This may be a long shot... but I'm hoping someone may be able to help me figure out the following puzzle. I recently acquired a commemorative cover linked to an Op Granby flypast that includes this insert:
The details about the individual airframes are interesting as this is the first time I have ever seen these statistics. When I started comparing them to photos of the mission tallies on airframes I ran into some inconsistencies:
- ZA140 carried 43 mission markings, two more than listed above.
- ZA141 is shown here:
with 43 mission markings, one less than listed above.
- ZA148 carried 46 mission markings, one more than listed above.
As most of the VC10Ks didn't carry any mission markings, I cannot check all of them but these three being inconsistent did lead me to wonder about the 'true' number of missions. I already asked around within the 101 Squadron association about this, but we haven't been able to come up with a conclusive theory. I realise that I cannot hope for a definitive solution to this conundrum but I figured I would post this here, hoping that others might be able to shed some light on it.