KITS 01/2022

X4036, P/O Robert F. T. Doe, No. 234 Squadron, RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire, Great Britain, August 1940

Robert Francis Thomas Doe, a native of Reigate, Surrey, joined the RAF at the age of fresh 18 in March 1938. Training was followed

by service with No. 234 Sqn from November 1939, with which he flew until almost the end of the Battle of Britain. On August 27,

1940 he was transferred to No. 238 Sqn, with which he flew as Flight Leader in Hurricanes. On his return from rest, when he was

training new pilots with No. 57 OTU, further activity followed, this time in faraway Burma with No. 613 Sqn. However, he flew with

this unit for only two months, until December 1943, when he was commissioned to form No. 10 Sqn of the Indian Air Force. There

he also served to the end of World War II. In September 1946, Robert Doe returned to the UK and held staff posts in the RAF until

his retirement in April 1966, retiring with the rank of W/Cdr. He died on February 21, 2010.

R7057, P/O James H. Lacey, No. 501 Squadron, RAF Colerne, Wiltshire, Great Britain, May 1941

After the rearmament of No. 501 Sqn from Hurricanes to Spitfires in May 1941, Spitfire R7057, bearing the donation inscription

"Caithness" (drawn on both sides probably in yellow) became the personal aircraft of "Ginger" Lacey, one of the RAF's most successful pilots with 28 kills to his credit. Czech pilot Sgt. Antonín Dvořák also flew several operational flights in its cockpit. From

July this Spitfire served with No. 53 OTU RAF in Llandow. On August 12, 1941, R7057 and its pilot Colin Day were lost in an air crash

near Glynneath.

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eduard

INFO Eduard - January 2022