THE SPITFIRE CALENDAR
Compiled by Pieter Jutte
MAY
|
DAY |
SPITFIRE & SEAFIRE CALENDAR
FACTS
PRE-WAR --
WAR YEARS 1939-1945 -- POST-WAR |
|
1 |
1950: Contract signed for 20 ex-RAF Spitfire 22's for Egypt
1954: Last ops. RAF Spitfire sortie; PR 19, PS888 looked for guerrilas, Malaya |
|
2 |
1942: Flt Lt Tony Hill in PR Spitfire
takes pict. of Giant Wuerzburg radar (Holland)
1945: First flight production Spiteful F XIV, RB515 |
|
3 |
1942: Youngest brother of Adolf,
Paul Gallant scores 10th 'kill' (Spit. near Calais)
wwwwPaul Galland was killed 31-10-'42, total: 17 victory's |
|
4 |
1939: Press day at Duxford to
show 19 Squadron her Spitfire line
|
|
5 |
1947: PR XI (LV-NMZ)
concludes longest flight Spitfire, from England/Argentina |
|
6 |
1940: Order for 2 PR Mk III's
(P9551 deliv. 21-9-40, P9552, on 22-2-41) £ 6,500 each |
|
7 |
1944: Spitfires 72 Sqn shot down nine Bf 109's in four minutes,
near Lake Bracciano, Italy
2009: Spitfire Oil
(based at Perth, Australia) propose how to win gas in future |
|
8 |
1945: VE Day! (Spitfires continue war sorties in Far East) |
|
9 |
1943: Third launch of Spitfires (64) for Malta from Wasp & Eagle |
|
10 |
1940: Spitfire squadrons are allowed to make cross-Channel offensive sorties. |
|
11 |
1944: First operations with PR.X (MD193), 514 Sqn, along French coast |
|
12 |
1940: First cross-Channel patrol, 66 Sqn (6 Spitfires)
& 6 B.P.Defiants (264 Sqn)
wwwwover Holland, one Ju 88 damaged |
|
13 |
1940: 2nd cross-Channel off.ops. over Holland,
6 Spitires 66 Sqn & 6 B.P.Defiants
wwwwOne Bf 109 & four Ju 87 destroyed, 1 Spitfire & 5 Defiants lost
1940: Topcover for Dutch Royal family & government, Spitfires of 74 Sqn. |
|
14 |
1938: First flight for first production Spitfire Mk I (K9787) |
|
15 |
1943: 124 Sqn. High altitude Spitfire Mk VII (BS142) 1st 'kill'; a FW 190 (11.580 m)
1943: 1000 'kills' for pilots flying from Biggin Hill |
Spitfire Mk IA, P9374, shot down near Calais, P/O Peter Cazenoveand made a
bellylanding (POW), P9374 recovered in 1980 and restored (G-MKIA) see below
May
|
DAY |
SPITFIRE & SEAFIRE CALENDAR
FACTS
|
|
16 |
1940: Stanford-Tuck & Alan Wright (92 Sqn) Spitfire
escort Churchill to France |
|
17 |
1943: PR XI, EN343, Flg Off J. Fray (542 Sqn) takes 1st pict. of breached Rhur dams
wwww(Operation Chastise, by 617 Squadron) |
|
18 |
1943: Supermarine issues Specification 472 for Mk XIV (Type 379) with Griffon 65 |
|
19 |
1939: First delivery of Spitfire Mk I with Merlin III (K9980) at 611 Sqn at Speke |
|
20 |
1895: Reginald Joseph Mitchell, father of the Spitfire, is born |
|
21 |
1940: First 'kill' S/L J. Leathart (OC 54 Sqn)
in Mk I, P9384 (He 111) (total; 7 + 1 shared) |
|
22 |
1948: Egypt Spit. IX's bomb 32 Sqn. (Spit. XVIII)
at Ramat David, Palestine
1995: First flight post-rebuilt of Mk XIV, SM832/G-WWII (TFC) |
|
23 |
1940: Spitfire Mk I, K9867, 74
Sqn 1st Spitfire in German hands (forced land. Calais)
1941: First flight of a Spitfire Mk VB (W3248)
1943: Mk VC, MA648; 1st LF.IX with low rated Merlin 66 (most produced IX; 4010) |
|
24 |
1940: R. Stanford-Tuck in Mk I, K9906 first
Spitfire 'ace' (4 & 5th 'kill', Do 17)
1940: Spitfire Mk IA, P9374 shot down and landed on beach Calais (restored, see pict. below)
1944: First ops. with PR.XIX (RM628) 542 Sqn. S/L Ball over Le Havre |
|
25 |
1939: First flight 251st production Mk I for export to France
wwww (only Spitfire to foreign country before the war)
1940: 'Ace' Colin Gray first 'kill' (Bf 109), total; 27 destroyed & 2 shared
1944: Spitfire MK732, LF.Mk IXC built at Bromwich Castle |
|
26 |
1940: Until June 3, Dunkirk evac. (during cover, RAF lost 72 Spitfires in 2739 missions)
1941: First order for 2 Griffon Spitfire Mk IV's (DP845 & DP851) |
|
27 |
1897: Joseph Smith is born (future successer of R.J. Mitchell)
1940: 'ace' George Unwin (19 Sqn) 1st 'kill' over Dunkirk (Hs 126)
wwww(total: 13 & 2 shared destroyed, 2 probably, 1 damaged) |
|
28 |
1942: First flight of 1st production
Seafire IIc (MA970), Merlin 46 (trop filter)
1945: First delivery Spitfire
Mk XVIII to RAF (FR.XVIII, SM844) |
|
29 |
1942: F/O Godlewksi (302 Sqn.) killed in Spitfire V P8725 (WX-B), crash at
Fairmile Henley on Thames |
|
30 |
1997: Release date for the movie 'The Spitfire Grill' in the UK |
|
31 |
1945: RAF inventory at that moment; 5864 Spitfires (510 unserviceable) |
Spitfire Mk IA, P9374, (G-MKIA), once shot down near Calais, and restored
| | |
