Colour spitfire photo 1941 (?)

Group of six pilots

Looks a little like Flt Lt E J Gracie (far left), possibley also Westmacott, hillwood and higginson ?

It would be great to be able to put names to the faces in that group of six pilots. Possibly one of the two squadron flights and with the Flight Commander (Flt Lt) in the front of group.

A puzzle for Gerry Burke. Where are you Gerry…..?

Looks like one of the ground crew is wearing army trousers….always assumed working blue was…er blue, unless you were part of a servicing commando in Western Europe so you learn something new every day. Also the officer in the peaked cap not wearing a May West, could he be the Squadron Intelligence Officer? (judging by what looks like an aircrew debrief complete with ‘flying hands’)

re;

these pics are stunning!

Yes! whilst we’re on the subject…what is the correct shade of Sky???:diablo:

Oh no, he mentioned Sky!!

Details like the fusalage band are great, goes to show that everything wasn’t painted perfectly to plan, I bet if someone made a model of that they would be shouted down for getting it wrong!

That fuselage band is a bit off!

Either it was painted whilst the aircraft was tail up on a trestle, or whoever painted it followed the tail to fuselage join seam which is at that angle. Just a couple of un-informed guesses!

Regards;
Steve

Beautiful colour photo of the 54 Squadron Spit there. I like the one with the hangars in the background. Would this be Hornchurch then?

Also, is that a Mk I or a Mk II? Can’t quite tell. Interesting that the squadron codes are in the pre-war/early 39/40 position on the fuselage. This wouldn’t be Colin Gray’s old R6893 would it?

Regards;
Steve

Is it a trick of the photograph – or is that Sky fuselage band less than vertical ???

e.g. not at right angles to the fuselage datum.

It looks like how you would mask a model if you just applied tape without taking into account the taper of the fuselage.

Interesting……….:confused:

Ken

In normal circumstances you would kind of expect a load more pics from the shoot, but colour film was very expensive and was almost rationed during early war period, even Charles E Brown had to be very careful with colour film use.

I’m glad the RAF co-operated with this style of shoot, as opposed to the normal set up shots which always seemed to be the way in early war period.

Hi Pagen01;

Looks like we have the locations then..that aerial photo seems to nail it!

We just need the Spitfire boffins to identify the aircraft now!

Wonder if there were any more photographs in this sequence?

Regards;
Steve

Ah, begging pardon, Hornchurch did have three C Type hangars and possibly an A Type at that time, probably one of each that we are seeing in the pic.

I would say the above pic is looking to the top centre of this airfield vertical http://www.rafhornchurch.thehumanjourney.net/images/gallery_images/Gallery_image07.htm

54 Squadron were back at Hornchurch from February to November 1941. Wellingore looks close, but 54 weren’t here till June 42. It certainly doesn’t look like Catterick. Any thought’s?

(Edit: Nope, the hangars curve the wrong way to be Wellingore! Hornchurch still top of my list)

Regards,
Steve

As said above they look so fresh and ‘normal’ these pics, apart from the warm film tones they look like they could have been taken yesterday.

I’m also wondering if the Spit pics are taken at Hornchurch, the two mighty C hangars in the background would suggest otherwise maybe?
They should be a good give away to the location because one appears to be finished in full brick version, and the far one seems to be ‘Austerity’ type.

Beautiful colour photo of the 54 Squadron Spit there. I like the one with the hangars in the background. Would this be Hornchurch then?

Also, is that a Mk I or a Mk II? Can’t quite tell. Interesting that the squadron codes are in the pre-war/early 39/40 position on the fuselage. This wouldn’t be Colin Gray’s old R6893 would it?

Regards;
Steve

Amazing how fresh and bright these images are when processed just a little in Photoshop…

Can anybody identify the pilots from the same magazine ?

and here’s another

I noticed the squared wingtip but assumed it was intentional ….any theories?

Anyone notice the missing wing tip of the taxying Blenheim?

John

Superb photos – thanks for posting!

Blenheims, Buffaloes at Singapore

All by Carl Mydans at Singapore 1941 on the Google Life Archive (alt search word Singapor)