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Thread: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

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    Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    S!

    Late last year i was lucky enough to be able to visit the Imperial War Museum in London. It had been ~ 20 years since i was last there and really enjoyed my visit.

    I bought a few things from the gift shop including this shirt and while wearing it today i started to wonder about the fate of the pilots and aircraft involved in this picture.

    shirt.JPG

    The image shows 3 Spitfires from No 19 squadron based at Duxford and was taken in autumn 1938. Here's the print which is also available

    print.JPG

    So I'm kinda curious to see if i can find out answers to the following questions

    (a) Who were the pilots flying these aircraft?
    (b) What was their service history / fate during/after WW2?
    (c) What specific aircraft are shown?
    (d) What was the service history of these aircraft?
    (e) And for bonus points - what are the same details of the aircraft /aircrew/photographer who took the image?

    It could be that this info is already readily available (I havent yet checked a couple of likely sources so the answers may be already available) so it might be relatively easy to track this all down. But maybe the info isnt already readily available and i'm kinda curious to see if answers to these questions are discoverable 80 years after the event.

    At this stage I'm thinking the 19 Sqn ORB (assuming they had one in existence prior to Sep 1939) might be a good starting point, along with any details on Spitfire serial numbers (or whatever is used to uniquely track them) for Spitfires operated by 19 Squadron during autumn.

    Anyway thought there might others interested in being involved in this project (any ideas/assistance appreciated), or alternatively know these answers already and can save me spending time and effort researching it.

    Ezzie

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    The aircraft are the first two bladed versions... fixed prop pitch.

    They would have been upgraded to two pitch, 3 bladed versions in 1939, (same as the Spit I in game) and likely constant speed types in the summer of 1940.

    But No. 19 switched from the Spit I types to Spit IB's, the failed cannon experiment in the summer of the BoB and didn't see much combat until they switched back to Spit IIA's in September.

    The leader is likely Squadron Leader Cozens, he was in most of these PR photos, not sure of the rest. Cozens survived the war as he was too old to command a combat Squadron and got booted upstairs.

    The rest of the pilots likely were either killed in accidents, killed in combat, wounded and taken off active duty or taken prisoner. Not too many of the original pilots in 1938 survived the war unscathed.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._19_Squadron_RAF (scroll down to see the base and aircraft)

    Cozens:

    http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Cozens.htm

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Thanks Buzz.

    Just been browsing a preview of the ORB type report for 19 Sqn for autumn 1938. Seems they did some air affiliation activities with 2 bomber squadrons (115 and 206 (GR)) so am wondering if the image was taken during one of these.

    Some of the original 19 Squadron pilots survived including this chap who died in 2012

    Some sad news to report. James Coward, one of RAF Duxford’s pre-war No. 19 Squadron pilots, died recently, aged 97. He was with No. 19 Squadron when they received the first Spitfires to enter RAF service. He flew in the Battle of Britain, was wounded in combat, and even worked on Churchill’s personal staff.

    http://blogs.iwm.org.uk/historic-dux...ween-the-wars/

    I've found the list of Sqn pilots from early 1939 so presumably 3 of them, which probably includes SQNLDR Cozens as you point out, are in the photo. Maybe James Coward was one of them...?

    Investigations continue....

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    i think - but cant prove - that this is the same 3 taken as they turned away from the camera aircraft perhaps?

    3_iwm.JPG

    Cant quite read the serial numbers

    If they were taken during the fighter affiliation exercises then the camera aircraft was a Harrow or Anson. Nothing available in the image to help narrow this aspect down though.

    And think this might be one of them with a serial number - maybe

    serial_1.JPG

    History - History:
    19S 'WZ-B' Duxford 27-9-38 64S 18-4-40 shot down by AA fire Dover landed Hawkinge 13-7-40 49MU 15-7-40 49MU 15-7-40 GAL 603S 29-9-40 222S 14-10-40 engine failed crashed Terling 16.30hrs P/O Edridge safe C2 15-10-40 SOC 12-1-41 58OTU 26-2-41 to 4867M 6SoTT 1-1-42

    My hunch is the 2nd image showing the serial number is not one of the 3 shown in the t-shirt image but is one from another image showing 6 Spitfires taken maybe on another occasion.

