Markings for Spitfire Mk.Vb mid 1/72
COL A
BL336, W/Cdr Robert S. Tuck, CO of Biggin Hill Wing, RAF Biggin Hill, the United Kingdom, December 1941 - January 1942
W/Cdr Robert Stanford “Bob” Tuck is one of the most successful RAF fighter pilots with 29 confirmed kills. He achieved the first ones with No. 92 Squadron over Dunkirk. By September 11, 1940, when he was appointed commander of No. 257 Squadron, he already had 14 kills to his credit. It is believed that one of his victims was the future Luftwaffe ace Hans-Joachim Marseille, who was shot down on September 23, 1940. In early December 1941, Tuck was appointed commander of an elite wing at Biggin Hill. However, on January 28, 1942, his Spitfire BL336 RS-T was hit by flak and Tuck had to make an emergency landing at Boulogne sur Mer, where he was subsequently captured. At Stalag Luft III in Sagan, he participated in preparations for the Great Escape, but just before it was carried out, he was transferred to the Belaria subcamp. On February 1, 1945, he escaped during the evacuation of the camp and joined the Russians. He left the RAF in the 1950s and devoted himself to farming. While filming the movie The Battle of Britain, he befriended Adolf Galland, whose son he was godfather to. He died at the age of 70 on May 5, 1987.
COL B
AB972, F/Lt Brendan E. F. Finucane, No. 452 Squadron, RAF Kenley, the United Kingdom, October 1941
The last Spitfire that Brendan “Paddy” Finucane flew in combat with No. 452 Squadron was AB972. Between October 1 and 13, 1941, “Paddy” flew eight combat missions with it and scored four confirmed victories and two enemy aircraft damaged. After Finucane unfortunately broke his heel bone on October 13, 1941, he spent several weeks in a hospital. Upon his recovery, he was appointed commander of No. 602 Squadron at RAF Redhill on January 20, 1942. The Spitfire AB972 was manufactured in September 1941 and painted in the Temperate Land Scheme. Following an order to change the camouflage scheme for RAF fighter aircraft, AD233 was subsequently repainted in the new Mixed Grey shade (a mixture of Medium Sea Grey and Night Black in a 7:1 ratio) over the original Dark Earth areas, while the undersides were repainted in the new Medium Sea Grey shade. A personal emblem—a green Irish shamrock with black details, accompanied by the initials BF—was applied in the standard position below the windshield left panel. During his wartime career, Finucane achieved 32 aerial victories, making him the third most successful Spitfire pilot of World War II.
COL C
AD233, S/Ldr Richard M. Milne, No. 222 Squadron, RAF North Weald, the United Kingdom, January-May 1942
S/Ldr Richard Maxwell “Dickie” Milne took over Spitfire AD233, bearing the dedication “West Borneo I,” from his predecessor, S/Ldr Manfred Czernin, one of the RAF’s top fighter aces of the Battle of Britain. Dickie Milne flew AD233 in operational service from January to May 1942, and although he did not score any of his 15 aerial victories in it, his Spitfire became famous thanks to a series of preserved color photographs documenting the paint schemes of Spitfires from the turn of 1941–1942. Spitfire AD233 was manufactured in September 1941 and painted in shades of the Temperate Land Scheme. Following a change in the RAF fighter aircraft camouflage scheme, AD233 was repainted in the areas originally painted Dark Earth with a very dark bluish shade of Mixed Grey, while the undersides were painted Medium Sea Grey. Spitfire AD233 had several distinctive features. The upper engine cowling, both ailerons, the left fuselage-wing transition section, and the right wing tip were replaced with parts from another Spitfire on which a lighter shade of Mixed Grey (or possibly the factory shade Ocean Grey) had been applied. This, along with the asymmetrically placed cockades on the upper surface of the wings, the heavily worn paint on the upper surface of the left wing, and numerous signs of camouflage being repainted, give this Spitfire a unique appearance. On May 22, S/Ldr Milne handed over command of No. 222 Squadron to S/Ldr Jerzy Jankiewicz, the first Polish pilot to lead a British squadron. However, he was killed in the waters of the English Channel on May 25 during his second combat flight in AD233.
