BR301, Sgt. George F. Beurling, No. 249 Squadron, RAF Hal Far, Malta, July 1942 

Spitfire Mk.Vc serial number BR301 was one of the most successful Spitfires fighting on Malta. The aircraft came from the batch of Spitfires flying off the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) on May 9, 1942, during the operation Bowery. Like a majority of Spitfires delivered for the operation Bowery, BR301 had the blue shade of Dark Mediterranean Blue applied already on board of the carrier having the original desert scheme (Dark Earth and Middle Stone) shown slightly through. The lower surfaces were re-painted in Sky Blue including the national markings. The original armament consisting of four cannons was reduced to two in the wing inner gun bays and two machine guns were installed outwards. BR301 coded UF-S first served with No. 601 Squadron however its greatest glory awaited it at No. 249 Squadron where it was transferred. Here it became an “aircraft of the Aces”. Between July 7 and July 13 P/O John McElroy claimed four aerial victories flying it and on July 27, a rising star, Sgt. George Beurling shot down four enemy aircraft in one mission and two days later he claimed another kill with BR301. During the month of July S/Ldr Richard Mitchell and F/Sgt John Rae claimed further kills. On July 29, BR301 was damaged beyond repair and struck of charge having flown 54 hours.

BR476, S/Ldr Jefferson H. Wedgwood, No. 92 Squadron, RAF LG. 173, Egypt, August–October 1942

Jefferson Heywood Wedgwood was born on May 28, 1917, in London. He was educated at Holyrood School, Bognor and Lancing Colleges. In March 1936 he joined the RAF and a year later he became a staff pilot at No. 2 Air Armament School in North Coates. After a brief stint at No. 65 Squadron, he was transferred as an instructor to No. 12 Group Pool in Aston Down. On July 18, 1940, Wedgwood was assigned to No. 253 Squadron at Kirton-in-Lindsey with which he took part in the famous Battle of Britain. During the month of September, he destroyed a Bf 110 and cooperated in destroying five Ju 88s and three Do 17s. At the end of September, he was ordered to Vickers Supermarine where he flew as a Production Test Pilot but on October 10 he was transferred to the RAF Czechoslovak Depot in Cosford as a flight instructor. In January 1942 he assumed command of the No. 92 Squadron in Digby. In February the unit was transferred to the Near East and in April it arrived in Egyptian Fayid. For several month the unit was without any airplanes and as of July 2 the pilots were attached to the No. 80 Squadron in the Western Desert to gain the operational experience. Finally, in the end of August 1942, the tropicalized Spitfires arrived. Between August 14 and October 29 Wedgwood destroyed eight Bf 109s and damaged another eight. For his accomplishments he was awarded DFC. On December 17, 1942 he was on board of a Halifax Mk.II from No. 138 Squadron as a passenger flying back to the Great Britain but the aircraft crashed near Żejtun on Malta. It is highly probable that it was shot down by a friendly AA fire and all on board perished. Jefferson Wedgwood is buried in the Navy cemetery in Capuccini on Malta.

JG959, Lt. McClellan E. S. Robinson, No. 1 Squadron SAAF, Ben Gardane, Tunis, April 1943

Pilot’s full name was McClellan Eric Sutton Robinson, and his usual nickname was “Robbie”. He was born on February 26, 1919, in Johannesburg. His first operational unit was No. 1 Squadron SAAF flying Hurricanes. He was assigned to the unit in August 1942 and remained flying with it for a year. On November 2, 1942, he achieved his first combat success when he shared victory over a Ju 87. After he converted to Spitfire Mk.V,  between January and April 1943, he added another five victories to his score. After that he had bad luck for the first time when on July 14, 1943, he was shot down by a friendly fire of a USAAF P-38 and had to bail out over the Mediterranean sea. He got lucky though as he was fished out by the crew of a Greek destroyer. In September 1943, at the end of his tour of duty, Robinson was awarded DFC and sent back to the Great Britain where he assumed the post of a flight instructor at No. 11 OTU. On November 14, 1944, the bad luck struck again as he collided mid-air with one of his students flying Kittyhawk, crashed and was killed. All his personal Spitfires carried the inscription CireCooks on the port side which was the combination of his first name and last name of his fiancé. Number VI indicated it was the sixth airplane christened with this name. On April 22, 1943, flying this aircraft, Robinson shot down two Bf 109Fs. During his combat career he shot down in total five enemy aircraft plus one probable and one aircraft damaged.

Lt. Luis T. Zendegui, 2nd FS, 52nd FG, 12th AF, La Sabala, Tunis, Winter 1942–1943

One of the successful pilots flying with 2nd FS was Cpt. Luis Zendegui who scored his first victory on December 25, 1942, during the dogfight with Mc.202. During his service with 2nd FS he was credited with three confirmed kills and he damaged another two enemy aircraft. Zendegui’s Spitfire carried the pilot’s name on the drop tank and the American flag on the fuselage sides. The original British cockades on wings and fin flash on the vertical tail surface remained intact. The squadron white codes QP were not yet applied on Spitfires during this period. Some sources assign serial number ER148 to this Spitfire, however it cannot be found in the database of the Spitfires’ serial numbers.

MH592, S/Ldr Hinko Šoić, NOVJ No. 352 (Yugoslav) Squadron, Vis, Yugoslav, January–February 1945

No. 352 (Yugoslav) Squadron was the first Yugoslav fighter unit established at Royal Air Force in Mediterranean during WWII. This unit is also known as the Prva Eskadrila NOVJ. In June it converted to Spitfires Mk.Vb/Vc and in August the unit was transferred to Italy to join RAF No. 281 Wing and provide the escort for the fighter-bomber squadrons. As of January 25, 1945, it was deployed to the forward base on the island of Vis. Due to the absence of the Luftwaffe aircraft the Yugoslav Spitfires had very little opportunities for the air combat and for the rest of war they flew the ground attack missions. Šoić’s Spitfire MH592 sported the type “B” desert camouflage scheme and as the only Yugoslav Spitfire featured the Aboukir dust filter (the rest of the aircraft featured Vokes filters). Also, Hinko Šoić as one of very few Yugoslav pilots encountered the enemy aircraft and in the cooperation with another three pilots shot down a Henschel Hs 126 on March 20, 1945. In this Spitfire he flew 73 missions altogether, further six missions were flown by other No. 352 (Yugoslav) Squadron pilots.

A58-137 (EE835), F/Lt David H. Hopton, No. 79 Squadron RAAF, Kiriwina, Trobriand Islands, October 1943

Spitfire serial number EE835 arrived in Australia on April 13, 1943. Before it was delivered to the combat unit it had been repainted in Foliage Green/Earth Brown/Sky Blue. In May it was handed over to the No. 79 Squadron RAAF as A58-137 and the code letters UP-T were applied. It was assigned to F/Lt David Hopton who christened his new Spitfire by the phrase “Down with everything” and had a naked girl painted on the port side of the fuselage. Hopton flew this Spitfire until November 28, 1943, when the fuselage drop tank was not released correctly and damaged the aircraft’s tail. The repaired airplane was returned to the service in October 1944, assigned to No. 85 Squadron and coded SH-W. The camouflage was stripped, and it flew in the natural metal color finish. On February 26, 1945, during the landing at Guildford, the pilot F/O B. O’Connell collided with another Spitfire and A58-137 was struck off charge.