KITS 02/2022

B6313, Maj. William G. Barker, No. 139 Squadron, Villaverla, Italy, July 1918

Barker´s B6313 is probably the most famous Camel, as it is

the most successful fighter aircraft of Great War. He scored

46 out of his 50 victories flying it in the period from October 1917 to September 1918. The aircraft underwent several

overhauls and repainting during its service, the appearance

depicted here shows the state as it was shortly after Barker

became CO of the No. 139 Squadron, operating new two seaters Bristol F.2B Fighter. Barker took his long-time companion

with him to the new unit and added black and white stripes

on its tail, as it was the marking of the No. 139 Sqn. It is not

sure the nose and the vertical stabilizer were painted black.

There is a theory about repair overpaint by different shade of

the camouflage color, and the image of the original vertical

stabilizer displayed in Hendon Museum, is very dark green. On

the other hand, it is part of the aircraft from different period

as the pointed heart painted on it has different shape and

position. On some photos the nose and the fin look as dark as

the black stripes. There was non-standard cutout of the left

side of the cockpit and there were also ducts installed on the

openings for the air supply of the carburetor.

B3834, FL Rowan H. Daly, FL Arthur F. Brandon, Manston War Flight RNAS, Manston,

Great Britain, July 1918

The Wonga Bonga inscription painted surely on the starboard

and (probably) on the port side of the fuselage of this Camel says it all about what it used to be to. “Wonga” was the

nickname for Gotha bombers, while Bonga says it all about

what the pilot of this aircraft wanted to do (to smash them).

In fact, two pilots were flying anti-Gotha patrols with this Camel from August to September 1917: Rowan Heywood Daly and

Arthur Frank Brandon. Daly managed to send down in flames

one “Wonga” on July 7, 1917, but it happened when he was

flying Sopwith Triplane (N5382). Only Brandon scored against

these big German bombers flying this aircraft. It happened

on August 22, 1917, the victim was Gotha G.IV No. 663/16 of

Unteroffizier Heinrich Schildt as a pilot. The enemy fire holed

the No. 6 cylinder of the engine of B3834 and Brandon had to

conduct forced landing on home airfield. The B3834 Camel

was manufactured by the Sopwith Company in June 1917 and

served until February 1918, when it was deleted.

B6299, FL Norman M. MacGregor, No. 10 Sqn RNAS, Téteghem, France, November 1917

Norman Miers MacGregor entered the RNAS on February 1916

and was assigned to HMS President. He was assigned to No.

6 Squadron in 1917 and scored four kills there. After that he

moved to the No. 10 Squadron. His first victory with this unit

was also the most significant of all of his kills, as he shot

down the first Fokker Dr.I of the Great War on September 15,

with German ace Kurt Wolff, victor in 33 combats and commander of the Jasta 11 at controls. MacGregor added two

more victories, both when flying this Camel. He accrued 325

INFO Eduard - FEBRUARY 2022

operational flight hours during the war and was transferred

to RAF´s unemployed list on January 10, 1919, at the rank of

captain. He was later reactivated as a flight lieutenant on

April 10, 1921, serving until June 5. His Camel B6299 sported

the colours of the B Flight of the No. 10 (Naval) Sqn, i.e., white

and red stripes on the nose of the aircraft and distinctive letter B on both sides of the fuselage. Later the aircraft served

briefly with No. 9 (Naval) Sqn, before being transferred to the

training depot at Chingford.

eduard

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