No 541 Squadron formed in October 1942...eyes from the sky.One of the PR squadrons out of RAF Benson, Oxfordshire,home of the RAF PR. Those photographs would have been made by a Spitfire Mark 1V or the Mark X1. Spitfires were used by the squadron throughout the war as PR aircraft.The squadron also received the Mustang Mark 111 in July 1944 in addition to the Spitfires,it had on strength.
Nice closeup photo of 3 of the blockships [ Dunkirk ] came in the post today. You can see men on the ship on the right . Original Photo from my collection. Keith
That's strange, the Spitfire Mark 1V was on charge with No 541 Squadron from October 1942 to September 1944. I would say you are confusing the chronological path of the Spitfire development which produced 24 different Marks and 52 different design variants. Now to the point,in October 1942, a decision was made to disband No 1 PRU and form a squadron structure,No 541 Squadron was formed and allocated 14 Spitfire Mark 1Vs and the Spitfire type D which had been an early PR model and was allocated to the squadron at the same time. I cannot find a record of its operations.The early Spitfire PRs were designated "A" , "B " ,"C" , "D" , "E" , "F", and "G ", and the standardised version was put into production as the Spitfire Mark 1V The Spitfire Type D was withdrawn from No 541 Squadron in January 1943 after less than 3 months service.The Spitfire Mark 1V is recorded as being a PR aircraft of some merit.It was a Spitfire Mark 1V, EN 343 of No 542 Squadron which photographed the damage to the Ruhr dams after the dams raid on the morning of 17 May 1943.The dams area was a frequent target for PR and the next day another sortie by a Spitfire Mark 1V,EN 411 from the same squadron produced photographs on the extent of the flooding of the Ruhr arising from the dams raid. Forming at the same at time as No 541 Squadron was the following also from the disbanding of No 1 PRU: No 540 Squadron was allocated about 12 Mosquitos No 542 Squadron was allocated an assortment of 19 Spitfires ......Marks not detailed No 543 Squadron was allocated an assortment of 15 Spitfires......Marks not detailed No 544 Squadron was allocated an assortment of various aircraft left which were Marylands ,Ansons, various Spitfires..Marks not detailed and Wellingtons Mark 1Vs
3 photos of the barges on the beach Dunkirk, came in the post today. Not that sharp. Last photo on the EE ,bought a long time ago. Original Photos from my collection. Keith
They've only just arrived at the coast and already they're looking back eastwards towards Russia...It's as if they knew where they would be going next No thought of crossing the channel...
The Scammell Pioneers ( I think ! ) lined up in a side street look all in good order . Artillery tractors I assume , wonder if they were used on the beach for some reason. I would like to know how many Pioneers were lost in France , must be 100s, maybe as many as 700 if you look at the amount of heavy artillery pieces that were lost. They appeared very popular with the Germans and crop up in many Beute photos doing all sorts of heavy towing and winching jobs. I know one of the French truck maufacturers either manufactured Gardner engines under licence or marketed them so they were probably not short of engine spares either ! Craig
Better photos i have in my collection. Photo taken at Cappelle-La-Grande. One of the Scammell Pioneers has 23 [ 51 Heavy Regiment RA ]. Keith
wonder if it`s still there under the sand. you can just see it in this photo from my collection. Keith
I am surprised the Scammell was not prioritised for recovery as a valuable asset amongst the hundreds of 15cwts and 3 tonners. Maybe the load of heavy shells inside put them off !I Craig
One more from my collection. You can see the bren mags with the 303 ammo still in them. Captured bren gun ,he needs some 303 mags for it. Keith
Scammell used to pull up British truck from canal 1940. Original photo from my collection. Anyone ID the location. Keith.
My guess is, that "Moderne maaldery" should stand for "modern mill". Granen - grain, hoender - hens, voeder - fodder. Gerard Florizoone was the owner... Is it Belgium then? Say, somewhere in Adinkerke.
I think that it's The Dijk at Wulpen, Koksijde. The older buildings that we're looking at have now gone, but Florizoone had a windmill here which was destroyed in the Great War and then rebuilt as a new plant. Google Maps Gasthuismolen | Molen Florizoone | Verdwenen molens | Belgisch Molenbestand | Molenecho's
There might have been more than one mill, in more than one city, though... But, the owner's name is the right key, agree.