AIRFRAME & MINIATURE No.12 The Supermarine Spitfire Part 1 (Merlin-powered) including the Seafire Downloadable Content v1.0 August 2018 II Airframe & Miniature No.12 Spitfire – Foreign Service Foreign Service Depot, where it was scrapped around 1968. One other Spitfire went to Argentina, that being PR Mk XI PL972, which was sold back to Vickers Argentina in March 1947, fitted with three F.24 cameras with The only official interest in the Spitfire from the 8in focal length lens, a 170Imp. Gal ventral tank Argentine Air Force (Fuerca Aerea Argentina) was and two wing tanks. In this form it was bought by an attempt to buy two-seat T Mk 9s in the 1950s, James and Jack Storey Aerial Photography Com- PR Mk XI, LV-NMZ with but in the end they went ahead and bought Fiat pany and taken by James Storey (an ex-RAF Flt Lt) a 170Imp. Gal. slipper G.55Bs instead. F Mk IXc BS116 was allocated to on the 15th April 1947. After being issued with tank installed, it also had the Fuerca Aerea Argentina, but this allocation was the CofA it was flown to Argentina via London, additional fuel in the cancelled and the airframe scrapped by the RAF Gibraltar, Dakar, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Montevi- wings and fuselage before it was ever sent. deo and finally Buenos Aires, arriving at Morón airport on the 7th May 1947 (the exhausts had burnt out en route and were replaced with those taken from JF275). Storey hoped to gain an aerial mapping contract from the Argentine Government but on arrival was told that his ‘contract’ was not recognised and that his services were not required. By July 1948 Storey, who had been promoted to a ‘Captain’ in the Fuerca Aerea Argentina by this stage, flew the aircraft to the Fabrica Militar de Aviones (FMA) facility at Cordoba. Here it was used for trials by the Instituto Aeronáutico with Fuerca Aerea Argentina roundels applied. It suffered engine prob- lem during one flight on the 29th November 1951 and made a wheels-up landing near Alta Gracia. Although recovered the damage was never repaired Other Spitfires did go to Argentina though, and after a period in storage it was scrapped. when F Mk VIIIc JF275 was sold to H. Hennequin & Co., Buernos Aires in June 1947. This aircraft Australia went to the University La Plata in April 1948 in The RAAF had four Spitfire squadrons (Nos.451, a non-airworthy state and was used as an instruc- 452, 453 and 457) involved in the conflict in tional airframe. There it languished and when an Europe and the Middle East from 1941 to 1945, attempt was made to restore it, Government offi- all operating under RAF control, and used the cials rejected the idea. The airframe was dismantled Mks I, II, V and IX. In May 1942 it was agreed with the engine going to a technical school and that three Spitfire squadrons would be allocated the fuselage and wings going into the Government Mk Vc, A58-185. UP•D Vialidad National Depot near Magdalena at some of No.79 Squadron at Los point between 1963 and 1968 from where it was Negros, Admiralty Island, sold for scrap at some stage thereafter. PR Mk XI New Guinea August 1944 PL194 was presented by the British Air Ministry (©Australian War Memorial) to the Argentine Government in June 1947 for use in their Aeronautical Expositions and sent aboard the SS Durango with a Hurricane Mk IV on the 12th/13th August 1947. After the expositions in September 1947 the Spitfire was sent to the Escuela de Sub-Oficials de Aeronautica at Cordoba and the fuselage was painted with Fuerca Aerea Argentina Mk Vc Trops of No.54 markings (the FAA never had the Spitfire officially Squadron in flight, with on strength). In 1950 it went to the engineering to defend Australia, therefore two squadrons (452 BS164 (later A58-63) department of the University of La Plata. It was and 457) returned to Australia, while the third was nearest, then BR544 (A) withdrawn from use in 1966 and probably then the RAF’s No.54 Squadron. They arrived at No.1 and BR539 (X, later A58- went to the aerodrome at Berisso near La Plata Equipment Depot, Ashton Vale, Melbourne on 45) (©Australian War Memorial) before going to the Government Vialidad National the 13th August 1942, although all their aircraft had been commandeered en route by the RAF. The three squadrons made up No.1 (Churchill) Fighter Wing and operated in northern Australia. Initially the squadrons were established in Australia during August and September, but it was not until January 1943 that they