Supermarine’s famous Spitfire served from the first day of World War II to the last.  The Mk IX was an expedient introduced in mid-1942 that would become the major type for the last half of the war.

After the jump, a brief look at one such plane in American service.

In early 1942 a new Spitfire was on the drawing boards.  The Mk VIII mounted the newest version of the Merlin engine (60 series) and featured many air frame refinements and tweaks to get the most out of a proven design.  But when Germany introduced the Fw190 the RAF found itself in a crisis months before the improved Spitfire would come available.  The new German fighter was clearly better than existing types, including existing Spitfires.  So the Air Ministry ordered Supermarine to fit the new engine on a current air frame from Mk V production.  This would allow Spitfires with the new engine to get into service immediately, with no slow down for a change over on the production line.  This would be known as the Mk IX, and would be the second most produced variant of the Spitfire family.

The “c” wing allowed for some variation of armament. The 20 mm cannon are prominent . The stubs just outboard of the cannon could mount another cannon, but this was rarely done and we see them blanked off here. The red patches further out are fabric dust covers for .303 machine guns. This was a common fitting, but they would be removed if the extra cannon were carried.

The Mk IX was produced in several variations; with engines optimized for low, medium or high altitude work, three different wing/armament combinations (b, c, and e wing), and a variety of air frame improvements such that a late build Mk IX was almost indistinguishable from a Mk VIII (which did eventually get built, but in smaller numbers).

Just how good was the Spitfire?  When the US was starting operations in Europe in mid-1942 there was no doubt the Spitfire was better than any available American type.  The P-39 and P-40 were clearly inferior, especially up high; and the P-38 would not be available in quantity until early 1943.  Since the US was supplying Great Britain with large quantities of weapons and supplies through Lend Lease it seemed fair to suggest the British should return the favor in certain situations.  Basically, the US said it needed enough Spitfires to equip and operate three fighter groups (about 300 planes) and Britain was in no position to refuse.

One other thing about Lend Lease, the US military always got first dibs on the equipment it wanted.  So Britain (and the other allies) were mostly getting rejects and cast offs through the program.  At least at first, eventually US industry was able to provide everyone with exactly what they wanted.  But I don’t think many objections were raised when Britain supplied mostly obsolete and worn out Spitfires. As British squadrons were taking delivery of new Mk IX Spitfires their older Mk Vs were passed to the Americans.

A Spitfire Mk VIII and Mk IX side by side. They should be almost identical, but as I mentioned in a previous post the Hasegawa Mk VIII I used was a bit underscale, mainly in the nose. The Eduard Mk IX looks about perfect.

One of those American Fighter Groups, the 4th based in England, re-equipped with American Thunderbolts fairly quickly.  But the 31st and 52nd flew them for much longer.  In October of 1942 these two groups flew from England to the British base at Gibraltar as part of the build up for Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. Both American Spitfire Groups flew in North Africa, Sicily and Italy over the course of 2 years of operations.  By mid-1943 they started receiving Mk VIII and Mk IX Spitfires as the overall supply of such Marks built up.

In Spring of 1944 the 31st and 52nd Fighter Groups re-equipped with Mustangs.  The longer range fighter was much appreciated because it allowed for longer range escort missions into Northern Italy and Southern Europe, where the Luftwaffe would come out in force. readers who saw the movie Red Tails may recall the frustration that P-40 group had with flying short range tactical missions when the real combat was much further north. This was a situation facing many groups in shorter range types and the switch to Mustangs brought new opportunities for a lot of fighter pilots.  Not least because the American Press was always hesitant to give any publicity to groups flying foreign equipment. The 31st and 52nd fought in near anonymity until they switched hardware.

Mk V and Mk IX Spitfires of the 52nd Fighter Group

This particular subject is from the Eduard kit with Eagle Strike decals.  It represents a plane flown by 1st Lt Fred Ohr of the 2nd Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group.  In April of 1943 he was part of a patrol that ambushed an unescorted formation of German Ju88 bombers.  Lt Ohr scored his first kill on that mission.  He flew the airplane shown here for most of the next year with no further success.
This aircraft is interesting for a couple reasons.  It is painted in the RAF’s high altitude scheme; which probably means this an “HF” version of the fighter, but because the serial number has been painted over its impossible to be sure.  This was the least common sort of Mk IX, but the 52nd FG had a few that were used used for high altitude and close support work without concern for the details!  It is also notable the Lt Ohr flew this plane for almost a year as his regular mount, that is good longevity in a war zone (especially for a plane that presumably was delivered as “used”).
After switching to Mustangs Lt Ohr scored another five kills making him the top (only) Korean-American Ace of World War II.

Photo of the subject aircraft. (from pwm.org)

Lt Ohr made ace in this Mustang. (from RAF112squadron.org)

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