Buzz Beurling’s Malta Spitfires

Jim Bates
Buzz Beurling’s Malta Spitfires
Sun Apr 14 11:50:55 2002
I sure hope this does degenerate into a colour issue, but what version of Spitfire Mk. V did Buzz Beurling fly in Malta? Robert’s book shows BR301 but doesn’t specify what mark and the Watermark decals say it is a VB. The Osprey book says Buzz flew a different Vc. So is BR301 a Vb or a Vc?
It is funny but my research has shown four different Spits attributed to Buzz in Malta. Robert’s book shows BR301 UF-S. Osprey shows BR323 /S. Hero by Brian Nolan shows BR135 T-Z and BR380. Guess they just flew what was available at the time?Erik Whipple
Sun Apr 14 12:39:39 2002
Yes, serviceability rates mandated that pilots fly…
… whatever was available until about the time the Luftwaffe raids on Malta were abated by the allied invasion of Sicily. Beurling probably flew more than four Spits there, and there was a mixture of ‘b’ and ‘c’ aircraft in the pool. Although I haven’t had the opportunity to see them myself, I hope that the decal makers and authors are going from squadron logs to determine which aircraft he had flown in combat.

Robert Bracken
Buzz Beurling Malta Spitfires
Sun Apr 14 12:49:35 2002
Buzz Beurling flew quite a few different Mk. V’s on Malta. He flew UF-S on one of his most successful “ops” (I am not supposed to say “missions” anymore, too American, I am told.) It is believed that UF-S was overpainted in blue. My take is that the blue was thinly applied, so the underlying desert camouflage gave a two-tone effect, but other research suggests overpainting the way Ron Lowry shows it in his artwork, so it may still be right. There is a photo in Malta: the Spitfire year, with Beurling seated in a Spit V with his victory crosses on the nose. He appears to have been assigned his own aircraft after he became an officer, finally. My guess is that it is T-L , EP 706, but can’t be sure. The photo in the book does not seem to show a blue Spitfire, nor does it seem a simple desert scheme – it could even be a monotone sand colour, after repainting, according to some people researching Malta Spitfires. A lot more research needs to be done. I would assume most of the V’s you are asking about are Vc’s, unless photos prove otherwise. I have even talked to Buzz’s armourer on Malta, but he did not have photos. One of the aircraft he recalls Buzz flying had a silver cane and top hat insignia ! Another had a “saint” insignia like the old Roger Moore TV show. Too bad they did not have more cameras in use on Malta!

Graham Boak
Beurling Spits
Sun Apr 14 13:56:55 2002
All the BRxxx series on Malta were Mk.Vc.
BR135 was not a Malta Spit, according to STH.
BR301 was delivered in Operaton Bowery, off the Wasp
BR380 was delivered in Operation Style, off the Eagle
BR323 was delivered in Operation Salient, off the Eagle
All these three deliveries were in Desert Scheme, as far as I know. The overal blue scheme seems to be restricted to those aircraft delivered off the Wasp in Operation Calendar, with a few exceptions that seem to be a/c intended for Calendar but for one reason or another didn’t make it. So BR301 is an outside possibility for this scheme.
Other Beurling Spitfires were BR176 (Bowery) and EP706 (Bellows) – the last was a Mk.Vb.
249 Sq did receive the very first Spitfires on Malta and immediately repainted them – whether this was a dark grey or a similar blue to the Wasp deliveries is unconfirmed, but the latter seems most likely. 249 did repaint their later Spitfires in a very dark glossy colour – but this was after Beurling left. There is still considerable doubt about how aircraft were painted on Malta in late summer-autumn of 1942 but one pilot says he saw nothing but the desert scheme.
>More hard information required!

Ed
Malta Spits
Sun Apr 14 14:04:35 2002
Not exactly hard information, but my grandfather was a fitter with the RAF party aboard USS Wasp when they were delivering Spits to Malta. I forget what he told me about the actual colour schemes but apparently the aircraft were repainted several times aboard the ship – so much so that the ground crews were surprised that they flew properly because of the extra paint on them! I’ll ask him what the scheme was next time I speak to him.

Graham Boak
Eye-witness Information! great!
Sun Apr 14 14:17:46 2002
Please ask him enough to tidy up the following comments:
Where they all painted the same?
Was it a standard RAF colour – and which one?
Why didn’t they paint the ones on the second trip?
It should be pointed out that we already have three eye-witness accounts, who speak of “Blue”, “Blue-grey” and “light blue”(!?) so I hope that your grandad has a good memory for colour.