Hi,
I recall it was once explained to me it was used as literally a question ?, Like why was a Y.
Supposedly used when a type of aircraft not normally used, was allocated to a squadron,the mark was used as a sort of a mod/ministry type joke against the pen pushers.
when a mistake was made by those who allocated aircraft movements.

Say for an extreme example, a hurricane being delivered to a spitfire squadron,
or a mg aircraft delivered to a cannon equipped unit.
etc
Then it would be given a ? or Y code letter.

Intresting to know if anyone else was given this explaination I only heard it once.

cheers
Jerry

Hi Stuart,
All very interesting,if you get more info can you post it if possible,I never found any reference to the merlin whirlwind that early on.
Nice to actually hear from someone that was at westlands at the time,and worked on the design.
It leads to more proof that the project actually existed, and must have been reinstated before the time menesforth wrote his letter offering it for production.

Now with another myth confirmed, all I need now is a photo of that whirlwind in luftwaffe markings…..
cheers
Jerry

Hi
Curiosity got me I thought something was banned in france, it is the swastika flag.
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/qt-z_ban.html
Presumably the swatika on it’s own is a loophole ?
cheers
Jerry

You can see where the confusion comes from though, even in the handwritten letter the code could well be mistaken for a Y or X…………

Hi
My thoughts as well,very confusing.
Cheers
Jerry

Hi
Can only add what you may know it’s with the RCAF.
might be some details here:-
http://www.ody.ca/~bwalker/index.htm
cheers
Jerry

Hi Steve,
I was in the UK when researching 126 & 64 Sqn, and luckily by chance came across the squadron associations, and was able to get a list of all they new off ,which led to a few others as well.
I doubt if I still have the list of addresses and most probably it would not still be accurate after all these years, some I know have passed on, from info on various boards,etc.
None of the photos I saw were from IWM etc, all private collections,some I copied, some were actually given to me as they were about to be disposed off, sadly I did nothing out of my area of interest,( like the photos before and after harrowbeer), this looking back, I regret.
cheers
Jerry

Hi
Can you upload some photos, or post the link, it might help.
cheers
Jerry