Martin, would that be you in the third pic from the top?
I love the Hurricane!

I though it would be sad if this interesting thread faded away just like a red lion (or red herring).
1) Robert Bracken’s “Spitfire – the Canadians” vol. I has a similar shot on p. 140: it is most certainly taken in the same place (same line of trees on the horizon) and shows SM884, delivered to 402 in mid-May 1945. It looks as these two shots may have been taken on the same occasion, SM884 being in the line-up of left-pointing Spitfires visible on the right edge of this picture. Even if the two photos were not taken at the same time, presence of SM884 there means the place is Wunstorf, where 402 moved before VE-Day, and stayed there until conversion to Mk XVIs in June.
2) Do you know when Geoff (Jeff?) Northcott exchanged this high-back Mk XIV for the low-back MV263? This would provide the time frame on the “no later then” end.
3) I seem to think that for Allied personnel, both air force and the army, white/yellow nose plus the rudder in the same colour tended to be associated with German fighters. Would it not be a dangerous form of personal marking before war ended?
4) Could this kind of markings be used on a formation leader aircraft? At the time of VE-Day a lot of balbos were flown over liberated Europe (as morale boosters) and over occupied Germany (as morale busters).
5) Were replacement rudders delivered with camouflage on? Or could this be simply a case of a new rudder (in primer) and spinner (in Sky) fitted during repair and still unpainted?
OT – Do you know the serial number of the high-back JEFF?

okay – publicity related to Polish units / pilots or RAF in general ?
If it was for RAF general publicity – it would make sense to white out the Polish insigna (or, as a matter of fact, take a photo with low contrast) in order not to give the possibility to link faces to Polish units.

PAF Film Unit usually provided photos to Polish periodicals, but some have been circulated widely. I don’t recall ever seeing any of their photos with the Polish motifs removed to achieve a “general RAF” appearance.

And in hindsight of the above, the other shot would make perfect sense for Polish publicity – it clearly shows a Spit VB of a Polish unit, but no personal or other markings (after the “C” has been made invisible)……

That’s what has puzzled me when I first saw the other one as a decent size print – the whitish square didn’t look right for Polish AF publicity purpose.

the photo of Max Sutherland and the Spit with the full insigna was taken (IIRC) during the unit’s deployment to the Orkneys in January 1944.

Did they have any Mk IXs in the Orkneys?

I am intrigued by the vanishing ‘C’ and the Polish emblem. Timing apart Voy Tech, is what we see here consistent with a filter change?

Perfectly, if the “C” is the same red as in the Polish marking.

PS. Something special for you and Dave in about two seconds 😉

the photographer must have used a tripod to do the photographs – I took the two photos ond superimposed them – the exactly same angle and the pilots have barely moved at all – it almost looks like two stills from a movie.

Interesting point, never thought of that, but you are probably right about the tripod.

When looking at the shot at left (with the Polish insigna visible), the “C” is ‘not there’ – by enhancing and playing with filters, I received a shape that looks like the “C” has been ‘erased’ on the negative – while on the other shot, with the ‘C’ clearly visible, the Polish national insigna is blanked out; but by adding contrast I can see traces of the colors there, still.

In my opinion, the photos / negatives in question have seen some attention themselves.

Well, you may find it interesting that the photo with the “C” clearly visible was eventually used as publicity shot, and I have seen it as normal prints, while the other one seems to have been discarded at the contact print stage (possibly because there is little contrast betwen the faces of the two guys and the cowling behind them). So it seems that the presence or absence of the “C” was immaterial for censors.

I did mean the two 315 ‘C’ shots, well ‘C’ in one shot.
I would genuinely see only two seconds between those two shots. How long to change a filter on a 1930’s design camera? To me it looks like hand wind on to the next frame in the window and click again, just to make sure.

I admire your timing abilities. Please, note that these are not snapshots between misions or anything. This is a posed photo session. The Squadron was rested at the time, with little activity other than training. The PAF Film Unit photographer visited the unit specifically to take some publicity shots. If, at one moment, he said “Well chaps, I like this set, hold on while I change my filters, to take more pics”, they probably wouldn’t mind waiting even if it took some time.