Pembrokeshire Spitfire identity question

checks under the bed…

Errr we havent got it!!!Honest…..Will have a sniff around and see who has got it.
Just got back online due to server dramas.Ray..heeeeelllooo??Email came through but error when I tried opening it.Carrier pigeon next time ole bean.Pm will do otherwise..:D

Apologies for bringing up this thread after so long, but the most recent Flypast states that JG668 is reportedly for sale, and last heard of in storage in AUSTRALIA!

I knew the serial rang a bell, and I can’t find any other references to ‘668 on the forum at all.

Simply a mistake on FP’s part?

Welcome to the forum Ray….if you get caught and need a lawyer…..:D

TT

Hi
In answer to the question who are they and why did it only cost £150,000 to purchase JG 668. They are myself and a small group of enthusiasts in West Wales: in particular Haverfordwest where I have my Bulldog G-BHZR based. It only cost £150,000 🙂 as it’s a restoration project; probably one of the best around as it has all the essential bits 🙂 However it will cost a lot more to restore to flying condition;…… that’s a fact. You ask where the money is coming from. We are considering several plans one of which involves a pair of tights, a fast car, and an early morning unauthorised withdrawal from a bank 🙂 I would welcome any info that can assist in filing in the blanks of JG’s history.

Welcome to the forum Ray, is this the project, that has had some of the components restored to a static condition? incidently, and not wishing to further any criminal activities, the unauthorised overdraft is best effected with a pair of stockings, especially if there is more than one of you making the withdrawal….

Welspspitfire

Hi
In answer to the question who are they and why did it only cost £150,000 to purchase JG 668. They are myself and a small group of enthusiasts in West Wales: in particular Haverfordwest where I have my Bulldog G-BHZR based. It only cost £150,000 🙂 as it’s a restoration project; probably one of the best around as it has all the essential bits 🙂 However it will cost a lot more to restore to flying condition;…… that’s a fact. You ask where the money is coming from. We are considering several plans one of which involves a pair of tights, a fast car, and an early morning unauthorised withdrawal from a bank 🙂 I would welcome any info that can assist in filing in the blanks of JG’s history.

Thanks for the pic Mk12.The 5 Spits mentioned went to a wrecking yard here in town,broken up and sent south for smelting.There is a pic somewhere of them coming into town on the back of lorries.Think there were three Beaus scrapped.One had crashed and then scrapped,one was set alight and don,t know about the other.:confused:
Trailing everything down will take some effort but a rumor is a rumor till proven otherwise.!

So reading between the lines it appears that some of the MU guys sickened by the destruction of the planes they lavished so much care upon stashed 5 in an old mine hopefully for posterity, then some years later dollar hungry locals hauled them out for scrap.
What a shame none of the locals thought they were more useful as war memorials…..there were plenty of Meteors, Venoms and Sabres on poles in NSW small towns 15-30 years ago but nobody cared enough to do the same with any Spits in the late 1940s or early 1950s – how short sighted veterans organisations were after the war , or perhaps the struggle for homes and food was much harder than we can imagine today …….i am not sure as I wasnt even born then…

Take your pick,there are a few stories….

Thanks for the pic Mk12.The Australian post magazine is always held in high regard here in Auss.I can,t comment on how/why Bill did what he did as it was before my time.But it has always been for the good of the industry here in Auss and has contributed to virtually every major restoration project on the continent.The 5 Spits mentioned went to a wrecking yard here in town,broken up and sent south for smelting.There is a pic somewhere of them coming into town on the back of lorries.Think there were three Beaus scrapped.One had crashed and then scrapped,one was set alight and don,t know about the other.:confused:
Trailing everything down will take some effort but a rumor is a rumor till proven otherwise.!

So is this the source of the (in)famous Spitfire’s down the mine story

Or as it should now be re-titled – “Three Spitfires and a couple of Beaufighters down the mine story”

A photocopy I received from Australia about 20 years ago. I think it was from ‘Australian Women’s Weekly’ or something like that. The ‘Bill Martin Spitfire’ looked pretty impressive…but by clever photography you can make a spinner, a top cowl, a tank cover and a windscreen, all draped over a bit of Merlin… 🙂

Mark

Mark

Terrific stuff – this reminds me of a farmer near Geraldton who told me back in 1992 that one of his father´s friends up the coast had an underground motorpool containing jeeps and tanks on his farm that built in preparation for a japanese invasion & was sealed up after the war contents intact.And then there is the story of the Hampshire disused railway tunnel supposedly stuffed with war surplus stuff including crated planes – wonderful for a few minutes fantasy but I bet our best prospects for finding buried Spitfires is onboard sunken ships that were carrying new crated examples to the Med (some Mk V s listed in Spitfire the history as lost at sea)
THANKYOU QLD Spitty for sharing that pic of JG668:)

Otherwise known as the holy book of Spit survivors..In amongst our stash is probably bits of Jg668 as Bill collected/dugup a lot of stuff from Oakey over the years.He lent me this Polaroid that he took years ago of the larger bits he had.So much stuff came out of 6AD over the years amongst so many guys a trace would be a virtual nightmare.
To that extend I congratulate the new owners of our “sister” Spit..And to the guys who recovered enough original parts to get the plane where it is today.A mighty effort ….Any help we could offer would be an honor.:cool:

A photocopy I received from Australia about 20 years ago. I think it was from ‘Australian Women’s Weekly’ or something like that. The ‘Bill Martin Spitfire’ looked pretty impressive…but by clever photography you can make a spinner, a top cowl, a tank cover and a windscreen, all draped over a bit of Merlin… 🙂

Mark

Mark

Sshhh it,s a secret..

