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| Click Here For Full Artist Print Indexes | Aviation History Archive |
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Aviation Art Prints  Countries Australia  Spitfire |
[UP] - Kittyhawk - Spitfire - Sunderland - Camel - DH2 - Hampden - Hornet - Lancaster - Mirage III - Mosquito |
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| Text for the above items : |
Tribute to No.610 Sqn by Ivan Berryman. A pair of Spitfire Mk.IIs of 610 Sqn roar into the air from Westhampnett in the Spring of 1941 to begin another cross-channel sweep, led by Sqn Ldr Tony Gaze flying DW-G. Gaze was to finish the war with a victory total of eleven aircraft destroyed and three shared, these including a Messerschmitt 262 and Arado 234 jets and even a V-1. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross three times and, in 2006, received the Medal of the Order of Australia for his outstanding service to the Commonwealth. |
Spitfires Over Darwin by Robert Taylor. Mark Vc tropicalized Spitfires of No 1 wing RAAF returning from a Scramble over the city of Darwin in early 1943. The bombing of Darwin by Japanese aircraft shortly before 10:00 am on the morning of February 19, 1942, brought the northern region of Australia directly into the war in the South Pacific. The surprise attack caught the Royal Australian Air Force with only a handful of Wirraway trainers and a squadron of Hudson twin-engine bombers to defend the Northern Territories, and a Japanese invasion looked a possibility. Fortunately the USAAF 49th Group were transiting through Darwin at the time, en route to Java and, flying their P-40E fighters, they were able to hold the line until 77 Squadron Kittyhawks arrived to defend the Top End in the latter part of 1942. At the time Australias only Spitfire squadrons were operating successfully in Europe as part of RAFs 11 Group, but Churchill, recognizing the Japanese threat to Australia, dispatched three Spitfire squadrons to Darwin in the Northern summer of 1942. Simultaneously a group of talented young Australian pilots returned home from service in North Africa and Malta to join the newly formed Wing. Number One Fighter Wing, known as the Churchill Wing, became operational in January 1943, scoring their first victory on February 6th. Shortly after on March 2nd, the Wings Spitfires led by the legendary Wing Commander Clive Caldwell came up against Zeros - the first time the two types had met over Australian skies. The Spitfire pilots immediately took the upper hand, bringing down two Zeros without loss - a portend of what was to come. These early encounters were the start of what became a highly successful air defence campaign, and by the end of the year the seasoned fighter pilots of No 1 Fighter Wing had gained total air superiority, and had claimed over 100 victories. The Japanese withdrew and the attacks of Darwin ceased. |
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. |
| Top Aces for : Spitfire | |
| A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown this aircraft. | |
| Name | Victories |
| Johnnie Johnson | 36.91 |
| Paddy Finucane | 32.00 |
| Robert Stanford-Tuck | 29.00 |
| James Lacey | 28.00 |
| Neville Duke | 28.00 |
| Eric Lock | 26.50 |
| Douglas Bader | 23.00 |
| Don Kingaby | 23.00 |