    6_iwm.JPG

    There's another image of this aircraft rolling over onto its back presumably just after the first image was taken. Some records say that the SQNLDR Cozens was flying this aircraft so he may have come back to do a single pass on the camera ship after the imitial fly by perhaps?


    spitfire-mk-i-k9795.jpg

    George Unwin was another one of these pilots in the squadron on 1 jan 1939 and he lived to ripe old age of 90 it seems.

    Not sure i can drill any deeper into this. But has been interesting thus far.
    Last edited by ATAG_Ezzie; Feb-23-2019 at 01:00.

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Another shot of the No 19 Sqn formation. Maybe same occasion?



    The second Spitfire is K9797.

    "K9797 was the 11th production Spitfire, and was delivered to 19 Sqiadron, RAF Duxford on 7/10/38. Written off when engine failed while acting as target aircraft for cine gun practice, and force landed at Acton, Babergh, Suffolk. The pilot, Sergeant Pilot George Unwin, escaped safely. He had deliberately crash landed the Spitfire following an engine failure to avoid a children's playground. (Sgt Pilot George Unwin eventually rose through the ranks to become Wing Commander George Cecil Unwin DSO, DFM & Bar (18 January 1913–28 June 2006).

    K9797 was reallocated for ground instructional use with Practice Flight RAF Stradishall, Suffolk (in a non-flying role) on 11-5-39. Struck Off Charge 8-6-39. Total flying time on airframe 88.55 hours."

    The third Spitfire could be K9796(?). In any case, it must be an even end digit, because of the planes paint scheme.
    Last edited by LARRY69; Feb-23-2019 at 03:59.
    http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/r739/larry691/GZ-H%201_zpsdphexiii.jpg

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Thanks Larry.

    Making some assumptions -which may or may not be valid - it seems that 19 Sqn received these K series Spits (noting K9792 seems to be listed twice and K9797 isnt listed at all - hmmm) according to this site

    http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/squadrons.html

    K9792 K9792 K9793 K9798 K9803 K9807 K9810 K9815 K9821 K9824 K9825 K9836 K9841 K9851 K9851 K9853 K9854 K9857 K9858 K9859 K9874 K9944 K9967 K9993

    So presumably the 3 Spits in my picture are from this batch give or take some errors/ommissions etc.

    The names of the pilots i have are

    CO: SQNLDR HI Cozers
    FLT Commanders: A/FLT JAC Gordon, FLGOFF AJ Banham
    Adjutant: PLTOFF WG Clouston
    Commissioned Pilots: PLTOFFs FH Thomas, TG Pace, LC Withall, JB Coward, AI Robinson, GL Sinclair, GF Ball, AJA Llewellin, GW Petre, BG ?lddoake, FN Brinsden
    A/PLTOFFs DVS Evans, R Marples, LA Scott
    SGT Pilots: JH Coleman, GC Unwin, H Steere/Steare, JA Potter, PS Gunning.

    A photo of many of them - http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/RobinsonAI.htm

    Aussie, Kiwi and Canadian amongst them -what odds an Aussie was flying one of the Spits in the picture?

    Info on the Aussie - sadly KIA in the BoB

    https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C168992


    So presumably there's a pretty good chance the 3 pilots are from this lot.

    I'll see if i can narrow down the aircraft and pilot list somehow.
    Last edited by ATAG_Ezzie; Feb-23-2019 at 07:34.

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    According to my copy of 'Spitfire A complete fighting history' by Alfred Price that image showing the 6 Spitfires in echelon right was taken on 31 Oct from a Blenny. The CO - Henry Couzens - was leading.

    The books states that K9789 was the first Spit delivered to 19 Sqn arriving on 4th Aug 1938. This serial number isnt showing in that list posted earlier. Hmmm.....

