KITS 05/2023

Spitfire Vb, ER647, S/Ldr John R. Urwin-Mann, No. 126 Squadron, RAF Luqa, Malta, spring 1943

ER647 represents yet another of the camouflage

schemes used in Malta where the factory applied

Middle Stone was repainted with Dark Slate Grey.

A Mk.Vb painted in similar way is documented

in the color photographs by AVM Keith Park.

The depicted ER647 was flown by the No. 126

Squadron commander, a Battle of Britain ace

S/Ldr Urwin-Mann, who on January 28, 1943, shot

down a Me 210 flying this aircraft. In February

1944, ER647 was handed over to the USAAF and

in 1945 finished its career with the French AF.

During his wartime career, John Roland “Jack”

Urwin-Mann scored 10 kills, two of them shared.

Spitfire Vb Trop, ER187, Maj. Frank A. Hill, 309th FS, 31st FG, Xewkija, Gozo - Malta, beginning of July 1943

In the middle of 1943, Malta became a fundamental

“springboard” for the Operation Husky, an Allied

invasion of Sicily. The island became a key post

mainly due to its support of the air operations.

There were five operational airfields on Malta,

all of them occupied by the large numbers of the

British airplanes which impaired the operations

of the USAAF units. The only solution was to turn

the attention to Gozo, mountainous land which

is the part of the Malta archipelago. The area in

Xewkija turned out to be the best solution despite

the negotiations with the local farmers. Xewkija

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INFO Eduard

airport, also known as Ta’ Lambert, was built as

the principal USAAF airbase during the Operation

Husky in the very short time of 12 days of the

construction only to cease the operations after

mere six months of the intense traffic. In June

1944 the land on which the airport was built was

returned to the original landlords and turned back

to the fertile soil. One of the Spitfires flying out of

the airfield Xewkija in the beginning of July 1943

was ER187, a personal aircraft of the commander

and the most successful pilot of the 309th FS,

Maj. Frank Hill. His Spitfire is known to carry two

different designs of the national insignia, with

a yellow outline and also with the “wings” with

the red outline which fell into the period of their

official application, from June 28 to the end of

July 1943. A question remains if the new insignia

were painted for that ten days stay on Gozo or

in Sicily, where the 31st FG was transferred on

July 13, 1943. During his wartime carrier Maj.

Frank Hill shot down in total eight enemy aircraft

including two shared victories, two probable and

he also damaged five enemy aircraft.

May 2023