KITS 02/2022

Spitfire Mk.Vc trop, Capt John K. Blythe, 4th FS, 52nd FG, 12th AF, North Africa, February 1943

The 4th Fighter Squadron was activated at Selfridge Field, Michigan, on January 15, 1941. The unit was equipped with P-39s and P-40s, used until July 1942. After a move to Northern Ireland pilots of 4th FS received British Spitfires. The unit was part of the 52nd

Fighter Group, which was assigned to the North Africa theatre as a part of the 12th Air Force. On November 8, 1942, the invasion of

Algeria and Morocco was launched, and the 4th FS was sent to an airfield in Algeria. The crew chief of this Spitfire, Sgt Kormos,

arranged a Texas flag and his girlfriend's name to be painted on the nose. Note the exhaust pipes. This aircraft is fitted with the

type that was used mostly on Mk.IX Spitfires.

Spitfire Mk.Vc trop, EP813, Lt. Haskins/Lt. Curtis, 2nd FS, 52nd FG, Palermo, Sicily, 1943

In June 1943, when the 2nd Fighter Squadron was based at La Sebala airfield in Tunis, its members named it the American Beagle

Squadron as a joking counterpart to the more famous Eagle Squadrons. The American Beagle Squadron emblem was painted on

several 2nd FS Spitfires and was carried on the nose of the machine flown by Lieutenants Hasins and Curtis. It should be said,

however, that the entire 52nd FG was not lagging behind its more famous colleagues from the 8th Air Force, and its performance

on both Spitfires and Mustangs (after being transferred to the 15th Air Force) made a significant mark in the history of American

aviation.

INFO Eduard - FEBRUARY 2022

eduard

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