    The book quotes Couzens - who incidentally started his career on Sopwith Snipes and had flown Meteors and Vampires by the time he retired - who stated this was the first Spit and then the second was K9792. Interestingly he said the early Spits leaked a lot of oil which you can see on the earlier images above.

    The book has a photo of 6 of the original pilots Pace, Robinson, Clouston, Banham, Ball and Thomas.

    Banham survived the war and his log book is at the RAF Museum - it could have the answers to my question if he was one of the 3 pilots.

    Pilot's flying log book of Wg Cdr A.J. Banham, 1938-1945 {cg}

    And Petre- listed above -lived till he was in his 90s as well

    The pilot n the rear aircraft WT7 is my uncle G/C G. (John) Petre, I have this photo
    In my family album. He passed away at age 93 in Nov. 2012.

    http://spitfiresite.com/2013/08/spit....html#comments

    So out of the original 19 Sqn Spitfire pilots we have at least 3 who lived into their 90s - wasnt expecting that..


    Ezzie
    Last edited by ATAG_Ezzie; Feb-23-2019 at 07:14.

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Interesting thread.

    Good

    Sherlock.jpg

    work Ezzie et al.

    Thanks for sharing your findings.
    "If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down"......

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Good informations!

    I `m going just through my little Book archiv to find stuff about early days of no 19 Sqn history.

    I found these:











    Sorry about the quality of the picture, taken by smart phone.







    http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/r739/larry691/GZ-H%201_zpsdphexiii.jpg

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    From my view.. the three Spitfires on the famous picture in vic formation are: K9794 (Front aircraft) K9797 (starboard) and K9798 (backboard)! This is my tip/presumption/clue.
    http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/r739/larry691/GZ-H%201_zpsdphexiii.jpg

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    I'm sure I read in one of my biographies that George 'Grumpy' Unwin was one of the pilots in the famous three ship picture. Desperately searching for a reference now, but can't find one. I believe he also lived to a ripe old age!

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Thanks everyone. Interesting rabbit hole i have fallen down......

    Further to my earlier posts it now seems we have at least 4 of the original 19 squadron Spitfire pilots (cozens, petre, coward and unwin) who lived to over 90. Using the scientific/medical standards of the social media I'm going to say that the cause was Merlin engine oil - all that leaking oil had therapeutic effects and added longevity to their lives... This (their ages not my bogus story re the oil) by itself is a really interesting discovery and not what i would have expected.

    Very interestingly James Coward moved to Canberra in 1960s and ended up living there for 40+ years

    The Cowards retired to Australia in September 1969 where two of their four daughters were already resident. They lived in Canberra for over 40 years in one of the first passively heated houses in the Territory. Paying homage to his favourite aircraft, he erected a Spitfire weather vane which served as a landmark to visitors walking down the battleaxe drive.

    James Coward loved life intensely. He never let the loss of his leg hamper him. He skied until his 90s, thinking nothing of possible risks. He also enjoyed dancing and would often don a kilt for an evening of highland reels.

    Air Commodore James Coward AFC, RAF (Retd) died at Yass on 25 July 2012 with Cynthia holding his hand. He had recently celebrated his 97th birthday. James is buried at Michelago beside two of his daughters who predeceased him. He is survived by Cynthia, his two youngest daughters and many grand and great-grandchildren.


    Sp00K lives in that area as did i for ~ 16 years all up. Another interesting discovery and its possible he was flying one of the aircraft in that 3 a/c formation. You can listen to him here talking about stuff

    https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C997921

    Sp00K - you might find this funny/interesting/sad perhaps (a transcript i think of the above)

