Marking for Spitfire Mk.Vb early 1/72
COL A
P8699, F/Lt John Bisdee, No. 609 Squadron, RAF Biggin Hill, United Kingdom, July 1941
John Bisdee was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. After the outbreak of World War II, he was called up for service in the RAF. After completing his training, he was assigned to No. 609 Squadron, with which he participated in the Battle of Britain and achieved several aerial victories. In 1942, he was transferred to Malta as commander of No. 601 Squadron. After moving to North Africa, he took part in the Western Desert campaign. In 1943, he was appointed military governor of Lampedusa. He spent most of the rest of his wartime service in training and as commander of No. 323 Wing in Italy. In June 1945, he received the Order of the British Empire. During the war, he achieved ten aerial victories, two of which were shared, plus four probable victories, and he also damaged four enemy aircraft. Like all of Bisdee’s previous Spitfires, P8699 had his personal emblem, a lily flower with a crown, under the windshield. In August 1941, P8699 was taken over by S/Ldr George “Kemp” Gilroy, who scored four of his 24 kills with it.
COL B
W3257, F/Lt Eric S. Lock, No. 611 Squadron, RAF Hornchurch, United Kingdom, July-August 1941
The most successful pilot of the Battle of Britain, Eric Stanley Lock, sortied for the first time with his Spitfire W3257 on July 14, 1941. He baptized his new aircraft by fire by shooting down a Bf 109F, which was also his very last kill. Barely three weeks later, on August 3, returning from a Rhubarb mission, he attacked a German column near Pas de Calais and has been missing ever since. It’s supposed he was shot down by AA fire and crashed into the sea. Neither his Spitfire Mk.V W3257 nor Lock himself have ever been found. At the time of his disappearance his score stood at 26 kills achieved during 25 weeks of the operational deployment in course of one year out of which he spent six months in the hospitals. Spitfire Mk.Vb W3257 was camouflaged in the standard Dark Green/Dark Earth/Sky. Code letters E-FY were painted in Sky which was standard code letters color of the Hornchurch Wing Spitfires. The serial was overpainted in the camouflage color.
COL C
W3320, P/O Donald E. Kingaby, No. 92 Squadron, RAF Biggin Hill, United Kingdom, July-August 1941
Donald Ernest "Don" Kingaby was one of the most successful RAF fighter pilots flying Spitfires. He achieved his first successes during the Battle of Britain in the ranks of No. 266 and No. 92 Squadrons, and by the end of 1940 he had eight kills to his credit. Further successes quickly followed, and by the summer of 1941 he had already scored 14 aerial victories. Spitfire W3320, named The Darlington Spitfire, was his last personal Spitfire with No. 92 Squadron. He flew it from July 20, 1941, to October 16, 1941, and completed 33 operational flights in its cockpit, during which he shot down three Bf 109Fs with certainty, another three with probability, and damaged one. He returned to operational flying in March 1942 with No. 111 Squadron and subsequently as squadron commander with No. 64 Squadron. In the fall of 1942, he took command of No. 122 Squadron. During the Normandy invasion, he served at Fighter Command headquarters and ended the war as commander of the Advanced Gunnery School in Catfoss. He achieved a total of 23 aerial victories. The citizens of Darlington in County Durham in northeast England contributed £5,082 towards the purchase of Spitfire Mk.Vb W3320, thus known as The Darlington Spitfire. After August 15, 1941, the W3320 had the fields of Dark Earth repainted with a Mixed Grey on the upper surfaces and Medium Sea Grey o institute n the lower surfaces.
COL D
P8783, Sgt Donald R. Morrison, No. 401 Squadron RCAF, Biggin Hill, United Kingdom, November 1941 - February 1942
Donald Morrison was born on June 2, 1921, in Toronto, Ontario and joined the RCAF in October 1940. In July 1941, he completed his training and left for Great Britain. He was assigned to No. 122 Squadron and two months later to No. 401 Squadron RCAF, where he quickly began to make a name for himself. By the end of February 1942, he had achieved three confirmed kills. On August 19, 1942, he was shot down during a dogfight with an Fw 190, bailed out of his damaged aircraft, and parachuted into the English Channel, from where he was rescued. During the rescue operation, he operated machine guns on the boat and fired at attacking enemy aircraft. On November 8, he was shot down again, captured and seriously wounded by shrapnel. German doctors were forced to amputate his leg. Due to his disability, he was repatriated back to Great Britain and returned to Canada in November. In May 1944, Morrison became an instructor with No. 20 EFTS. He left the RCAF on March 14, 1945. In 1947, he returned to Great Britain and joined the RAF, where he served until 1951. He later worked for Trans Canadian Airways. In total, he had seven confirmed kills during his wartime career, including three shared kills, four probable kills, and five damaged aircraft. Sgt Don Morrison had the character Jiggs, created by cartoonist George McManus, drawn on every aircraft he regularly flew with No. 401 Squadron. The first Spitfire on which this character was drawn was Spitfire P8783.
COL E
W3774, P/O William V. Crawford-Compton, No. 485 Squadron, RAF Kenley, United Kingdom, November 1941 - March 1942
One of the RAF’s most successful pilots was New Zealander William Vernon Crawford-Compton. He joined the RAF in 1939 as a mechanic, and was subsequently accepted for flight training, which he completed in 1940. After spells with Nos. 485 and 611 Sqn. he took command of No. 64 Sqn. in late 1942 and led it until the end of March the following year. After a period of staff duties, he became Commander of Hornchurch Fighter Wing in mid-1943 and led it until the end of the year. After his tour of operations, he lectured for three months in the United States on RAF operations. He returned to active service as commander of No. 145 Wing. After the war he held senior posts in the RAF, retiring as Air vice-marshal at the end of 1968. He died in January 1988 at the age of 72. He achieved 22 kills, four probable and he also damaged a further 13 aircraft. The Spitfire W3774 was his first personal aircraft, and he achieved four kills flying it. It had a drawing of a burning swastika on the left side under the cockpit and a pan with Hitler’s head above it. The left side of the tank cover was decorated with the inscription Auckland 1 “Waiuku”. On the right side under the cockpit was a Samson donation sign. W3774 was given a new livery effective August 16, 1941. Photographs show the use of a very dark shade of mixed grey (probably Extra Dark Sea Grey) in place of the original Dark Earth, the Sky band was repainted with a new shade of Medium Sea Grey on the lower surfaces.
COL F
P8537, Sgt Jaroslav Hloužek, No. 313 Squadron, RAF Hornchurch, United Kingdom, November 1941 - March 1942
Spitfire Mk.Vb P8537 served operationally with No. 313 Squadron from November 2, 1941, to March 28, 1942. The most frequent pilots in its cockpit were Sgt J. Hloužek, F/L K. Vykoukal and F/S K. Foglar. The figure of Horace the Horse was painted on this Spitfire by Sgt Karel Pavlík, a Pilsen native, letter painter and author of all drawings on Spitfires of No. 313 Squadron. The figure was a bit of mystery for many years, as only half of the drawing was known from photographs. It was until two uncut photographs emerged from the archive of mechanic F/O Karl Beinhauer and helped to solve the appearance of the other half. Spitfire P8537 had been repainted in the new camouflage shades in effect from August 16, 1941. Surviving photographs document the complete change of the Spitfire’s camouflage. A very light shade of Mixed Grey was used in place of the original Dark Earth, and a Sky Blue band was repainted with a new shade of Medium Sea Grey on the lower surfaces. The code letters RY-Z were in the Sky Blue shade, as were the spinner and band in front of the tail.