discussion Canadian Spit and Hurricane display website

[Guest]

Howdy Guys,

A friend of mine (of the female persuasion) asked me to build her a model display of a Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane found in Jackson Park, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, so I said I would. After looking on the web for photos, I was contacted by a man named George Mock, from Windsor, Ont. who is with the restoration group that is restoring the British Lancaster Bomber which once stood where the two fighters are now located. He sent me links to his various websites containing photos of the Lancaster, and the Spit and Hurricane, so I thought I would share the sites with ya'll, if for nothing else, something to look at. And who knows, maybe someone needs some refference material.

So here are the links, you navigate at the top of the page in the dropdown box: http://imageevent.com/gmockrcpilot/lancasterfm212/battleofbritain

here are some of the photos this man has taken of the planes:

I hope ya'll enjoy looking at these pics on his site as much as I did, if so, please be sure to drop George a line by signing his guestbook on any of the pages on his site.

have a good day,

Greg

 

[wonwinglo]

Stunning pictures Greg.

 

[Guest]

Greg thats a mk9 spit with a mk5 tail plane the hurricane is a mk2 tha lanc well that defies me !!! so i guess the spit is a c wing mk 5 or just a bodge job????????????????

 

[Guest]

Howdy Barry and Nigel,

Well the person to thank is George Mock from Windsor Ontario, he took the photos. If you didnt look at the "dropdown box" and the photos of the lancaster, you should, there are hundreds of photos of the birds.

Nigel, here is the history of the 417th "city of Windsor" Sqdrn. in abbreviated form:

"417 "City of Windsor" Squadron was formed at Charmy Down, Somersetshire, England on November 27, 1941. They initially flew the Spitfire Mk. II then switched to the Spitfire Mk. V in February 1942. After a brief operational tour in Scotland the squadron was transferred to the Middle East arriving there in June 1942.

417 Squadron received Hurricane II aircraft in September, 1942. Some "b" wing aircraft were flown but the majority were the cannon armed "c" wing model. The remainder of 1942 was spent on defence of the Suez Canal and the Nile Delta. By the end of January 1943, 417 Squadron had been completely re-equipped with the Spitfire Mk. V.

417 Squadron joined the Desert Air Force in early1943 and finally moved to front line duty during the closing days of the Tunisian campaign. 417 was the only Canadian fighter squadron to operate in the Mediterranean Theatre and the unit was adopted by Windsor, Ontario in May 1943. After their adoption by the city, the squadron was often simply referred to as "The Windsors".

417 Squadron continued to provide close support to the British 8th Army throughout the Sicilian and Italian Campaigns. In August, 1943 they received the Mk. VIII version of the Spitfire and then in the closing days of the war they received the Spitfire Mk. IX.

417 Squadron was disbanded at Treviso, Italy on June 30, 1945. The squadron flew 12,116 sorties totalling 15,088 hours of operational flying time. The Windsor's battle honours include: Defence of Britain 1942, Egypt and Libya 1942 - 1943, North Africa 1943, Sicily 1943, Italy 1943 - 1945, Salerno, Anzio and Nettuno, Gustav Line, Gothic Line."

Now as for the Lancaster Bomber, I am not quite sure of its heritage....yet. But my friend there in Windsor tells me that it was in that park all of her life until recently when they removed it for restoration. (See Georges site above).

And how to account for the tailplane and other differences....I have no clue.

have a good day,

Greg

 

[wonwinglo]

The Lancaster is a Canadian Victory built Mk.X,these had Packard built Merlins which were not compatible with the English model.

It is probably ex RCAF Maritime patrol,hence the lack of a mid upper turret.

 

[wonwinglo]

Found it ! she is FM212,as suspected a Mk.X,served in the RCAF 1945,struck off charge on 09-10-1964,went to Jackson Park Sunken Gardens during 1965.

 

[Guest]

Greg !!!! your a star!!!!!

 

[Guest]

Howdy Guys,

Well, I invited George Mock to visit the forum and join, I am not sure if he joined, but he did visit. After visiting, he emailed me with this:

"........both the Spit and Hurricane were built from plans supplied to the maker in Great Britain to be exactly as were flown in the 417 City of Windsor Squadron and when they arrived in Windsor were painted from exact plans. I really don't have time to document this for you.

The Lancaster that is flying and the one we have in Windsor came off the line at the DeHavilland plant near Toronto, one behind the other, ours is FM212 and theirs is FM213.

if you do a search for the 417 City of Windsor Squadron, this URL shows the planes with An _V and AN_W. The pilot that flew the markings we have had AN_A and he is shown in my Battle of Britain images. I believe he is 90 now.

http://www.airforce.forces.ca/equip/grfx/equip_gallery/historic_gallery/wallpaper/Spitfire20.jpg "

anyway, I just wanted to pass this info along, George has really put alot into the site and into the planes being in where they are now.

Like I said, if you do visit his site, be sure to drop him a note in his guestbook and let him know you appreciate the photos.

Have a good day,

Greg

 

[wonwinglo]

They must have been built by TDL Replicas ? these people make fibreglass Spitfires and Hurricanes for display purposes,little wonder that I could not find anything on JG184 & P3080.

They certainly look very convincing and better than having real valuable Spits and Hurricanes out in the open,a great pity that the Lanc has to sit outside to the elements,she deserves to be under cover to preserve her.

 

[wonwinglo]

http://www.lancasterfm212.freeservers.com/photo.html

Here are some lovely pictures of FM212 to supplement the other ones on that site,it looks as if a lot of people put ome hard work into getting her there.