    http://australiansatwarfilmarchive.u...2-james-coward


    when I was posted to my first fighter station at Duxford, there were 2 fighter squadrons there, and there were 2 Australians there, and funny enough both of them came from Canberra. It was very small in those days, in fact they said, “If you wanted a drink in Canberra you had to go to Queanbeyan.” It was dry [alcohol free] apparently in those days, and when I was posted here in 1960, the chief of air staff in the Royal Air Force, was a New Zealander, Samuel Worthy. The vice chief was Digger Cahill an Australian, he moved to Western Australia later on when he retired, and the deputy chief, another Australian, Lees, so it really was a dominion air force, and that’s why I find it so hard to take that they would, the war memorial [Australian War Memorial, Canberra] will not mention the Battle of Britain. They have a marvellous ceremony on Battle of Britain day, but you go inside and there’s not a single mention of it, and there is no mention of the ones that were killed even the ones that were born in Canberra. There were 3 Australians who were born in Canberra. One of them was a great friend of mine who was killed. He was chasing a German JU88 [Junkers aircraft] out to sea from the Isle of Wight, and got a bullet in the engine of his Spitfire, and his engine seized and he called out, “I’m too low to bail out,” and he ditched, and he couldn’t get out, and his wife produced twin sons about 6 months later, and his parents, he was the only son, elderly parents in Canberra, and his name is not on the war memorial card and they were terribly distressed, and they were told by the war memorial, “You have to go to Runnymede. He will be on the war memorial there.” Fat lot of help some elderly people in Canberra. I mean if they lived in a country town or anywhere else in Australia their names would be on a war memorial the same as anyone else...
    Last edited by ATAG_Ezzie; Feb-23-2019 at 19:31.

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    So 31 Oct 1938 seems to be the date that the 6 a/c footage was taken.

    This event isnt listed in the 19 Sqn or 114 sqn activity log but having been in a RAAF peacetime fighter squadron i know how little emphasis is placed on unit history etc as it was probably a secondary duty for either the adj or one of the boggie pilots. According to Cozens they were flying the arses off the Spitfires at the time as they wanted to get 400 hours on each aircraft so they could then do detailed inspections for wear and tear (Cozens was an engineering officer as well as being pilot). So keeping accurate records probably wasnt high on the priority list. So I'm happy that 31 Oct is a fact (or at least as close to a fact as can get 80 years on)

    So the question then is - was the 3 a/c formation taken on this day or another occasion?

    From the IWM site it seems that all were taken by the official photographer and not some chap with his own 1938 Iphone equiv. So this would have taken organisation/effort to arrange and the photographer probably had a bunch of other things to take photos of (some of them are available at the IWM). So i think its a reasonable assumption to make that there was only 1 air-air photo opp conducted using 19 Sqn aircraft in Autumn 1939. And assuming that there were multiple passes done then i think its a reasonable assumption to make that the 6 a/c and 3 a/c pictures were taken during this activity. The overcast/undercast in the 6 and 3 a/c shots seems similar/consistent but that isnt necessarily a good data point given the English weather...

    So i think its reasonable to say that the 3 a/c photo was probably taken on 31 Oct 1938.

    Next question is which aircraft are in the 3 photo?

    Assuming there were multiple passes i think one hypothesis is that the 6 aircraft did a echelon right on the Blenny on one pass and then one came back and did another single a/c pass. And then i think 3 a/c did a single section stern section attack - maybe a No2 type attack - http://thehistorymanatlarge.blogspot...mmer-1940.html


    The No.2 Attack was for use by a flight attacking a formation of bombers. The flight would approach the enemy from the rear and the two sections would separate when about 800 yards from the enemy. Each section would then swerve outward to approach the enemy from a rear flank. After closing to 400 ayrds and firing a burst, the sections would peel outward, then return to repeat the manoeuvre.

    The aircraft in the single aircraft pass is probably not the COs as it appears to be K9795 - the CO was flying K9794. And K9795 wasnt one of the 3 in the host of a vic peeling away to stb - the undersides of K9795 dont match the undersides of these 3 aircraft.

