Strana 35
P9428, S/Ldr Hilary R. L. Hood, No. 41 Squadron, RAF Hornchurch, United Kingdom, May-October 1940
N3040, F/Lt Brian J. Lane, 19. Squadron, RAF Duxford, United Kingdom, March-June 1940
Hillary Richard Lionel “Robin” Hood took
command of No. 41 Squadron in April 1940. While
returning from a mission providing air support
for the Dunkirk evacuation on June 1, he spotted
three Ju 88 bombers flying just above the sea
surface. Although he had already spent all his
ammunition, he dove straight at the last bomber
and forced its pilot to perform an evasive
maneuver, causing the German aircraft to crash
into the sea. During the Battle of Britain, he
scored two more kills on July 29 (a Bf 109 and
a Ju 87). On September 5, during an attack on
a Do 17, his Spitfire collided with another
aircraft, and S/Ldr Hood crashed into the sea
with his Spitfire. His body was never found.
The Spitfire P9428, which S/Ldr Hood flew
continuously from May through September 5,
was adorned on the left side beneath the cockpit
with a family crest depicting a squirrel holding
a thistle. Period photographs show the aircraft
without code letters, though these were applied
in the standard locations during June. The livery
shown here reconstructs the appearance from
the second half of June during the support of
the Dunkirk evacuation. In early July, P9428
was painted in a new regulation livery with Sky
Type S on its undersides; in mid-August, the
undersides of the wings were again marked
with national insignia.
Brian “Sandy” Lane was transferred to No. 19
Squadron shortly after the outbreak of war as
commander of Flight A. After the squadron’s
commander, S/Ldr Geoffrey Stephenson, was
killed over Dunkirk, Lane became acting
squadron commander. The Spitfire he flew
regularly in the first half of 1940 was serial
number N3040, and he scored three aerial
victories with it during the battles over Dunkirk.
Lane’s Spitfire bore a personal emblem beneath
the cockpit—a swastika crossed by a yellow
lightning bolt and the inscription “BLITZEN.”
This emblem was successively painted on four
of his Spitfires. The Spitfire N3040 shown here
represents the paint scheme and markings of
Fighter Command Spitfires from the period
immediately preceding the aerial support for
the Dunkirk evacuation. The fuselage roundels
do not yet have a yellow ring, and the roundels
on the underside of the wings and the squadron
insignia on the rudder are missing. These
markings were added in May. In early June,
N3040 was given a new paint scheme with
undersides in Sky Type S. After No. 19 Squadron
was re-equipped with Spitfire Mk.Ib aircraft,
N3040 was taken over by No. 92 Squadron,
where it served as the personal aircraft of
the famous Robert Stanford Tuck from July to
August 1940. On September 5, 1940, Brian Lane
formally became commander of No. 19 Squadron.
He left the unit in early June 1941. In December
1942, he was entrusted with command of
No. 167 Squadron. Four days after his arrival,
he was shot down during Operation Rhubarb by
Lieutenant Walter Leonhardt of 6./JG 1. During
his wartime career, Lane scored nine aerial
victories, one of which was a shared victory.
Under the pseudonym B. J. Elian, he wrote the
book Spitfire (John Murray, 1942).
KITS 06/2026
INFO Eduard
35
June 2026