SirPeterHardingsLovechild (your #26),
...ValMORNA
Quote:
...I believe Arthur Gill's DFC may have had something to do with a
PR Spitfire but have no details. I heard that he was on a recce sortie, came across an enemy aircraft and shot it down...
Always believed myself that all
PR Spitfires flew unarmed (to save space and weight for extra fuel). Chap's mixing him up with Warburton (in a Maryland [?] who did shoot down an enemy - or one of his gunners did), on a
PR trip, I thought.
But it ain't as simple as that (it never is !) Googled (and was soon in deep over my head).
The following list of quotes is not exhaustive:
RAF BBMF - Reconnaissance Spitfire and Ray Holmes
[quote]
...The Spitfire
PR Mk XIX was completely unarmed, carrying additional fuel in place of the guns of the Spitfire
PR XIX on the ground during wartime fighter versions giving it an operational range of 1,500 miles...
RAF Reconnaissance Aircraft - Airrecce
...The
PR Mk ID (
PR Mk IV) was produced as a super long range version, both wing leading edges were fitted with 66 gallon fuel tanks and the total fuel load including the 30 gallons behind the pilot was 218 gallons. Nicknamed 'The Bowser', it had a range of 1,750 miles.
The
PR Mk IG (
PR MK VII) carried the standard machine guns of the Mk Ia.....fitted with only a fuel tank behind the pilot, it was limited by its range.
The
PR Mk XI was produced in greater numbers than any other
PR variant, with over 470 produced in total. It was based on the Mk IX fuselage, but with the extra fuel tanks of the standard
PR variants as well as wing mounted tanks. It entered service in the summer of 1943.
The
PR Mk XIII was a low level reconnaissance fighter, converted from old Mk I, Mk V and
PR Mk VII. It carried four machine guns for defensive armament, which somewhat limited its range. It went into service in 1943
A number of Spitfire fighter aircraft were fitted with cameras, one version being the FR Mk XIV. It carried two F24 cameras mounted vertically in the rear fuselage and another F24 oblique camera which could be mounted either side of the aircraft aft of the cockpit.
The armament for this version was two 20mm cannons and four .303 machines-gun in the outer bays...
Supermarine Spitfire operational history - Wikipedia, the free ...
... For example, the Spitfire was a pioneer in the role of the unarmed, photo reconnaissance (P.R.) aircraft that relied on high speed and high altitude to avoid detection and attack.[5]
The
PR Mk XI was the first version of the Spitfire to be built specifically as a photoreconnaissance (
PR) aircraft and started replacing all of the earlier conversions of Mk Is, IIs and Vs from mid-1943...
So yer pays yer penny and yer takes yer choice !
Danny.
PS: For a stirring tale of "
Un PR Pilote malgré lui" (sorry, Molière !) try my p.135 #2684 on "Gaining a RAF Pilot's Brevet in WWII).