I’ve come across a reference which suggests that the “R-H” codes carried by Spitfire F.IIa P7973, preserved in the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, were the initials of Wg Cdr Ray Harris of the Central Gunnery School at Catfoss.
Just wondering if anyone can shed any light on this?
By: G-ORDY - 9th June 2010 at 19:21
I believe so. I doubt the AWM would not make such an easily spotted “mistake”.
It seems to have been a “perk” for Group Captains etc to have their aircraft “personalised” as they were not on any specific Squadron strength and therefore didn’t carry their codes.
I think Bader and Stanford Tuck for example had their own “Coded” aircraft.
Regular Squadron aircraft carried a 2 letter code plus an individual letter for the specific aircraft.You will see instances, especially in Bomber Command, of an aircraft carrying the 2 letter/numeral squadron code plus an individual aircraft code of “A2” for example. That’s usually where that aircraft had been under lengthy repair or maintenance and another replacement aircraft had been allocated the original letter. It may have been regarded as a lucky aircraft so, when back on strength, the numeral “2” was added to differentiate from the other aircraft.
Thanks for the response – this aircraft has never been repainted since it was delivered to Australia in March 1945. It was selected for transfer to Australia in May 1944 and was chosen because of its Australian connections (No. 452 Sqdn). The codes were carried when in service at Catfoss with the Central Gunnery School – my question is to determine whether or not they are connected with Ray Harris … and who was he?
By: Icare9 - 9th June 2010 at 16:15
I believe so. I doubt the AWM would not make such an easily spotted “mistake”.
It seems to have been a “perk” for Group Captains etc to have their aircraft “personalised” as they were not on any specific Squadron strength and therefore didn’t carry their codes.
I think Bader and Stanford Tuck for example had their own “Coded” aircraft.
Regular Squadron aircraft carried a 2 letter code plus an individual letter for the specific aircraft.
You will see instances, especially in Bomber Command, of an aircraft carrying the 2 letter/numeral squadron code plus an individual aircraft code of “A2” for example. That’s usually where that aircraft had been under lengthy repair or maintenance and another replacement aircraft had been allocated the original letter. It may have been regarded as a lucky aircraft so, when back on strength, the numeral “2” was added to differentiate from the other aircraft.
Sign In
June 9, 2010 at 2:03 pm