    Assuming that the 6 aircraft comprise the CO and pilots / aircraft from one of 19 Sqn flight's (either A or B) then i think a reasonable assumption was that the single a/c pass was done by the next most senior pilot (peacetime pre 1939 RAF was quite rank conscious for the most part and this led to some unfortunate sorties during the BoB when the senior ranker but very inexperienced Spitfire / fighter pilot led a formation into battle with disastrous consequences. The RAAF experienced this in the defence of Darwin in 1943 as well). So this would be the Flt Commander, either A/FLT JAC Gordon or FLGOFF AJ Banham.

    And if the FLT Commander did this pass then its likely the other section (ie the FLT Commander would be leading a section of 3 given the CO was present and the CO would be leading the other section vic of 3 plus the overall flight) might have done the section attack. And this was probably led by the CO flying K9794.

    So having said all the above i think i have reached a similar conclusion as Larry re the ID of 2 of the 3 Spitfires in the VIC formation - K9794, K9797. I cant make out the third serial number on the echelon right picture unfortunately.

    One of my concerns with the above is the lack of the '19' on the tails. This was only on the a/c for a short time and were present on 31 Oct it seems. I cant see any evidence of '19' on the fin in the 3 vic aircraft but am not sure if that is due to lighting / film limitations rather than it not being present. But at this stage i am thinking they are there but are just not showing up in the image.

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Quote Originally Posted by III./ZG76_Ezzie View Post

    K9792 K9792 K9793 K9798 K9803 K9807 K9810 K9815 K9821 K9824 K9825 K9836 K9841 K9851 K9851 K9853 K9854 K9857 K9858 K9859 K9874 K9944 K9967 K9993




    The lead Spitfire (red 1) looks like to wear the s/n K9794. The first plane in the echelon formation. Second Spitfire must be s/n X9797 . It has the other pattern of the paint scheme than the other two Spitfires, while it's wearing an odd number. The third Spitfire looks like to have the number K979...(red 2) and at the end, there must be 2 or 8,but definitely an even number, because of the paint scheme. No 19 Sqn had only K9792 or K9798. For myself its an "8", more than a "2". "She" also wears a slightly special pattern. there is a curve in the dark earth brown /dark green line (red 3) . Very unusual, and that betrays her as the third plane in the echelon formation.
    Last edited by LARRY69; Feb-24-2019 at 11:52.
    http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/r739/larry691/GZ-H%201_zpsdphexiii.jpg

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    From what I remember of the full size print, the lighting from above means the visible side of the fin is in silhouette, I don't think the 19s would be visible.

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Great stuff Larry and Monkeynut - thanks.

    So we have the numbers - K9794 and K9797 - and are left with 2 possibilities for the third - K9792 or K9798.

    According to the url below K9792 was written off on 20 Sep 1938 after a landing accident so couldnt be in the picture as the photo was taken on 31 Oct.

    https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=1745

    Thus the means that the 3rd aircraft is likely K9798.

    So the aircraft are probably K9794, K9797 and K9798. Service histories which may not necessarily be 100% accurate are as follows

    K9794 - https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=87251

    K9797 - https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=87249

    K9798 - https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=87249

    None of the aircraft saw service during WW2 and the maximum number of hours flown was 168 hours by K9798. Interestingly George Unwin was flying 2 of them when they crashed.

    So who was flying them?

    K9794 was being flown by SQNLDR Cozens and there's a good chance that George Unwin was flying one of the other two - MonkeyNut recalls reading that he flew in this formation.

    From what i have read RAF pilots were allocated an aircraft at this time and while they didnt fly only that aircraft they did fly their allocated aircraft if it was serviceable (somebody pls correct me if i have this wrong). Given he was known to have flown 2 of these aircraft i think its a reasonable assumption to say that one of these aircraft in the picture was flown by George Unwin.

    So who was flying the other aircraft?

    One possibility is A/PLTOFF R Marples. He was flying the CO's aircraft (K9794) when it crashed on 10 Jan 1939 and I'm wondering if that means he was a member of the section that the CO flew with when he flew (not sure about this though)? However he joined 19 Squadron on 31 Oct according to the unit history so its highly unlikely he's flying an aircraft in that picture as he was probably not qualified to fly Spitfires on the day he arrived at the squadron.

