Hi all,

In the process of completing my 614 pathfinder article for Key Publishing. Unexpected delays has made this later than anticipated.

I also wanted to advise the cracking news that the PFF Museum at Wyton will also be telling the Squadron story. A really welcome development.

I will be getting text to them for their information boards in the coming weeks.

Best

Nick

Hi Bill – thank you!

No, I didn’t see your post. I searched but could not locate it?

Cheers

Nick

Hi Simon

Not sure what you mean by ‘Not true” – can you elaborate what you mean by this?

Thanks

Nick

Hi all

Just a note to say following extensive research on the Path Finder status of 614 (County of Glamorgan) Squadron, 1944/1945, I hope to be providing an article on this topic within the Key Publishing family over the coming weeks.

Cheers

Nick

Originally posted by DWW

Hi folks.

I’m the ‘independant researcher’ Andy has referred to previously (Hi Andy!). Just a few words from me, if I may, to explain where I fit in to all this. You should also understand that I set out to answer two questions –

Was there such an emblem on Nicolson’s Hurricane on and prior to August 16, 1940.
2. What did it look like?

Sometimes an innocent surprise can be the catalyst for a chain of events that are at once, unexpected and out of step with anything that could be reasonably anticipated.
*
I received a phone call from Airfix Model World (AMW) Editor Chris Clifford back in the earlier part of this year, in the wake of my test shot build of the new 1/48 Airfix Hurricane, to advise he’d received a complimentary email. The test shot didn’t come with decals, so I was free to choose the markings. That was an easy decision for me, as a long term admirer of James Nicolson VC and so the kit was duly published in the AMW March 2015 issue as ‘GN-A’ P3576 in a special Battle of Britain supplement.
*
The email was from Jim Nicolson, nephew of James (JBN) and within the body of the narrative was the remark “I thought you and Steve might be interested to know that, according to his widow, my uncle apparently had a red devil figure painted on the nose of P3576”. This was an intriguing revelation. I had no such marking on the Aviaeology decal sheet I’d used in the Hurricane build and so contacted Terry Higgins at the company, who confirmed he had no knowledge of such a thing either.
*
Dialogue with Jim (a really lovely guy) revealed that he’d visited JBN’s widow, Muriel many times before she died, who had told him of a letter JBN had written to her in 1940, prior to the VC engagement on August 16, 1940 in which ‘Nick’ mentioned that he’d had a ‘red devil’ emblem painted on his Hurricane. Jim confirmed that Muriel’s mind was sharp as a tack and that he regarded her recollection as entirely accurate.
*
Jim also disclosed to me during our initial contact, that JBN’s uniform and Mae West were on display at the Tangmere Museum of aviation and that there was a red devil emblem to one side of the display case, which he speculated, was possibly a German bomber Geschwader symbol. I was curious about that, as JBN’s only known ‘kill’ was the Bf110 he took down over Southampton. Given that the ‘110’ was not a ‘bomber’ per se, I couldn’t personally see what relevance to the Tangmere display might lay in an arbitrary German symbol, so with that in mind, ‘parked’ those thoughts temporarily.
*
In essence, I’d reached ‘critical mass’ at this point and determined to ‘chase down’ this elusive red devil that I’d never previously seen appear on any decal sheet or any finished model that I was aware of. First order of business then, was to Google it to a standstill and happily a particular enquiry phrase threw up a comment by one Andy Saunders, on Key Publishing’s forum way back in 2009, that the emblem was ‘…a detail often overlooked’.
*
Next up, was some background checking on Andy (who, to my everlasting shame, had never heard of before) that quickly revealed him as a respected aviation historian, who had worked on some very notable restoration projects, among them the recent ‘Guy Martin’s Spitfire’, so I did the next logical thing and emailed him to ascertain the source of his assertion in 2009. He was just off on a project for three weeks, so there it rested. I picked up threads with Andy on his return and a short while later he dropped back to me and attached to his email was a scan of an IPMS article drawn up by the late Doris Reeves and illustrated by Gary Davidson both from the Souders-Earhart chapter of the IPMS in the USA – the piece having appeared in ‘Wings and Wheels’ sometime before Doris passed away in 2000. Entitled “Heroic Hurricane”, it included a port side profile drawing of ‘GN-A’ and a detail illustration of the red devil emblem. The narrative made mention of having been derived from the November 30, 1940 article in the now defunct Illustrated London News (ILN).
*
The ILN piece, it turned out, was a double page centre spread, dominated by a painting by noted war artist, Bryan De Grineau and endorsed with the statement “Specially drawn for the Illustrated London News by our special artist Bryan De Grineau from details personally supplied by Flight Lieut. Nicolson VC”.

The narrative itself included “On the side of his ‘Hurricane’ he carries as a symbol a little devil making a defiant gesture”. This material, together with Muriel’s personal testimony eradicated any doubt that there was indeed, such a symbol in Nick’s Hurricane on August 16, 1940. What remained, was to establish, as far as might be possible without photographs, what the emblem looked like.

