Author Topic: Captured Spitfires  (Read 12864 times)

Offline mfg495

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Captured Spitfires
« on: April 22, 2007, 10:02:16 AM »
Captured RAF Photo-reconnaissance Spitfire Type C, all other details are unknown at this time.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2007, 09:34:00 PM by mfg495 »

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Offline No.1

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2007, 10:15:40 AM »
Is the registration on fuselage from RAF?

Offline mfg495

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2007, 07:40:40 PM »
Thanks right, LY would be at this time 1 PRU based at RAF Benson
The camera fit on this version was two F24 cameras pointing downwards mounted in a blister of the starboard wing, the blister on the port side was an extra fuel tank.
« Last Edit: April 22, 2007, 07:43:17 PM by mfg495 »

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2007, 11:55:12 AM »
Spitfire X4385, coded LY-B. On September 22nd 1941 this aircraft landed at Deelen airfield (the Netherlands) after the engine had stopped during the flight. Pilot Peter Tomlison, POW.

Offline mfg495

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2007, 02:42:36 PM »
Great info  :-ok

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Offline No.1

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2007, 02:44:58 PM »
 :-wave

Offline mfg495

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2007, 09:50:26 PM »
A bit more info

On 22 September 1941 while being flown on an imaging sortie to Hamburg by S/Ldr Peter Tomlinson, Spitfire X4385 suffered fuel starvation, forcing Tomlinson to force-land the overall blue-painted aircraft in a meadow adjacent to the NJG 1 occupied airfield at Deelen-Arnhem in Holland. Taken into captivity by Luftwaffe personnel, Peter Tomlinson was taken to the officers’ mess where, in
his own words, officers of the night fighter group and their commander, Oberst. Wolfgang Falck treated him with the utmost courtesy and respect. After being entertained in the mess, Falck and his staff broke somewhat with the conventional method for the
handling of prisoners of war by flying Tomlinson, under the guard of a third crew member, to Frankfurt in one of their Messerschmitt Me 110 aircraft. After arriving at Frankfurt, Peter Tomlinson underwent conventional prisoner of war interrogation before being sent to the
Dulag Luft P/W camp at Frankfurt am Main.

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2007, 10:02:02 PM »
Great info mate!!! It look like it have some of the early non standard camouflage in overall light blue.

Offline mfg495

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2007, 11:03:27 PM »
Great info mate!!! It look like it have some of the early non standard camouflage in overall light blue.

The PR Spits were painted in "Camotint" which was a very pale green-grey colour, then after this came the "PRU Blue"  some were painted in a very dark blue others were painted all over PRU Pink.
There is an example of a Type PR1C painted in the normal Green and Earth colours. A great source for PR Spitfire colour profiles is On Target Profiles 8 - Photo Reconnaissance Spitfires in Worldwide Service

Again more info on Spitfire X4385, she was one of four PR Spits fitted with German Lenses on their camera bodies.
The source of the information below is from Dave Wadman's excellent book - Aufklarer - Luftwaffe Reconnaissance Aircraft and Units 1935 to 1941, (Just today received a copy from Dave)

In order to improve the results of the missions carried out by No. 3 PRU, its commanding officer, S/Ldr Ogilvie had hoped to obtain American Fairchild 24” cameras as supplied to the United States Army Air Force, but these were not forthcoming at the time. However, a suitable substitute was soon literally to fall into Ogilvie’s hands when Junkers Ju 88A-1(F), 7A+FM, of the 4.(F)/121 was forced to land at RAF Oakington on 19 September 1940.

Following its thorough examination by RAF and RAE technicians, in November 1940, with the assistance of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit at Heston and RAE Farnborough, Ogilvie was able to acquire and put back into service two of its Zeiss lens assemblies which had been adapted to fit British F 8 cameras; one of which was installed into the aft fuselage of Spitfire PR1C X4383.

The first F 8/Zeiss hybrid camera flew its first operational sortie when F/Lt Marshall flew X4383 to Cologne on 21 December 1940, during which he photographed the required areas at a scale of 1:13,000. Three days later, following a successful sortie to image the oil plant at Wessling, F/Lt. Marshall had to force-land X4383 near Colchester.With the Spitfire recovered for repair, the hybrid camera was removed and installed in X4385, which suffered a similar fate to its predecessor when P/O Wilkinson was forced to make a wheels-up landing on 9 January 1941.

Although having sustained significant damage to the airframe, the undamaged hybrid camera was removed and installed in X4712 where it remained until being lost with the aircraft in the early afternoon of 9 April 1941 when it was shot down near Texel by Fw. Mickel of the 1./JG 1. On 2 February 1941 X4493 had arrived at Oakington and was fitted with a second F 8/Zeiss hybrid with which, as the longest known survivor of these first F 8/Zeiss equipped PR Spitfires, it flew until it failed to return from a sortie to Wilhelmshaven on 27 August 1941.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2007, 01:59:26 PM by mfg495 »

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2007, 11:11:06 PM »
 :-clap :-clap

Offline mfg495

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2007, 11:12:57 PM »
 :-red :-obey :-red

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Offline mfg495

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Re: Captured Spitfire
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2007, 09:33:21 PM »
Here's a strange one,a captured Spitfire V under evaluation with the DB 601 engine fitted.


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Re: Captured Spitfires
« Reply #12 on: April 29, 2007, 09:51:48 PM »
I wonder why that was made? they could never get performance same as with the Merlin and compare it in dog fight against German fighter airplanes.