were based at Darwin and operational. The first two hundred and forty-five tropical Mk Vcs received serial numbers A58-1 to A58-162, A58-164 to A58-185 and A58-200 to A58-259 (this being the last Mk V built at Castle Bromwich), and along with a single Mk Vb (A58- Airframe & Miniature No.12 Spitfire – Foreign Service III Mk VIII, ZP•Y of No.457 Squadron; all their machines tended to carry the ‘Grey Nurse’ title after the type of shark of the A Mk VIII of No.457 Squadron seen taxying out past P-51s at Labuan, Borneo in October same name seen around the coast of Australia 1945 (©Australian War Memorial) How most ex-RAAF Spitfires ended their days, this is Oakey with numerous This is the bare metal scheme adopted by RAAF Mk VIIIs from 1944 Spitfires awaiting scrapping 163) were delivered in August 1942. These were Group) in the later stages of WWII, and by August followed from October 1943 by four hundred and 1945 they were grouped together as No.160 (Bel- ten Mk VIIIs in F, LF and HF forms and these gian) Wing at Fassberg, Germany. On the 15th No- received serial numbers A58-300 to A58-550 and vember 1946 the wing moved to Beauvechain and A58-600 to A58-758; of these around one hun- on the 24th October it was transferred to Belgian dred went straight into storage in 1945 as the war control. Here they were integrated into the new wound down. The Spitfire also equipped some Aviation Militaire Belge (Belgian Air Force – which RAAF squadrons, with Nos.79 and 85 eventually became the Force Aérienne Belge in January 1949) equipped with the Mk VIII, and of these Nos.79, and fifty-three LF Mk IXc/es (most with arma- 452 and 457 were used in ‘island hopping’ opera- ment removed and used for training purposes) and tions as the Japanese forces were pushed back to twenty-six (some state twenty-seven) Mk XVIs (all Fassberg summer 1946 their homeland, while two RAF squadrons (No.548 ex-RAF) were supplied pending the delivery of the with No.350 Squadron and 549) remained in Darwin. When the war Griffon-powered Spitfire Mk XIV. All the Mk XVIs Mk XVIs MN-2 TD281, ended this also signalled the end of the use of the were either returned to the RAF once the Mk XIVs MN-K TB137 [returned to Spitfire by the RAAF and by early 1946 over three arrived, or were scrapped due to being beyond eco- RAF and scrapped] and hundred and fifty airframes were in storage waiting nomical repair after being damaged in service (they MN-V ? (via Rudy Binneman) to be scrapped. Some of these remained for a cou- ple of years more, being used as ground instruc- tional airframes by the Royal Australian Navy, but these too were all eventually burned with the last disappearing at the end of 1948. Belgium The Belgian Government had initially been inter- ested in obtaining a licence to build the Spitfire prior to WWII and although this changed to a mix of purchased and licence-built airframes, the begin- ning of the war meant that all such contracts were cancelled and none were ever supplied. Two RAF squadrons were manned with Belgian personnel (Nos.349 and 350) and operated as part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force (No.123 Wing, No.84 IV Airframe & Miniature No.12 Spitfire – Foreign Service to SM-43) were obtained from The Netherlands (ex-H-50 to H-69 range) and allocated the codes B-1 to B-15, arriving via Fokker from June 1952 to March 1954 where they remained in service until October 1954. Three more ex-Dutch machines (ex-H-50, H-54 and H-58) were also supplied, but these were in such poor condition that they were only ever used as spares and thus never received an SM-series number. LF Mk IXe, SM21 (ex-MK577) seen on the Brustem flight line in 1952 (via Rudy Binneman) After their military service many of these air- craft were used as target tugs operated on contract to the military authorities by the civilian company Cogea Nouvelle of Oostende. A lot of these sur- vived and quite a few still remain around the world as a result. Brazil No Merlin-powered Spitfires really ever went to this country, as the example currently in that country is a modern preserved example sold to the Brazil Flying Museum in 2000. A Griffon-powered Mk XIVe did go there, but that is outside the scope LF Mk XVIe, TB991, GE•L, ‘Liege’ of No.349 Squadron in flight in 1946 (via Rudy Binneman) of this volume. Bulgaria The Bulgarian Government asked for five Mk Ias in December 1937, with a firm quotation sent by Supermarine for their supply on the 30th June 1938.