COL D
BL594, F/O Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, No. 303. Squadron, RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, the United Kingdom, June 1942
BL594 was delivered to No. 242 Squadron in April 1942, but was damaged in an accident in May, subsequently repaired and delivered to No. 303 (Polish) Squadron, which was operating from Kirton-in-Lindsey airfield at the time. Here it was given the code RF-G and became the personal aircraft of F/O Horbaczewski, who had his current score of four confirmed kills and a personal emblem of a somewhat wild-looking Pegasus painted on the fuselage. In early February 1943, No. 303 Squadron moved to Heston, but BL594 remained at Kirton-in-Lindsey airfield and became the personal aircraft of the commander of No. 2 Polish Wing, W/Cdr Alexander Gabszewicz, with the new code G-WX.
COL E
EP110, F/Lt Otmar Kučera, No. 313 Squadron, RAF Hawkinge, Kent, the United Kingdom, August-September 1943
The Spitfire LF Mk.Vb EP110 flown by B Flight Commander of No. 313 Squadron RAF, Otmar Kučera, DFC, sported the code RY-R and is pictured here as it looked during Operation Starkey on September 9, 1943. During this operation, black and white invasion stripes were used for the first time to distinguish own and foreign aircraft. They were painted on aircraft that were to take part in low-altitude operations that day. But these stripes looked different from the well-known “invasion” ones of the later Normandy landings. No. 313 Squadron moved to Hawkinge Airfield, which was under the command of No. 11 Group, Fighter Air Command, in mid-August 1943 after a recuperation stay and patrolling in the north over the Orkneys. The squadron thus became involved in operational flights of the deceptive Operation Starkey as part of the Hawkinge Wing. During these operations, the unit scored one air combat victory thanks to its commander S/Ldr. Jaroslav Himr.
COL F
BL547, F/O Rick R. Richards, No. 402 Squadron, RAF Horne, the United Kingdom, June 1944
On D-Day, No. 402 Squadron had a mixture of older Mk.Vb and Mk.Vc Spitfires in its armament and was led by the famous ace S/Ldr G. W. Northcott. The squadron was part of No. 142 Wing, which, under the command of another well-known Canadian ace, W/Cdr John Milne Checketts, operated as part of the air defense of Great Britain, albeit under 2 TAF operational control in the role of fighter-bombers. No. 402 Squadron was re-equipped with Spitfires Mk.IX in July, but their time with the unit was brief. Early August 1944 saw a move to Hawkinge, where the Squadron was rearmed with the new Spitfires Mk.XIV with which they immediately engaged in combat against V-1 flying bombs. In late September 1944 the squadron was transferred to 2 TAF in Belgium and joined No. 125 Wing. In December it then joined No. 126 Wing RCAF, where it flew alongside Mk.IX Spitfires. The end of the war found the unit on German soil at Wunstorf with a total score of 49.5 enemy shot down. One of the Spitfires Mk.Vb operating with No. 402 Squadron during D-Day was serial number BL547 which sported the fuselage codes AE-R. It was most often flown by F/O Rick Richards who had a drawing of Black Rufe, a character from the comic strip Li’l Abner, painted on the nose of his Spitfire. Under the cockpit, it bore the standard markings of most No. 402 Squadron Spitfires, a red Canadian leaf in a white crest with the City of Winnipeg in white lettering.
COL G
BL255, Lt. Don S. Gentile, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF, Debden, the United Kingdom, November 1942
No. 133 (Eagle) Squadron formed in July 1941 at RAF airbase Coltishall, was in 1942 the first American squadron re-equipped with Spitfires Mk.IX. However, the unit lost its twelve “Nines” in only three days before Eagle squadron was transferred under the USAAF command, during the B-17 escort over Morlaix. After its inclusion into 8th AF USAAF on September 29, 1942, it continued flying the good old Spitfires Mk.Vb as it was transformed from No. 133 (Eagle) Squadron RAF into 336th FS, 4th FG. The BL255 Spitfire, nicknamed Buckeye Don, was the personal aircraft of Don Gentile, the future most successful fighter pilot of the 8th AF with 19 kills, 3 damaged and 6 destroyed on the ground enemy aircraft. He was credited with two more kills during Operation Jubilee combats over Dieppe on August 19, 1942, while he was still serving with RAF. The same nose art as on BL255 was later sported on the famous P-51B Shangri La and it was also incorporated into 334th FS insignia.