Strana 76
BL336, W/Cdr Robert S. Tuck, CO of Biggin Hill Wing, RAF Biggin Hill,
United Kingdom, December 1941 - January 1942
BM124, S/Ldr Brendan E. F. Finucane, CO of No. 602 Squadron,
RAF Kenley, United Kingdom, April 1942
W/Cdr Robert Stanford “Bob” Tuck, with
29 confirmed kills, is one of the most successful
RAF fighter pilots. He achieved his first kills 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, on
September 23, 1940, was the future Luftwaffe
ace Hans-Joachim Marseille. 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.
Spitfire s/n BM124 was a presentation aircraft
donated to Britain by Queen Salote of Tonga
and assigned to S/Ldr Brendan Finucane.
It was delivered on March 14, 1942, and Finucane
was flying with it continuously until June 18,
1942, when he hit the ground with the tip of the
wing while landing at Redhill. The aircraft was
severely damaged, and although it was returned
to the unit after extensive repairs, Finucane did
not fly it again. He scored his last victories in
its cockpit. Finucane’s BM124, like his previous
Spitfires, was repainted on the upper surfaces
in Dark Slate Grey / Extra Dark Sea Grey naval
shades. Under the front badge, he had his
personal Shamrock emblem and the fuselage
letter W painted on. For propaganda purposes,
the inscription QUEEN of SALOTE was painted
on the fuel tank cover in May. As it later turned
out, the inscription was not written correctly,
and the Air Ministry submitted an amendment
requesting that the photographs taken be
changed from QUEEN of SALOTE to QUEEN
SALOTE. The word “of” was thus roughly scraped
off the negatives. Out of respect for the origins
and traditions of No. 602 Squadron, Finucane
had the squadron’s emblem, a red Scottish lion
rampant in a yellow shield, placed on the engine
cowlings of the No. 602 Squadron Spitfires.
During his wartime career, Finucane achieved
32 aerial victories, becoming the third most
successful Spitfire pilot during World War II.
KITS 12/2025
INFO Eduard76
December 2025