Guest DougT Posted January 19, 2010 Posted January 19, 2010 Has anyone got an idea of the model of this Spitfire,..
Scottw Posted January 19, 2010 Posted January 19, 2010 G'day Doug T Looking at the exhaust stubs and three blade prop I would suggest a Mk.V but could be wrong Regards Scott
siznaudin Posted January 19, 2010 Posted January 19, 2010 MkVB(trop) or MkVC(trop) ... it's fitted with the Vokes filter. Any idea which theatre of war the shot was taken?
Guest Chainsaw Posted January 19, 2010 Posted January 19, 2010 Siz, as soon as I saw the photo, I just knew you couldn't help yourself and reply. You didn't disappoint me :)
Guest DougT Posted January 19, 2010 Posted January 19, 2010 Siz It would be WW2, i reackon the photo was taken in UK, the Pilot also served time in Rhodesia, He returned home to Australia and was posted to Darwin in the 452nd Squadron, He was killed during mock attacks to a B-24 Flown by John DiDomenico , He had a head on into the bombers No1 Engine, this happened just off the tip of Melville Island, NT, His record was . Hours 36 Tiger Moth "" 85 Harvard "" 11 Master "" 289 Spitfire "" 10 Walrus "" 6 Oxford "" 14.50 Wirraway His grand total of all flying hours was 569.50
siznaudin Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Yea, thanks, Chainy.. I wear my coffee on my sleeve, or to put it another way - I'd never make a poker player.. too easy to read Doug, I'm certainly no expert on the subject, but I'd be surprised if Spits fitted with the Vokes filter were used in the UK: they were fitted at some performance cost, to get around the damage caused to the Merlins by the dust on North African (and Pacific theatre) unsealed strips. No doubt I'll be proven wrong here.. all contributions are welcome:wink: BTW, my father-in-law did a short stint on B24's out of Darwin in '45. They were evidently a seriously heavy thing to handle control-wise: needed LOTS of muscle power. The right door gunner, SSgt Ellie V. Hester, saw the Aussie Spitfire closing in and knew it was going to hit them, but could not warn the pilot in time as the Spitfire flew into the B-24's number one engine. The impact sheared the number one engine propeller off of the bomber and left wing of the Spitfire.
Guest DougT Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Siz Then if it's not the UK or Nth Africa then it must be Darwin , because Sattler , Strauss, and Livingstone all have trees growing near the strip . By the way... where dod you find the text about the crash, Maybe Oz@War eh. try my website at www.adelaideriverwargraves.com/ look in the K list Kelly, in the M.I.A section. :tongue:
Guest DougT Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Siz in the text you copied it states (The right door gunner, SSgt Ellie V. Hester, saw the Aussie Spitfire closing in) No 1 Engine is on the left side of the aircraft , So I would have thought thought Hester would have been the Left Waist Gunner.....??? :confused: :confused: :confused:
siznaudin Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Sizin the text you copied it states (The right door gunner, SSgt Ellie V. Hester, saw the Aussie Spitfire closing in) No 1 Engine is on the left side of the aircraft , So I would have thought thought Hester would have been the Left Waist Gunner.....??? :confused: :confused: :confused: The text was lifted from http://www.adelaideriverwargraves.com/kelly1.htm Doug, and I think you're correct: one would expect the left-side gunner to be the one to pick it up. Even more likely perhaps - the front gunner or bomb aimer..? BTW - there's an image out there in cyberspace of a 452 squadron Darwin Spit which is given as a MkVc (tropical filter fitted). I think Kelly was flying a MkVIII when he went down. Cheers, Geoff.
Guest DougT Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Siz The War Graves website is mine, I copied text from the 380th Bomb Group website, Their story was written by Bill Bever, the Bombadier's Son, I have been in touch with Bill to get that sorted out, Spitfire A58-435 Arrived in Australia on SS Clan MacIver 18/04/44. Rec 2AD ex UK 21/04/44. Rec 452Sqn RAAF 07/07/44. Coded ZP-B.
siznaudin Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 SizThe War Graves website is mine, I copied text from the 380th Bomb Group website, Their story was written by Bill Bever, the Bombadier's Son, I have been in touch with Bill to get that sorted out, Spitfire A58-435 Arrived in Australia on SS Clan MacIver 18/04/44. Rec 2AD ex UK 21/04/44. Rec 452Sqn RAAF 07/07/44. Coded ZP-B. Hi Doug, I've just come from a walk around your website: it is superb...a great tribute - my congratulations and a recommendation for any viewers of TAA to pay a visit and also to pay their respects in thought at least, to those who sacrificed for our way of life and values. I note that the accident report indicates an 11 o'clock approach by the Spit, and that the bomber was in a gentle left turn at the time. All of this throws into question the "right side" gunner making the observation, I guess. Again, congratulations on a really superb site. :appl:
Guest Chainsaw Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Thanks for the quick review Sizzz, maybe I need to add a link on TAA for this. I'll add it to my list, if that's ok with you Doug?
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now