UK2 ER219 Supermarine Spitfire to US Shaibah.jpg

On 02/05/2013 14:39, Netko wrote:
On Wed, 1 May 2013 23:48:38 +0100, Ramsman wrote
(in article ):

There are lists of all aircraft transferred to other air forces, and
ER219 does not appear as going to either the USAAF or the USSR, so I
think we can assume that it never left the RAF.


Unfortunately no unit is shown as operating ER219, beyond its being in
North-West Africa.

Fair enough, but I was trying to work out how a batch of Spitfires, carrying
what appear to be Torch stars, ended up in Iraq. The answer 'Transfer to the
Soviet Union' fits all the known facts.

As for ER219 itself, this may have been one of those Spitfires which Zlobin
notes as having been destroyed en route to the handover in Abadan, assuming,
of course, that it hadn't previously met its end (for whatever reason) at
Shaibah.

Finally, here's a photo inherited by the USAF which shows Abadan in Persia
with a bunch of rebranded A-20s, P-40s and AT-6s. Probably 1943.


It's a pity the quality of the photo is too poor to read other serials,
as knowing them might lead to further information.

--
Peter