tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35213144877656091662009-07-02T13:18:36.103+01:00This section contains photographs and videos accompanying the Spitfire Site. Posted images have been organised into categories as shown. Please select a category and remember that comments and additional information to the images are always welcome!Spitfire Site Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09950064463451541029noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521314487765609166.post-79528375329678993142009-07-02T13:16:00.003+01:002009-07-02T13:18:27.136+01:00

Click to enlarge imageSalerno, Italy, October 1943. US Coast Guard ship unloads the troops and heavy equipment at the beach of Paestum. Spitfire Mk. VC JK707 was reportedly shot down by "firendly fire" - US naval anti-aircraft gunners.JK707 MX-P served with 307th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group, which supported the landing at Salerno operating out of Milazzo, an airfield on the north coast

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Click to enlarge imageAustralian Spitfire Mk. VC serial no. BR543 ZP-T of No. 457 Squadron displaying an interesting personal Pegasus emblem. The pilot posing in the cockpit is Jack Newton, and the two other men are his fitters.This aircraft was amongst the first Spitfires received by No. 457 Squadron, receiving Australian identification number A58-49. It served with this unit for a year from

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Click to enlarge imageThis photo, originating from HMSO publications of the time, had been entitled "Spitfires can take it. Riddled fighter makes safe landing in Italy". It is believed to be taken in 1944 and the aircraft is a Spitfire Mk. V, but regrettably the name of the pilot had not been recorded. Details of the actual event are also unknown.While the original caption seems to suggest some

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 Click to enlarge imageWhile the role of foreign squadrons in the RAF Fighter Command is well known, the participation of individuals which volunteered from all over the World is arguably far less documented. Some Spitfire pilots in the RAF came from the least expected places. Here, F/O Arthur O. Weeks, from Barbados, and F/Sgt Collins A. Joseph of Trinidad pose for a publicity photograph in

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Click to enlarge imageSpitfires Mk. IX of No. 412 Squadron at field base B4 near Bény-sur-Mer, shortly after D-Day. Bény-sur-Mer was one of the first landing grounds being prepared at the beachhead, being captured already on the day of the landings after hard fightings in the Canadian sector.Two days later, maintenance and construction commando squadrons arrived in Normandy to build airstrips.  

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Click to enlarge imageSeafires Mk. IB onboard HMS Furious sailing as part of Force H off Algiers in support of Operation Torch, 8 November 1942.Operation Torch was a combat debut of the carrier-borne Spitfire sibling, the Seafire. In support of the Center and Easter Task Forces were three large Royal Navy carriers, HMS Furious, HMS Victorious and HMS Formidable. Onboard HMS Furious were two large

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Click to enlarge imageHere is a photo from the family album of the Gates family, kindly provided by Mr. Ashley Gates. The caption "the last Spitfire in Exeter being shipped out" was intriguing. Also, I must confess that it took a while for me to see that there is a Spitfire in this picture, so if you have missed it, too, take a second look!Here is the Gates family story explaining the picture."My

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Click to enlarge imageAnonymous RAF Spitfire Mk. Vc Trop is serviced on a Sicilian airfield, believed to be Comiso, alongside a Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 left behind by the previous owners, II/JG 53 'Pik As'. The time was probably August 1943. The RAF unit was not disclosed with the original photo caption, so perhaps readers can help with identifying it.Interestingly, the Spitfire seems to have

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Click to enlarge imageA still from camera gun film from a Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I of No. 609 Squadron RAF, flown by F/Lt J H G McArthur. The tracers show hits on a Heinkel He 111 on its starboard quarter. It should be noted that it is a rather difficult deflection shot - it makes one wonder if the pilot managed to keep the He 111 in sights for much longer...The two Heinkels were part of a

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Click to enlarge imageOne of the prominent women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary, Mrs Diana Barnato-Walker climbs into the cockpit of a factory-fresh Spitfire Mk. IX.Diana Barnato was a daughter of a car racing millionaire Woolf Barnato, the chairman of Bentley Motors. From an early age she was interested in aircraft and at age of 20 become a succesful pilot. In early 1941 she became one of

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Click to enlarge imageThe newly-arrived USAAF is formally taking over an RAF station, December 1942. Despite this rather special occasion, this photo is a perfect example of the atmosphere of a wartime RAF station with its camouflaged hangars and anonymous, rather ugly utilitarian architecture. Unfortunately the place has not been recorded - can anyone identify the airfield?[Crown Copyright]

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Click to enlarge imageA beautiful photo of Spitfire Mk. XIV in flight, anno 1944. RB159 DW-D belonged to No. 610 Sqn "County of Chester" RAuxAF, the first unit operating this mark of the Spitfire. Delivered to the squadron on 1 January 1944, RB159 was part of the first batch of 50 Mk. XIV's built.On 18 June 1944, shortly ofter D-Day, the Squadron was posted to West Malling, Kent, to operate

