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Signatures on this item | |
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |
Name | Info |
Flight Lieutenant Alec A Ince *Signature Value : £25 | Joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in January 1941 and by midsummer he had travelled to Quebec, then to North Sidney, Nova Scotia, followed by Victoriaville, Quebec for air crew training in Oshawa, Ontario flying Tiger Moths and next to Montreal, Quebec for advanced training on Harvards. By January 1942 he arrived in Shropshire, England at an advanced flying school at RAF base Fern Hill, followed by operational training on Spitfires, marks one and two at RAF station Aston Down, near Stroud. By midsummer 1942, the training there was complete and Alec was posted to 402 Sqdn at RAF Kenley where they were occupied with escorting American bombers to Northern France on bombing expeditions, which lasted until the American Mustang and Thunderbolt fighters arrived to take over from the RAF fighter squadrons. Their duties then changed to Hit and Run raids along the south and south-east coast of England where many dog fights took place over coastal towns. The policy of the Canadian Government was to repatriate aircrews back to Canada after four years on active service and Alec was returned to the University to complete his education. |
Flying Officer T W Terry Green *Signature Value : £20 | Trained by the United States Army in Georgia and Alabama. He was awarded his wings in March 1942 and joined 501 Sqdn at Middle Wallop later that year. He was posted overseas when 501 were rested in Northern Ireland. He joined 232 Sqdn in North Africa in March 1943 and stayed with them through Tunisia on to Malta to cover the invasion of Sicily and then on to Sicily to cover the invasion of Italy at Salerno. The Squadron then flew their Spitfires some 2,500 miles to the north of Syria on the Turkish border to cover what Churchill called the invasion of the soft underbelly of Europe. Since this was aborted they moved back to Corsica to cover the invasion of the south of France at Frejus. They stayed in France until September 1944 where the Squadron was disbanded after handing over their Spitfires to the Free French Air Force. Finally, Terry was posted to 1675 Heavy Conversion Unit at Abu Sueir, Egypt for fighter affiliation duties with aircrews converting from twins to B24 Liberators. He was demobilised in June 1945 and carried on as a weekend flyer in the RAF Volunteer Reserve at Woodley and Fairoaks until 1952. |
The Aircraft : | |
Name | Info |
Spitfire | Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954. |
Related Pages :
Battle of Britain
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