It’s perhaps useful to add here that my discussions with Jim Nicolson revealed that Tom Neil advised him that ‘Nick’ caused some degree of irritation on 249 due to his ‘fastidious’ approach to things and always wanting them to be ‘right’.*

According to Jim, (who has the actual telegram and one ‘Nick’ sent to Muriel, his wife, on being told he would receive the VC) Nicolson dictated a telegram to a policeman by the roadside immediately after being shot down. He is reported as having given the police officer ‘a rocket’ for adding an ‘h’ erroneously to his surname. Fastidious indeed. I mention this, as ‘Nick’ would not have ‘signed off’ on the ILN material without first checking its veracity.
*
So, back in research mode, the emblem on the cabinet at Tangmere matched that in the Souders-Earhart article and further background checks then revealed that Andy Saunders was actually the founder of the Tangmere Museum (something else I wasn’t aware of). It was clear therefore that the origin of the Tangmere painting had to be established and so I picked up with Andy again. He kindly verified that he had indeed commissioned the now late Michael Payne to paint the emblem and that the Souders-Earhart article was the source of it.
*
I then felt compelled to examine the ILN edition myself and lashed £33.50 (putting my money where my mouth is) for an original example from the publishing date. It tallied with the Souders-Earhart article and as such, it seemed reasonable to share the outcome with Terry at Aviaeology. I asked if he would revise his decal presentation to include the red devil and happily, he agreed to do so, in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/24 and that was the conclusion of my initial investigations, that were obviously driven from a modelling perspective.
*
As you might imagine, I was pretty content at the fact that I’d taken Jim’s email ‘aside’ and united the pieces of an aspect of aviation history that had become separated and ‘lost’ (and had zero cognisance among the world wide modelling community) and that it all pertained to one of my great heroes…but there was more to come and it really was unexpected.
*
I was touring Facebook a little over a month ago when I tripped over a three quarter frontal shot of a Eurofighter Typhoon in dark earth and dark green. On its flank was what looked like ‘GN-A’. I emailed Jim to ask if he knew about it – he didn’t and as someone who regularly gives illustrated talks about Nick, was very excited by this and keen to know more, so I lapsed into research mode again and traced the Tiffie to Coningsby. After a couple of transfers I ended up with Yvonne Masters in their Media Comms Office. I explained my Airfix Model World role and my contact with Jim and asked if they had a Nicolson tribute aircraft. Yvonne confirmed that they did and we spoke about it for quite a while, during which (surprise, surprise) I mentioned the matter of the red devil emblem and that I would share the material more particularly mentioned above with them. As the conversation wound down, Yvonne added that there was going to be an official press unveiling on Thursday 21 May. I suggested they’d benefit from having Jim and his Nicolson artefacts present on the day and guess what, no surprise, I said it was essential I go too and happily ‘The Angel of Coningsby’ gave it her blessing.
*
I duly forwarded my evidence to Yvonne and requested that the RAF place Nicolson’s emblem (as depicted on the painting at Tangmere) on their Tiffie as a further mark of respect to Nicolson. This, I was advised, initially went to the SEngO of 29® Squadron, who I now know to be Bryn Kirby, who helped begin the process of examining my application. Well, the correspondence naturally flowed between Coningsby, me, Jim, Andy and Chris, until I spoke to Yvonne last week and pressed her about the status, to which she replied that it was looking ‘98.5% certain that the emblem would be applied’. On Wednesday of this week, the day before the unveiling, I received an email from Coningsby verifying that some 75 years after Nicolson’s emblem had last appeared in the skies over Southampton, it would once again take flight. It was an emotional moment – more so when Jim and I were escorted to the aircraft on Thursday, ahead of the press pack and saw his symbol emblazoned on the Tiffie. Next to it, was stencilled “Flt. Lt. James Nicolson VC.
*
I’ll never forget what that engendered in me. A conversation with Bryn on the apron revealed that the sign off within the RAF to my request was “…second in overall command”. Jim and I were later invited to lunch with Ben Westoby-Brooks, the synchro pair display pilot *and Bryn Kirby in the officers mess and later had a very pleasant chat with Andy ‘Milli’ Millikin, current boss of the BBMF, before a tour of the hanger. A truly epic day and it was very evident to me, that Jim’s presence on the day gave a depth and focus to the event that greatly benefitted the RAF and the media in consequence. He’s going back for a gala dinner with senior RAF personnel and to give his famous talk about ‘Nick’ to the squadrons and personnel on base.

And now, some thanks and recognition from me. First up, has to be Jim Nicolson, without whose email and ‘aside’ about the red devil, I’d never have gone galavanting off on all this in the first place or ended up at Coningsby and that leads me naturally on to Andy Saunders, who’s very kind co-operation in providing the Souders-Earhart scan and answering my many questions with patience and consummate professionalism led me to Tangmere and the painting he commissioned. Thanks also to Tangmere Museum for ‘minding’ me so closely and attentively while I was on-site and for co-operating with my photography request.

So, we all played a part in a piece of modern aviation history but do you know what? It’s not actually about Jim, Andy, Tangmere or me – it’s about James Nicolson VC and his astonishing act of bravery over Southampton in those dark days of 1940, when the Germans stood on the North French coast and planned their invasion of Britain.

May I close with the following.

In Memorium

With the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in mind, I regularly navigate the Purley Way near to where I live, either by car or motorcycle as the need dictates. Heading south, the road ascends through playing fields, past an area that once was Croydon Aerodrome, the busiest international airport in Europe in the 1920s and 30s and later a front line fighter station when the Germans stood on the French coast in that hot summer of 1940 and contemplated an invasion of Britain. A large RAF Battle of Britain memorial now stands by the road in commemoration of the events and sacrifices connected with the area. I often wonder, as I motor past, one of the hundreds of thousands who do so every year, just how many are consciously aware of what the memorial and others like it actually stand for. How many hear the sound of Merlins in their mind, imagine Hurricanes bumping across the grass at full throttle and their twisting pursuits of an enemy bent on our wholesale destruction, punctuated by the rattle of .303 machine guns. A minority I suspect.******

With that thought in mind, I’d like to dedicate my AMW Hurricane to the memory of all those RAF pilots, wherever they hailed from, who fought and died selflessly in the skies above my home.

This modeller will never forget them.

Great piece of research and credit where it is due for sniffing this one out, once and for all. 😎