Strana 66
#70205BOXART STORY
The debut edition of the new 1/72 Spitfire
kit is the early Mk.Vb variant. A release of this
significance practically demanded the box art
to feature an exceptional aircraft and one of the
Spitfire’s legendary pilots. There were several
candidates, but it is more than symbolic that the
choice fell on airframe W3320 and Donald Ernest
Kingaby – the only RAF airman to receive the
Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) three times
during the war.
Donald Ernest Kingaby was born on January 7,
1920, in Holloway, London, the son of a clergyman.
Before the war he worked in insurance and
studied at King’s Ely.
He entered the Royal Air Force Volunteer
Reserve in April 1939, and in June 1940, now
a Sergeant and pilot, he joined No. 266 Squadron
flying Spitfire Mk.Is. In the early phase of the
Battle of Britain he damaged two Junkers
Ju 88s and one Bf 110. In September 1940, he was
posted to No. 92 Squadron. On September 27,
he claimed damage to a Bf 109 and repeated the
feat three days later. During October he added
three confirmed victories, one shared with five
other pilots, one probable and one damaged.
In November he downed four Bf 109s and probably
destroyed another, most of these successes
achieved on a single day, 15 November.
In January 1941, the town of Darlington, in
County Durham, donated £5,082 to the Ministry
of Defence, and a few months later this funded
the purchase of Spitfire Mk.Vb W3320, officially
named The Darlington Spitfire. The aircraft
went on to become one of the most successful
Spitfires of the entire war. More than fifty
pilots flew it on 212 operational sorties, logging
a total of 337.35 flying hours. “Don” Kingaby flew
W3320´s first combat sortie on July 20, 1941 and
later completed 37 operational missions on the
aircraft, claiming three confirmed kills while
flying it, plus three probables and one damaged.
Later, W3320 served with Nos. 54, 118, 64, 611,
234 and finally 63 Squadron RAF. Her career
ended on October 28, 1944, when she was
destroyed on the North Weald airfield after
colliding with a Spitfire of the Czechoslovak
No. 310 Squadron. Two collisions occurred at
the airfield almost simultaneously, and the
Darlington Spitfire was struck by Spitfire Mk.IX
“NN
-
T” (MA228) with F/Sgt. Václav Nikl at the
controls. At the time it was the oldest Mk.V
Spitfire still on active duty. This iconic aircraft is
the subject of a dedicated website (http://www.
rogerdarlington.me.uk/Spitfire.html) and a book
by Peter Caygill.
With No. 92 Squadron Kingaby claimed a dozen
enemy aircraft during the 1941 sweeps operations,
and the press soon labelled him a “109 specialist.”
On November 22, 1941, he received an emergency
commission as Pilot Officer (probationary) and
was temporarily withdrawn from operations.
In March 1942, he returned to operational
flying with No. 111 Squadron. A month later he
was transferred to No. 64 Squadron, where he
again scored two kills and damaged two more
aircraft.
On 30 June he was promoted to Flying Officer
(war substantive), and in November 1942 he was
posted to No. 122 Squadron as its commanding
officer, leading the unit until April 1943. During
March, the Czechoslovak fighter ace Otto Smik
flew as his wingman.
After a rest period at Fighter Command HQ,
he returned to combat duty in the summer
of 1944 as a wing leader, this time over the
invasion beaches of Normandy. His final victory,
a half shared Bf 109, was still scored flying
a Spitfire Mk.Vb on June 30. His final tally stood at
21 confirmed victories, two aircraft destroyed in
cooperation, six probables and eleven damaged.
On July 24, 1944, he was promoted to Squadron
Leader (war substantive) and subsequently
served as a gunnery instructor at the Advanced
Gunnery School, RAF Catfoss, where he remained
until the end of the war. In the post-war period
he commanded as an acting Wing Commander,
receiving the United States Distinguished Flying
Cross on May 15, 1945, and the Belgian Croix
de guerre on June 15 of the same year.
After the war he received a permanent
commission as Flight Lieutenant (from November
29, 1946, with seniority dating back to September
1, 1945) and retained his war substantive rank
of Squadron Leader until January 1, 1948. After
briefly reverting to Flight Lieutenant, he was
promoted to the permanent rank of Squadron
Leader on January 1, 1949.
From February 1949 to April 1952, he
commanded No. 72 Squadron, then flying the jet-
powered de Havilland Vampires. On June 5, 1952,
he was awarded the Air Force Cross.
He served in the RAF until his retirement on
September 29, 1958, at which point he retained
the rank of Wing Commander. He then moved
with his wife to the United States to be near
their daughters, living there until his death on
December 31, 1990, in Westfield, Massachusetts.
Text: Jan Bobek
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
The Darlington Spitfire
INFO Eduard66
December 2025