**** DONE: 1/48 Spitfire MK.IXc - Allied Advance and Defense of the Reich WWII.

[fubar57]

User Name: fubar57
Name: George
Category: Advanced
Kit: Italeri
Accessories: None, OOB except for spares decals

My subject is 403Sqn.(RCAF) KH•T s/n MK857.

The aircraft was shot down in July '44 and the above photos show the recovery in Aug '44. American AA batteries near St.Lo got carried away and opened up on the 403sqn. Spitfires, hitting 5 of 6, with 3 having to make forced landings.
F/L Stu Tosh was able to get out of the aircraft and returned to his base 4 hours later. The aircraft was rebuilt and continued to fly after the war.

Geo

 

[fubar57]

The innards...

Can anyone hazard a guess as to what happened to the invasion stripes on the starboard side and under the wings?
This is what drew me to this subject. Were the stripes not completed for D-Day or were they in the process of being removed?.


Geo

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Looks like the stripes were in the process of being removed. There's what appears to be very feint traces on the lower starboard side, but masked by the shadow. Stripes are on the lower wings, but probably removed form top wings.

 

[fubar57]

Perfect Terry, oddball she is, just like I like 'em

Geo

 

[rochie]

Nice one Geo, been going through my options today, and did look at a 421 sqn Spitfire XVI, with buuble canopy and clipped wings !

 

[fubar57]

Thanks Karl. This is a pretty basic kit so it should go together quickly barring any fit problems. These are the innards minus the seat and rudder pedals

As I said, basic. The IP dials have no detail, the sidewalls only receive the throttle and undercarriage levers and there are no oxygen bottles. As this is OOB and will have a closed canopy I'll leave as is. Almost everything has a feint step, almost as if the molds weren't lined up properly. Not a big deal, just time consuming. The innards will be inserted from below once the fuselage halves are joined.


Geo

 

[rochie]

Dont remember tok many fit issues from when i built that kit Geo

 

[Crimea_River]

Seems to have been an unlucky letter. Another KH-T, MK857, flown by Stu Tosh, was shot down on July 19, 1944. The invasion stripes were already removed on that one.

 

[JKim]

Great subject! Can't answer the question though.

 

[fubar57]

Seems to have been an unlucky letter. Another KH-T, MK857, flown by Stu Tosh, was shot down on July 19, 1944. The invasion stripes were already removed on that one.

Weird! The Spitfire Production says MK857 went to Russia.

Geo

 

[Crimea_River]

Well, off to the ORB's I guess. The info is from Bracken's Spitfire: The Canadians. Be back soon.

 

[fubar57]

I await your return. It's still a IXc I believe and I can change the 1st post. Your photo shows the same hatch missing and the lack of stripes as in my second photo but my first photo shows stripes still on the fuselage.


Geo

 

[Crimea_River]

ORB Entry for July 19 confirms MK857 per Bracken's pic. Will look for your s/n next. Flak crews needed lessons in aircraft recognition!

 

[Crimea_River]

Note that MH779 was being flown by F/O Oliver on the same mission as Tosh when he belly landed meaning MH779 and MK857 would have had different ID letters. I think the pic I posted is the same plane as yours so if Bracken is correct in saying that it's Tosh's plane, then that would make MH779 a different rig than KH-T. Will keep looking.

 

[fubar57]

Outstanding Andy. What do you make of the fuselage stripes on the port side? They started to strip the topside stripes off the wings and fuselage but were short aircraft so the job was incomplete? Just as easy to change the name as it is the serial numbers. Many thanks for the input.


Geo

 

[Crimea_River]

At that time in the ORB, there were lots of missions being flown so it stands to reason that, if they were in the midst of removing the stripes, it's possible the cleaning operations got interrupted by mission orders.

Consistent with the Spitfire Production summary, The ORB shows MH779 remaining with 403 through August and is shown on strength for that month. It's not recorded in any losses. The microfilmed records for September seem to be missing except for the first two days but it's not on the squadron in October.

Based on this info, Geo, I would suggest that the aircraft being craned in your pic is not MH779 and that it's most likely MK857.

 

[fubar57]

C'est bon. Off to change Post#1

Geo

 

[Crimea_River]

Just to close this Geo, if you got your info from this site, then the info in the captions for your pictures is not supported by the ORB. That site claims that MH779 was damaged in 14 July. Though there were two losses, MH779 was not one of them and MH779 is shown flying every day thereafter up to the 19th when it drops off the ORB until back on the 31st of July. It's possible it got flak damage on the 19th, the same day Tosh went down in MK857. The event summary for the 19th shows that, in addition to the 3 that went down, others suffered damage.

 

[fubar57]

Yep, that's where I was. I was also on another site that gave me the different date and wrong pilot name. I have changed Post #1 to reflect your info. Painting the innards has begun, nothing to show yet. Again, many thanks for the info Andy. Always good to get these little snags out of the way early.


Geo