You know us inspired farmers will try anything to get a faster,better sprayer together these days..Hand me the wrench,I think I can get a tad more speed out of this Merlin oh and the reodrive could be made to spin faster so the fertilizer will spread quicker..:)

There seems to be a slight mismatch in the U/C dept….

Yes, I spent a little while trying to work that one out before I twigged it was sprayer, not Spitfire!

Given that Spitfires have been recreated from less…

Adrian

Otherwise known as the holy book of Spit survivors..In amongst our stash is probably bits of Jg668 as Bill collected/dugup a lot of stuff from Oakey over the years.He lent me this Polaroid that he took years ago of the larger bits he had.So much stuff came out of 6AD over the years amongst so many guys a trace would be a virtual nightmare.
To that extend I congratulate the new owners of our “sister” Spit..And to the guys who recovered enough original parts to get the plane where it is today.A mighty effort ….Any help we could offer would be an honor.:cool:

There seems to be a slight mismatch in the U/C dept….

The book…

Otherwise known as the holy book of Spit survivors..In amongst our stash is probably bits of Jg668 as Bill collected/dugup a lot of stuff from Oakey over the years.He lent me this Polaroid that he took years ago of the larger bits he had.So much stuff came out of 6AD over the years amongst so many guys a trace would be a virtual nightmare.
To that extend I congratulate the new owners of our “sister” Spit..And to the guys who recovered enough original parts to get the plane where it is today.A mighty effort ….Any help we could offer would be an honor.:cool:

Shame the welshspitfire.com history implies that the collection of parts that they have includes a significant % of JG668.
Any guidance gratefully received for online provenance trails for the various Spitfire V and VIII projects to originate in Australia please Mark 12?
I for one would like to see pix of these wrecks/collections of parts and read stories of their survival which havent been covered in Flypast yet (save for EE853 & LZ842) as far as I recall

Isn’t there a new book coming out on the surviving Spitfires that will cover all this?

Mark

The welshspitfire.com site also states there are only 3 airworthy Mk VIII’s – does MT719 not count?

That’s one, the other two are MV154 and MV239.

NH631 and MT818 are not currently airworthy.

Mark

The welshspitfire.com site also states there are only 3 airworthy Mk VIII’s – does MT719 not count?

I think you will find the provenance trail to JG668 and Oakey refers to just a small portion of this project.

I personally look on this serial as provisional.

Mark

Shame the welshspitfire.com history implies that the collection of parts that they have includes a significant % of JG668.
Any guidance gratefully received for online provenance trails for the various Spitfire V and VIII projects to originate in Australia please Mark 12?
I for one would like to see pix of these wrecks/collections of parts and read stories of their survival which havent been covered in Flypast yet (save for EE853 & LZ842) as far as I recall

David I can confirm that you are quite right about the identity of the Newark Anson as G-AGPG was still flying at Southend when G-ALIH was destroyed at Newark.
When G-AGPG arrived at the Historic Aircraft Museum, Southend she was still airworthy and it was planned to keep her that way but a member of the museum management refused to allow checks, maintenance and engine runs on both the Anson and Dragon and the Anson landed up outside permanently where the fabric was slashed on the underside by a vandal. As a result the wind got inside and slowly tore off more fabric which probably led to the rot problems in the tailwheel bay and the rot in the fuselage stringers.
Had a certain member of the museum management team spent more time running the museum and less time locked in his office with his secretary then much of the decline at Southend could have been prevented. I was there at the time as a teenage volunteer and also as a full time staff member in school holidays. I was aware that the office door was nearly always locked since I could never get access to get the manager concerned to answer the telephone which was in the temporary workshop next to the office. It was only years later that the late Bill Gent (eventually appointed curator at a time when the many of the aircraft were almost beyond saving) explained to me why I got such a frosty reception when I did finally get an answer after knocking on office the door. I could probably write a book about some of the back stabbing that went on amongst the commercial management (not among the volunteers) which resulted in the museum losing some good and capable people. I haven’t named names partly because of possible repercussions and also because at least some of the people involved have since died and are therefore unable to defend their actions even if they feel they have a defence).

T-21 – The Anson destroyed at Newark was Anson XI G-ALIH – the predecessor to the later EKCO Anson XIX G-AGPG which is still stored at Hooton Park. The Anson at Carew is the former Jet Age Museum example
which previous to that was with the Midland Air Museum. The former Llanbedr
Anson T.21 is now stored near Peterborough.