THE SPITFIRE CALENDAR

Compiled by Pieter Jutte

AUGUST

DAY
SPITFIRE & SEAFIRE CALENDAR FACTS
PRE-WAR -- WAR YEARS 1939-1945 -- POST-WAR
1
1940: Top 'Ace' Adolf Galand gets his Ritter Kreuz for scoring 17th victory
wwww(a Spitfire, pilot Sub Lt Dawson-Paul killed). Total Adolf Galland: 104
2
1940: No.19 Squadron Mk IB's (cannon armed) first combat (failed due to jamming)
3
1941: Flt Lt Eric Stanley Lock in Spitfire Mk V, W3257, got killed (just 22), 26 kills & 8 probable
1944: French Capt. Jean Maridor, 91 Sqn, in Mk XIV is killed by exploding V1 he shot at
wwww(total score; 11 V1's)
4
1938: No.19 Squadron Duxford, receives first Spitfire Mk I (K9789, 6th prod. Mk I)
5
1893: Sydney Camm is born, designer of the Hawker Hurricane.
wwwwTogether with the Spitfire, it won the 'Battle of Britain'
6
1940: Three Spitfires from 616 Squadron damaged as result of return fire from Ju 88s
wwww(only activity this day during 'Battle of Britain')
1945: First atomic bomb dropped on Japan (Hiroshima)
7
1938: Rolls-Royce runs Merlin II Special on Benzol & Methanol for High Speed Spit.
8
1944: First flight prototype Seafire Mk 46 (TM383) contra rotate prop., Griffon 85
9
1941: Douglas Bader bales out Spitfire Mk VA, W3185 (POW) (total score; 20 & 4 shared)
1945: Second atomic bomb dropped (Nagasaki)
10
1937: First delivery of Merlin II engine for Spitfire production
11
1938: Second Spitfire Mk I (K9790) arrives at Duxford for 19 Squadron
12
1941: Deep penetration bomb attack (Cologne) 15 Spitire sqn's for cover (4 Spit. lost)
13
1940: Luftwaffe air offensive against Brittain begins ('Adler Tag')
14
1940: Mk I, K9947, 610 Squadron only Spitfire shot down this day (forced landing)
1945: Japan surrenders
15
1944: Three Mk 21's set aside for prototype development Seafire Mk 45
1940: 'Ace' Eric Lock opens score on Me 110 (total 26 destroyed & 8 probable)

Spitfire ace Flt Lt Eric Stanley Lock (26 & 8 probale) killed August 3, 1941

AUGUST

DAY
SPITFIRE & SEAFIRE CALENDAR FACTS
16
1938: 2nd Spitfire Mk I (K9792) brought to Duxford (see 3-11)
17
1945: Spitfire F.XII, EN234 write off Old Sarum after wing hit ground dur. slow roll
18
1940: Official policy; Spitfires engage Lufwaffe fighter, Hurricanes for bombers
1944: Spitfire XIV (RB144) fitted with Griffon 85 & 6 blade contra-prop.
19
1942: Operation 'Jubilee' (Dieppe landing), greatest loss of Spitf. on one day (62)
1946: Seafang, VB895 pay's visit to Valkenburg Navy B. Dutch Navy was interested
20
1940: 'Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few'
wwww(Winston Churchill grateful to the men who fought the Battle of Britain)
1940: 1st flight Spit. Mk I (X4257) with 'B'wing (2 X 20mm cannon 4 X .303 mach.)
1941: Russian pilot flies a Spitfire at Duxford
21
1939: 74 Sqn Spitfire Mk I, K9941 lost control in cloud and fataly crashed
22
1942: First flight of Spitfire prototype Mk VII (AB450) with Merlin 61
23
1941: First contract for Griffon Spitfire Mk IV (750), changed to Mk VB/C w. Merlin
24
1940: Sgt/P R.F. Hamlyn (610 Sqn) becomes 'Ace in a day' (5 kills)
1942: 1st flight of prototype Spitfire XII (DP845), leading to 1st prod. Griffon Spit.
1942: Mk VC of Special Performance Fl. in Egypt scores 'kill' (Ju-86P-2) at 12.800 m
25
1941: First flight of HF VI (conversion of Mk I, R7120) pressurised cabin
26
1940: Two Spitfires lost from 616 Sqn, 1 from 602 Sqn & 1 from 610 (all to Me 109's)
27
1940: No.611 Squadron at Digby, first equiped with Spitfire Mk II
1941: Bill Dunn, 71 Sqn, 1st American 'ace' in Spit. Mk IIA, P7308, 2 x Me 109 on this day
28
1940: No.616 Squadron lost today 7 Spitfires to Me 109's in Debden area
29
1940: Spitfire Mk I, P9433 (610 Squadron) shot down by Me 110
30
1940: Figter Command flies over 1000 sorties for first time in one day
1944: Spitfire 21, LA192, first delivery to RAF for testing
31
1944: First Seafire F.45, TM379 prototype completed (Spitfire 21 airframe)
1946: Irish Air Corps orders 12 ex-FAA Seafire III's (delivered in 1947)

Mk I, K9795, one of the first production Spitfires delivered to No.19 Squadron