Here’s a few details which answer some of the questions above, some from the aircraft movement card mentioned by JDK and some from various sources:
07AUG1940 – Delivered to 6 MU
17AUG1940 – 307 (Polish) Sqn, Kirton-in-Lindsay
307 Sqn was to be the third day-fighter Sqn equipped with Defiants, so at least some aircraft would have originally been in a daytime camouflage scheme. As we know, things did not turn out favourably for day-fighting Defiants and so they were then switched to night-only fighting(although they had been intended to fight at night too anyhow).
From surviving pictures and crew accounts, it is known that the undersides were painted night(black) with some extending this partly up the fuselage sides. At some point, all the aircraft were painted night overall.
I think I’ve only seen wartime pictures of N1671 in the night overall scheme but this does not necessarily mean it was never camouflaged in daytime colours.
30OCT1940 – move to 153 Sqn, Ballyhalbert – Army Coop duties
22JUN1942 – move to 285 Sqn, Wrexham, Army Coop duties
23FEB1943 – Repaired in workshop
16MAY1943 – 10 MU
08SEP1944 – 52 MU
21JAN1947 – SOC
1954-1958, as listed by JDK
??????1960 – On show at St.Athan, in day camo upper and night lower.
02JUN1965 – 60MU take aircraft to Warton
14JUN1965 – 60MU take aircraft to Binbrook, Queens presents new Sqn standard
23JUN1965 – 60MU take aircraft back to St.Athan
??DEC1967 – Decision to refurbish at St.Athan
14JUN1968 – Exhibited at Abingdon RAF 50th Anniversary(now night overall but no Sqn codes yet)
15JUN1968 – second day at Abingdon
Then Finningly, Hendon as listed by JDK
(Jack Long painted the 307 Sqn Owl in Crescent Moon motif and Polish checks on the port side while at Finningly, not sure if the codes were also added at this time)
Mark
Sign In
