helmet with darker flying overall, which the pilot isn’t in the first picture above. It’s not impossible that Smith could have changed his kit within such a short period of time, but I feel it unlikely.

 

 

And to add to the fun even further, this shot of the wrecked BR126 with its GR*E codes (s/n isn't super clear in this one, but it's definitely the same airframe as the one above) looks to me like it had a light-coloured Vokes filter and a dark spinner, whereas the artwork in PL’s Colour Conundrums suggests both were painted same Dark Mediterranean Blue as the fuselage and upper surfaces. If I’m seeing it right, unless BR126 was wholly or partially repainted yet again on arrival in Malta (again, not impossible) that discounts the possibility of either of the two Spitfires pictures on Wasp’s deck above being that airframe – light coloured spinner on one, dark Vokes filter on the other.

 

 

The long and the short of it is I don’t really know what to think. I wonder what Mr Lucas used as his reference?

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 hour ago, TonyOD said:

long and the short of it is I don’t really know what to think.

 

That's great. It means you can do it anyway you like. ☺️

[PeterB]

Given how "vexed" the problem of paint is on these particular planes, I doubt anybody can actually tell you you're wrong even if they have a B&W photo as the difference between shades of blue and grey would be difficult to confirm with any certainty given the photo emulsions in use in the day. Go with whatever you feel is right! It's a bit like the supposed light med blue/dark med blue Beauforts that supposedly operated from Malta that I have seen shown somewhere -could be right or could be wrong! Given the situation at the time I doubt they were too bothered about what paint they used.

 

Pete

Edited February 6, 2023 by PeterB

[TonyOD]

2 hours ago, PeterB said:

could be right or could be wrong!

 

Didn't you know there's a special level of Hell reserved for those who paint Maltese Spitfires the wrong colour?! 😉

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 hours ago, PeterB said:

Given the situation at the time I doubt they were too bothered about what paint they used.

 

 

As a general supporting comment to PeterB's point, this was a yellow Wessex of 84 Sqn in 1983 or 1984, hurriedly camouflaged with housepaint in magnolia and dark green for trips to Beiruit during the Lebanese Civil War. I believe the paint came from a hardware shop in Larnaca. I doubt that there's a Humbrol equivalent.  😆

[TonyOD]

29 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

I doubt that there's a Humbrol equivalent. 

 

Well that iffy shade of green looks like 30.

 

If you know, you know.

[Bertie McBoatface]

9 hours ago, TonyOD said:

that iffy shade of green looks like 30.

 

30, as I understand it, was the original iffy shade of green!

[PeterB]

Yes, it is a bit strange that having produced a selection of supposedly accurate Luftwaffe paints in the Hu 2xx range, Humbrol still use Hu 29/30 and Hu 65 which must be at least 70 years old by now.

 

Pete