| Harbourne Stephen | 22.50 |
| Archie McKellar | 21.00 |
| James Rankin | 21.00 |
| Raymond Harries | 20.00 |
| John Cunningham | 20.00 |
| Ronald Berry | 16.00 |
| Ian Gleed | 15.00 |
| Peter Brothers | 15.00 |
| Bob Doe | 15.00 |
| John Freeborn | 13.50 |
| Ben Bennions | 11.00 |
| Hugh Dundas | 11.00 |
| George Unwin | 10.00 |
| Clive Caldwell | 28.50 |
| Tony Gaze | 12.50 |
| Bobby Gibbes | 10.50 |
| Colin Gray | 27.50 |
| Alan Deere | 22.00 |
| Evan Mackie | 21.50 |
| Brian Carbury | 15.50 |
| John Rae | 13.00 |
| Keith Lawrence | 5.00 |
| George Beurling | 31.50 |
| James Edwards | 16.50 |
| Roderick Smith | 13.20 |
| Richard Audet | 10.50 |
| Albert Houle | 10.00 |
| James Lindsay | 7.00 |
| Adolf Malam | 35.00 |
| Marmaduke Pattle | 34.00 |
| Pierre Closterman | 26.00 |
| Francis Gabreski | 28.00 |
| Lance Wade | 25.00 |
| Dominic Gentile | 19.83 |
| Duane Beeson | 19.33 |
| James Varnell | 17.00 |
| Donald Blakeslee | 15.50 |
| James Goodson | 15.00 |
| Samuel Brown | 15.00 |
| Archie Donahue | 14.00 |
| Robert Curtis | 14.00 |
| Claude Weaver | 13.50 |
| George Carpenter | 13.33 |
| James Brooks | 13.00 |
| John Lynch | 13.00 |
| David Fairbanks | 12.50 |
| Howard Hively | 12.00 |
| Pierce McKennon | 12.00 |
| James Clark | 11.50 |
| Charles McCorkle | 11.00 |
| John Lawler | 11.00 |
| Leland Molland | 11.00 |
| Norman McDonald | 11.00 |
| Robert Goebel | 11.00 |
| Michael Gladych | 10.00 |
| Spiros Pisanos | 10.00 |
| Sylvan Feld | 9.00 |
| Arthur Johnson | 8.50 |
| Carroll McColpin | 8.00 |
| Dale Shafer | 8.00 |
| James Tyler | 8.00 |
| MacArthur Powers | 7.50 |
| Arnold Vinson | 7.00 |
| Carl Payne | 7.00 |
| Chesley Peterson | 7.00 |
| Daniel Zoerb | 7.00 |
| Frank Hill | 7.00 |
| Gregory Daymond | 7.00 |
| John Curry | 7.00 |
| Murry McLaughlin | 7.00 |
| Reade Tilley | 7.00 |
| Ripley Jones | 7.00 |
| Richard Hurd | 6.09 |
| Fred Ohr | 6.00 |
| Henry Mills | 6.00 |
| James Peck | 6.00 |
| J Collinsworth | 6.00 |
| Lewis Chick | 6.00 |
| Merriwell Vineyard | 6.00 |
| Raymond Care | 6.00 |
| Raymond Harmeyer | 6.00 |
| Roy Evans | 6.00 |
| William Dillard | 6.00 |
| William Dunn | 6.00 |
| Frederick Trafton | 5.50 |
| Joseph Lynch | 5.50 |
| Oscar Coen | 5.50 |
| Harrison Thyng | 5.00 |
| Arthur Cleaveland | 5.00 |
| Charles Fischette | 5.00 |
| David Wilhelm | 5.00 |
| Edward Gimbel | 5.00 |
| George Loving | 5.00 |
| Jackson Mahon | 5.00 |
| James Peck | 5.00 |
| James Empey | 5.00 |
| John White | 5.00 |
| Kenneth Smith | 5.00 |
| Richard Faxon | 5.00 |
| Richard Alexander | 5.00 |
| Selden Edner | 5.00 |
| Virgil Fields | 5.00 |
| Francis Dawson-Paul | 7.50 |
| D Pieri | 6.00 |
| V Cabas | 5.00 |
| P Johnson | 5.00 |
| H Zary | 5.00 |
| J Carey | 4.50 |
| R Davenport | 4.50 |
| M Fletcher | 4.50 |
| J Butler | 4.50 |
| W Daley | 2.50 |
| J Adams | 4.50 |
| J Ainley | 8.00 |
| J Aitken | 4.50 |
| R Baker | 16.50 |
| R Burnett | 5.00 |
| J Jacobs | 4.50 |
| M McPharlin | 3.00 |
| J Thorne | 5.00 |
| V Wynn | 4.00 |
| V France | 4.50 |
| Agorastos Plagis | 16.00 |
| John Bisdee | 8.00 |
| Bob Foster | 7.00 |
| Tom Neil | 14.00 |
| Basil Stapleton | 6.00 |
| Walter Lawson | 6.00 |
| Paul Farnes | 8.00 |
| Wallace Cunningham | 8.00 |
| Wilf Sizer | 7.00 |
| W Duncan-Smith | 17.00 |
| Alan Page | 12.50 |
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