Excellent news, my application to get my father's war records from the RAF archive bore fruit today and two A3 photocopies of my father's record cards are now in my hands! I put the application in back in July and paid the £30 and then had to wait and wait and wait... however it was well worth it!
The record shows that my dad enlisted in Feb 1941 - he would have been 20 then and spent the first year in training as an Electrician. He was then posted to RAF Detling for 6 months before being attached to 122 Sqn, which at that time was equipped with Spitfire Vb and Vc. In October 1942 he then joined 81 Squadron which at that time was in Gibraltar and stayed with them until Nov 1943, travelling into Algeria and Tunisia then ending up in Sicily, all the time working with Spitfire Vc (trop probably) and IX. Then he was shipped out to India to join 5 Squadron and shortly after the rest of 81 Squadron were also shipped out to India and from looking at the maps there were times when they were just down the road from each other - in fact in my Dad's effects was a Xmas dinner menu from 81 Sqn dated Dec '43. 5 Squadron at this time was equipped with Hurricane IIc and IId, having just converted from Curtis Mohawk IVs and then in Sept they converted to Thunderbolt I which they flew until March 1946. However my father was shipped back to UK in August 1945 and demobbed.
So this is my long term project... build a model of each of the aircraft he would have worked on! So this gives me a list of:
Detling:
Hurricane IIc from 239 Sqn
Mustang I (possibly) from 239 Sqn
Avron Anson (possibly) from 280 Sqn
122 Sqn:
Spitfire Vb
Spitfire Vc
81 Sqn:
Spitfire Vc (trop)
Spitfire IX
5 Sqn:
Hurricane IIc
Hurricane IId
Thunderbolt I
I've also got a Curtis Mohawk in the stash so I'll probably add that to the 5 Sqn list even though it was a bit too early!
Hmm thats a lot of Spitfires
Sadly in my earlier research I believed my Dad stayed with 81 Sqn during their time in India and Burma when they were equipped with Spitfire VIII, so I picked up a Tamiya VIII in 1:32, but sadly that isn't required. I'll have to pick up the HobbyBoss Spitfire Vb in 1:32 and convert to a Vc so I can build the diorama I have in mind with an electrician with a bush hat working on a Spitfire! I've got a couple of photos of my Dad in bush hat and shorts, taken in Africa and Burma, so I'd love to be able to represent him in that outfit.
Are there any decent Hurricane kits in 1:32 - apart from the old Revell one that is?
This will be a long term project but it will be good to have this collection in 1:48 Just need space to display it!
The record shows that my dad enlisted in Feb 1941 - he would have been 20 then and spent the first year in training as an Electrician. He was then posted to RAF Detling for 6 months before being attached to 122 Sqn, which at that time was equipped with Spitfire Vb and Vc. In October 1942 he then joined 81 Squadron which at that time was in Gibraltar and stayed with them until Nov 1943, travelling into Algeria and Tunisia then ending up in Sicily, all the time working with Spitfire Vc (trop probably) and IX. Then he was shipped out to India to join 5 Squadron and shortly after the rest of 81 Squadron were also shipped out to India and from looking at the maps there were times when they were just down the road from each other - in fact in my Dad's effects was a Xmas dinner menu from 81 Sqn dated Dec '43. 5 Squadron at this time was equipped with Hurricane IIc and IId, having just converted from Curtis Mohawk IVs and then in Sept they converted to Thunderbolt I which they flew until March 1946. However my father was shipped back to UK in August 1945 and demobbed.
So this is my long term project... build a model of each of the aircraft he would have worked on! So this gives me a list of:
Detling:
Hurricane IIc from 239 Sqn
Mustang I (possibly) from 239 Sqn
Avron Anson (possibly) from 280 Sqn
122 Sqn:
Spitfire Vb
Spitfire Vc
81 Sqn:
Spitfire Vc (trop)
Spitfire IX
5 Sqn:
Hurricane IIc
Hurricane IId
Thunderbolt I
I've also got a Curtis Mohawk in the stash so I'll probably add that to the 5 Sqn list even though it was a bit too early!
Hmm thats a lot of Spitfires
Sadly in my earlier research I believed my Dad stayed with 81 Sqn during their time in India and Burma when they were equipped with Spitfire VIII, so I picked up a Tamiya VIII in 1:32, but sadly that isn't required. I'll have to pick up the HobbyBoss Spitfire Vb in 1:32 and convert to a Vc so I can build the diorama I have in mind with an electrician with a bush hat working on a Spitfire! I've got a couple of photos of my Dad in bush hat and shorts, taken in Africa and Burma, so I'd love to be able to represent him in that outfit.
Are there any decent Hurricane kits in 1:32 - apart from the old Revell one that is?
This will be a long term project but it will be good to have this collection in 1:48
Just need space to display it!
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