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Click to enlarge imageThis somewhat unique photograph shows a Spitfire Mk. V of No. 416 Squadron RCAF, DN-T, serial no. AB284, in captivity at the concentration camp in Vught, the Netherlands.The aircraft was shot down by ground fire during a Rhubarb mission between Goes and Tholen crashing by Bath (8 km south-west of Woensdrecht airfield) in the South of Holland on Nov. 25th, 1943, 14.35 hours

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Click to enlarge imagePhotographed in their element are Spitfires Mk. Vc trop of  the 1st Fighter Wing RAAF, photographed from a Beaufort bomber on a mission during 1943 when the wing was engaged in the defence of Darwin. Unfortunately, no detailed information could be found about the location of this photo or the depicted aircraft. Perhaps someone could help?[National Library of Australia]

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Click to enlarge imageAn official RAF photograph taken on 7 June 1944, a day after the invasion in Normandy. It shows rows of factory-fresh Spitfires LF Mk. IXc assembled at a forward repair unit in southern England - place not stated - to replace expected losses of the 2nd Tactical Air Force over the continent. Visible in the far background is an even larger mas of RAF ground vehicles. The

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Click to enlarge imageThis photograph shows a victory salute by Spitfires of No. 84 Group, 2nd Tactical Air Force over an airfield somewhere in Germany to celebrate the end of hostilities in Europe. Taxiing in the front is Spitfire FR Mk. XIV, serial number RM795 of No. 414 Squadron RCAF.This unit received their Spitfires Mk. XIV only in April 1945, trading in their trusty Spitfires Mk. IX.

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Click to enlarge imageObviously the aircraft shown on this picture is not a Spitfire... what makes this photo interesting is that it shows the German Luftwaffe operating from British soil. The island of Jersey, together with other Channel Islands was captured by the Germans following the fall of France in 1940 - the islands were the only part of the British Commonwealth occupied by Germany. The

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Click to enlarge imageNo. 613 Squadron Spitfires F Mk. XIV at RAF Ringway in 1947.No. 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron was the RAuxAF squadron formed on 1 March 1939 at the new municipal airport at Ringway near Manchester. Durign the war it had a diversified career operating an array of reconnaissance aircraft types, ranging from Hectors and Lysanders through Curtiss Tomahawks and Mustangs Mk. I

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Click to enlarge imageAnonymous early Spitfire Mk. I on compass swing, location unknown. This view shows to advantage the dinstinctive features of the earliest production Spitfires Mk. I: wooden two-blade propeller, unarmoured windscreen, straight cockpit canopy, thin and tall aerial mast and (barely visible) rudder horn balance guard.Compass swinging was a rather time-consuming task which could

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Click to enlarge imageSpitfires sharing an airfield with Douglas A-20 Havocs get a taste of "sunny" Italy. The winter season of 1944-1945 was remembered as particularly wet and muddy. Due to the widespread use of airfield surfacing materials, the air operations towards the end of the war could continue regardless of the conditions such as this.Perhaps someone would help to identify the place and

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In one of the previous posts we have shown the presentation Spitfire Mk. V AA693 Borough of Southgate as it looked like directly from the factory. To complete the history of the same aircraft, here are three photographs which show the same aircraft in the United States.Click to enlarge imagesThe aircraft was shipped to the United States in February 1942 for evaluation purposes. However, with the

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Click to enlarge imageA pastoral scene from Sicily showing temporary airfield of No. 417 Squadron RCAF at a farm near Lentini. An Italian farmhouse visible in the background was used as squadron HQ. The visible Spitfire Mk. Vc (Trop) is marked AN-Q. August 26th, 1943.[Canadian National Defence]

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Click to enlarge imageA line of Spitfires Mk. Vc of No. 253 Squadron undergoing service and repair in Italy, 19 July 1944. Note the inscription GUNS UNLOADED and the date chalked under the cockpit.The aircraft nearest to the camera is almost certainly EF553, a Mk Vc (Trop), built with a Merlin 46 by Westland; produced in February 1943 and sent, along with JK226 visible in the far back, to Africa.

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Click to enlarge imageA Spitfire of a French Squadron of the Mediterranean Allied Coastal Air Force flying over southern France during the autumn of 1944. Although the aircraft does not carry any unit markings or the serial number, it belonged with all probablity to GC II/7 - also known in British official sources as No.326 (French) Squadron "Nice". This unit after participation in the invasion

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Click to enlarge imagesHere is a Spitfire HF Mk. VII undergoing tests at NACA Langley in the United States. Both photographs have been taken on in July 1944. The aircraft is EN474, 13th production high-altitude Mk. VII which was supplied to USA for evaluation. The same Spitfire was previously shown here. Interestingly, the aircraft apparently flew without the undercarriage covers at this

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