HISTORY

deck officer David McCampbell, the future

most successful USN fighter pilot who, as

a LSO (Landing Signal Officer) directed the

whole operation.

May 19, 1942

OPERATION LB

upper surfaces: Deep Sky Blue and Dark

Slate Grey. Light Mediterranean Blue

was to be applied on the lower surfaces.

Based on the surviving photographs it is

quite probable that some of eight Spitfires

Mk.Vc and 24 Spitfires Mk.Vb participating

in the Operation Pinpoint could have been

camouflaged in these new colors.

July 21, 1942

OPERATION BELLOWS

Even though no known photographs of

seventeen Spitfires Mk.Vc flying during the

Operation LB came to light it is assumed,

that they were repainted at Gibraltar in

Dark Mediterranean Blue on the upper

surfaces and probably the Azure Blue on

the lower surfaces was also repainted

with Sky Blue color. Thanks to the pilots’

logbooks we know that these Spitfires

were marked with the code letter C in

front of the fuselage cockade and two-digit

numeral behind it. For example, Spitfire

BR107, delivered during the Operation LB,

was coded C-22 while BR108 carried the

code C-20 and BR175 was marked C-51.

June 3, 1043

OPERATION STYLE

Altogether 31 Spitfires Mk.Vc were

embarked on the HMS Eagle deck for the

Operation Style. Of them, 27 reached Malta.

Many surviving photographs of Spitfire

BR305, which was delivered during the

Operation Style, show that it had been

finished in the Dark Mediterranean Blue/

Sky Blue.

June 9, 1942

OPERATION SALIENT

Salient was the last operation during

which the Spitfires camouflaged in Dark

Mediterranean Blue and Sky Blue were

delivered. In total 32 Spitfires Mk.Vc were

delivered during the June. After that, the air

command on Malta (AHQ Malta) requested

the change in the coloration to be applied

to the newly delivered Spitfires.

July 15, 1942

OPERACE PINPOINT

It is not exactly clear why the AHQ Malta

decided to change their camouflage

requirements from a single blue color

on the upper surfaces to the two colors

pattern which included the lighter blue

color shade. It might have somehow

been related to the appearance of some

Spitfires delivered during the Operation

Bowery which carried two tone bluegray scheme on the upper surfaces. The

new camouflage scheme, required by the

AHQ Malta as of June 1942, resulted in

the adoption of two colors pattern for the

Operation Bellows was the third mission

during which the Spitfires were transported

from the United Kingdom directly to Malta,

bypassing Gibraltar. The operation was an

integral part of the convoy Pedestal, the

famous mission to supply Malta. On August

11, 38 Spitfires Mk.Vb took off off the HMS

Furious flight deck. All of them, except one,

which was forced to make an emergency

landing on HMS Indomitable, reached

Malta safely. Typically for Spitfires destined

for Malta, the coloration of the aircraft

participating in the Operation Bellows

is questionable. Most of the airplanes

were finished in the desert scheme

with Azure Blue on the lower surfaces,

a part of them however received the

naval camouflaged in Extra Dark Sea

Grey, Dark Slate Grey and Sky. The

photographs of Spitfires delivered to Malta

during the Operation Bellows confirms

repainting of the “desert” upper surfaces

in the workshops of the local Maintenance

Command. It is highly probable that the

upper surfaces repainting was done with

only one shade of Deep Sky or Extra Dark

Sea Grey or the new standard camouflage

scheme in Deep Sky and Dark Slate Grey

was applied.

August 17, 1942

OPERATION BARITONE

HMS Furious returned to Gibraltar from

her latest mission on August 12 and

immediately embarked two Hurricanes

and 32 Spitfires. On August 16, she set sail

again and a day later 32 Spitfires took off

from her flight deck, 14 of them in version

Vc and 18 in version Vb. Twenty-nine of

them managed to reach Malta shores.

According to the period pictures the

camouflage of these Spitfire varied from

the new scheme of Deep Sky and Dark

Slate Grey to the upper surfaces finished

in Dark Mediterranean Blue.

October 30, 1942

OPERATION TRAIN

The aircraft loaded on the decks of the

OG.85 convoy ships were originally

destined for the Operation Torch (the

Allied landing in the North Africa). With the

General Eisenhower approval, however,

44 Spitfires were diverted to Malta (32 in

Mk.Vb on board of HMS Furious while 12

aircraft in the version Mk.Vc flew directly

from Gibraltar). Operation Train was

the last mission to reinforce Malta with

Spitfires flying off the aircraft carrier.

These were finished in the standard

camouflage scheme of Deep Sky and Dark

Slate Grey on the upper surfaces and Light

Mediterranean Blue on the lower surfaces.

Sources:

Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 082 –

Malta Spitfire Aces

Air Marshal Sir Keith Park: Victor

of the Battle of Britain, Defender

of Malta – Murray Rowlands

Sniper of the Skies: The Story of

George Frederick “Screwball” Beurling, DSO, DFC, DFM – Nick Thomas

Scale Aviation Modeller; May 21;

A Malta Story Reprised – The Malta

Spitfires of 1942 by Paul Lucas

Scale Aviation Modeller; Nov 18;

A Malta Story concluded – The Malta

Spitfires November 1942 – July 1943

by Paul Lucas

Scale Aviation Modeller; Oct 18;

A Malta Story concluded – The Malta

Spitfires June – October 1942;

by Paul Lucas

Scale Aviation Modeller; Sep 17;

A Malta Story Continued – Colloquial

Camouflage Malta Spitfires delivered

via Gibraltar 18 May to 17 August 1942

by Paul Lucas

Scale Aviation Modeller; Aug 17;

A Malta Story Continued – Operations

Oppidan, Hansford and Bowery. USS

Wasp’s Second Spitfire Delivery to

Malta 24 April to 9 May 1942 by Paul

Lucas

Scale Aviation Modeller; Jan 16;

A Malta Story – Spitfire Vc’s of Operation Newman & Calendar 13–20 April

1942 (Part 2) by Paul Lucas

Scale Aviation Modeller; Dec 15;

A Malta Story – Spitfire Vc‘s of Operation Newman & Calendar 13–20 April

1942 (Part 1) by Paul Lucas

Malta Spitfire Vs – 1942: Their Colours

and Markings by Brian Cauchi