    Sadly i cant narrow down the third pilot - if interested in reading about many of the possible candidates google '19 squadron, 1938 and the names from the lists above and you will see the histories of many of them - some interesting stories etc.

    Personal Histories for the 2 pilots beleived to be flying 2 of the aircraft

    Henry Cozens (thanks Buzz) - http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Cozens.htm

    George Unwin (plenty available this is just one) - http://www.ourfinesthour.net/some-of...-george-unwin/

    And thats about it for now. Thanks to those who helped out with info or expressed an interest in the research. I learnt a bunch from diving down this rabbit hole for a few hours....



    Ezzie

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Still looking for the reference about Unwin flying in the three ship that day. Thought I'd nailed it from Sandy Lane's book, but he hadn't joined the squadron at the time and after a quick re-scan it definitely wasn't his book.

    It's been in something I've read in the last year or so, it stuck in my memory because it's such an iconic picture.

    I was going to add that Unwin pranged K9797!

    PS. I've got to go past Duxford next week, they always have copies of the picture in the shop, I'll pop in and ask if they can shed any further light on it, worth a shot!
    Last edited by ATAG_Monkeynut; Mar-01-2019 at 19:49.

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    That would be great if you popped in and asked them. Never know what u might find.

    Ive seen this book referenced in a few places and wonder if it might have some info?

    https://www.bookdepository.com/19-Fi.../9780955897092

    Another fun fact i discovered - the first RAF pilot to prang a Spit lived to the ripe old age of 88 and had a distinguished wartime career as well. So that makes 5 of the original pilots who lived to 85 plus.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obi...-Sinclair.html

    On September 9 he was attacking a Dornier bomber over south London when his aircraft collided with another Hurricane and he was forced to bale out. He landed near Coulsdon, injuring his leg, and the first person to meet him was an old school friend serving with the Irish Guards, who had seen the parachute descend; he greeted Sinclair with the words: "Good God, Gordon, what are you doing here?"
    He took Sinclair to the Guards officers' mess at Caterham, but the pilot - who was wearing his flying overalls over a pair of pyjamas - was not allowed to dine because he was improperly dressed.

    Ezzie
    Last edited by ATAG_Ezzie; Mar-01-2019 at 20:34.

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  33. #19
    ATAG Member ATAG_Monkeynut's Avatar
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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Took me a while, but I got to Duxford today. The staff there tried to be helpful, but they knew less than is already in this thread.

    Interestingly if you scroll to the second page of the IWM blog post you quoted in the third post, there is mention of another air ministry demonstration on 4 May 1939 involving all of 19 Squadron, it also mentions making mock attacks on the camera Blenheims and an individual demo from Cozens.

    I've checked the ORB for 4 May 1939, there is no entry!


    I've ordered a book by Dilip Sarkar that might have some more information, he interviewed many of the surviving 19 Squadron pilots in the 80s.

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    Quote Originally Posted by ATAG_Monkeynut View Post
    Took me a while, but I got to Duxford today. The staff there tried to be helpful, but they knew less than is already in this thread.

    Interestingly if you scroll to the second page of the IWM blog post you quoted in the third post, there is mention of another air ministry demonstration on 4 May 1939 involving all of 19 Squadron, it also mentions making mock attacks on the camera Blenheims and an individual demo from Cozens.

    I've checked the ORB for 4 May 1939, there is no entry!


    I've ordered a book by Dilip Sarkar that might have some more information, he interviewed many of the surviving 19 Squadron pilots in the 80s.
    Thanks for the update Monkeynut. Be interested to hear if the book has anymore clues.

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    Re: Collective (?) research project; 19 Squadron Spitfires autumn 1938

    A (or should I say "THE") new book about No 19 Sqn during BoB.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...e4U4zWpnftxYmg
    http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/r739/larry691/GZ-H%201_zpsdphexiii.jpg

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