The Darlington Spitfire
Text: Jan Bobek
Ilustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Cat. No. 70205
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.