It can not be said enough, and I hope that it is never forgotten and that the civilised peoples of the world can work together to destroy those who plot against them.

Agreed, again condolences to all those who lost love one on that terrible day. To kept this in MA, For anybody who has access to BBC News, look out for a piece about the Canadians fighting in the south of Afghanistan that is being broadcast today. Good footage of AH-64s (chain gun and rockets) and A-10s (storm of 30mm) in action. I think the Apaches must be US ones, as they are not fitted with longbow.

I have recently bought a George Unwin Spitfire from Corgi.
I find that the port side of the fuselage is marked QV-H, but the starboard side is marked H_QV. I thought it should have said Q_VH. I am no expert on Spitfires or planes in general so could some-one tell me which is the correct starboard insignia?

Thanks

Bill W.

QV is the Squadron Code for 19 Sqn. H is the Aircraft Code.

This picture shows how the code was suppose to be done on the Starboard side, however aircraft coding was done the Squadron and they didn’t always follow the rules

Shooting at Woomera

Chances are most of the wreckage of the aircraft targets were recovered for analysis, as they fitted with miss distance cameras and other instrumentation with recorders. The same for a lot of the missiles. This information was later used for early computer modelling of the weapon’s performance. However, there may be the odd Blue Danube casing buried in the ground (36 dropped in total) and the odd remains of other things.

Photos are of Bloodhound 1’s kicking the cr*p out of Meteors and Canberras 😀 and Thunderbird 1 doing its usual trick of just missing 😉 during the No 8 JSTU trials of the two weapons in 1957-60 at Woomera.

Cracking idea, in fact how about putting it into an Index format. Sticky now

Is Scampton still home to the Red Arrows and HHA ? Be good to move to the old Dambuster Airfield.

off topic what is happing to leeming is 25 Sqn staying there aswel as 100 Sqn?

James

Scampton is now the home of UK ASACS Southern Sector CRC, as well as the Sparrows, It was going to take 1ACC (currently at Kirton in Lindsey) and 90 Signals Unit (including TCW from Brize and ERAS from Sealand). However its going to cost a bomb to do the place up to the standard required to move all of the assets there, hence they are all moving to Leeming with the exception of the CRC which is up and running. Rumours have it that the Army will want Kirton back in a couple of years and 1ACC will be moving (Most of Scampton’s personnel currently live at Kirton, as Scampton’s accommodation is mostly uninhabitable).

It was hardly uncommon. (One that springs to mind was when a clipped-wing Spit was operating in 609’s sector):

“Dec. 17
Today a misfortune occurs which temporarily mars the bright escutcheon of the Squadron’s progress. F/O Evans and P/O Raw, on the last patrol of the day, are repeatedly told of the movements of bandits in the area South of Dover. All set to find them, they see two A/C approach from France, and getting on their tails, climb after them. Not sure of their identity, they hold their fire. F/O Evans dives below to examine the markings of the one he is following. It has square wingtips – and it is too dark to distinguish markings. He has not heard any friendlies mentioned. The A/C turns back towards France, and convinced that it is an ME190E, Evans fires a short burst. Both A/C then open fire in head-on attacks, and after the third the other A/C catches fire and dives into the sea. It proves to have been a clipped-wing Spitfire – recent new equipment of 91 Sqdn at Lympne. Though signals have mentioned them, none have stated that they were being used operationally over the Channel. No one blames F/O Evans – but chiefly the system that allows two separate sectors, independently and in ignorance of each other’s action, to put two independent Sections on to the same E/A 609 can only regret.

Dec. 19
F/O Evans, P/O Raw and the IO today give evidence at the inevitable court of enquiry, held at Hornchurch, concerning the shooting down of the 91 Squadron Spitfire 2 days ago. Other witnesses are Hornchurch, Biggin and Swingate controllers, and the surviving pilot of the 91 Section.

This wasn’t the only occasion on which 609 downed an Allied a/c, and they were later to lose a CO to Thunderbolts, as well as being attacked on numerous occasions when on Typhoons by AA and fighters.

Makes a change to hear a story of a Tiffy killing a Spit, as Snapper states, it was usually the other way round on numerous occasions. Hence reason the Typhoons got recognition stripes on the wings, long before everybody else got them in early June 1944.

There is a big thread going on about friendly fire on the 12 o’clock high forum

I think you’ll find Lanoe Hawker was killed.

Yes he was, in a dH2 while CO of 24 Sqn RFC, the Baron’s 11th Kill if memory serves (and most likely one of the most difficult as far as the Baron was concerned).

Is the pilot of this aircraft going to get a mention? The Baron got him in the end too. Any idea when this program is going to be put out?