Grey Nurse Spitfire

Air Classics, Feb 2002 by Makanna, Philip

THE ONLY SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE FLYING IN AUSTRALIA COMMEMORA TES THE HEROIC DAYS WHEN RAf PILOTS ROSE TO DO BATTLE WITH THE JAPANESE

During the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the British Commonwealth heroically fought the Axis all around the globe. Combat personnel from Australia had a particularly good reason for fighting - their massive island nation stood a very good chance of being captured by the marauding Japanese! At the start of the war, the Royal Australian Air Force was poorly equipped but that would change as young men set sail for Britain to carry on the battle against the Germans. No. 457 Squadron, RAAF, was formed at Ba inton, which is near Coventry - the target of many German air raids - during June 1941. It is interesting to note that the only type of aircraft the unit would operate was the elegant Supermarine Spitfire. The squadron started off with Mk. Is and progressed to the Mk. VB.

No. 457 participated in defensive patrols and fighter sweeps over the Channel and Continent before being transferred to Australia during June 1942. The transfer was at the direct request of the Australian gov

ernment and was for a very good reason - the rampaging Japanese had been rolling through the Pacific, invading Bali during February of that year and then pouring into Java the following month.

From this point, the Japanese were able to launch air raids against poorly defended targets in northern Australia. Darwin was a particularly ripe target for the enemy forces which were bent on invading Australia once defending forces had been rendered ineffective.

The men and Spitfire VCs of No. 457 Squadron began arriving in the Darwin area where they became part of the defense of Darwin and saw heavy action for over a year as they beat back superior forces of Japanese aircraft, often inflicting substantial losses on the enemy. By December 1943, the enemy had received enough damage and withdrew from its attacks on Darwin.

However, all was not over and the Australians feared the enemy would turn its attention on the west coast of the nation in order to prevent Allied offensive operations through the Pacific. Accordingly, No. 457 was transferred to Perth on 8 March 1944 as Allied forces began to plan for massive offensives against the enemy.

By this time the unit began receiving Mk. VIII Spitfires which were fitted with Rolls-Royce Merlin 64 powerplants. The squadron immediately went into action by attacking enemy targets on Wetar and Babar Islands in the Timor chain as the Allies began their island-hopping campaign towards the final target of Japan. During May 1944, the squadron went to the Exmouth Gulf on the western coast to cover the re-supply to the USS Saratoga and HMS Illustrious which were being prepared for the attack on Java and thus were extremely tempting targets for the enemy.

During 1944, Bob Gibbes (see sidebar) took command of the unit and the squadron became part of the First Tactical Air Force where the emphasis was on strafing and fighter-bomber work. In February 1945, the squadron arrived at the Philippine island of Morotai and joining Nos. 79 and 452 to form the Morotai Spitfire Wing which was tasked with covering marauding Bristol Beaufighters hitting enemy ground and shipping targets. Gibbes, along with famed RAAF ace Clive "Killer" Caldwell protested the use of the Spitfires on these missions since they felt the tactics were not bringing the war home to the enemy. The Australian government apparently did not agree and ordered both men back to Melbourne during April 1945.

The Spitfires kept on with their escort duties, occasionally catching and destroying the odd Japanese reconnaissance aircraft. With the end of the war in August, the majority of the Australian Spitfire units were rapidly disbanded. Some of the aircraft were put into storage while others were assigned to training units back home.

One such Spitfire was Mk. VIII MV293 which carried the RAAF serial A58-758 (the very last serial assigned to a RAAF Spitfire). This aircraft had crashed while on a test flight in Britain on 20 March 1945 but was repaired and shipped to Australia where it arrived on 8 May 1945 aboard the SS Rangitana. The fighter did not see any service and went into storage at Richmond, New South Wales, during June 1945. Since the plane was completely surplus to requirements (it must be remembered that, at this time, civilians could not buy and operate surplus military aircraft in Australia), the airframe was transferred in 1949 to the Ultimo Technical College.

Apparently utilized to study aircraft systems, the ex-- fighter was purchased by Syd Marshall in 1961. Probably unfamiliar to most Air Classics readers, Syd was sort of like an Australian version of our Ed Maloney. He was saving historic aircraft long before anyone realized their importance. The Spitfire was moved to his facility at Bankstown, NSW, where it was stored outside with many of his other aircraft.

In 1972, the plane was leased to the Camden Museum of Aviation (another pioneering Australian vintage aviation organization) and the Spitfire, now in poor condition, was restored to a point where it could be run on the ground. Finished in a European-style camouflage, the Spit was sold following Syd's death.