What is it doing here?
 

Arktiske Billeder | Billede

I know where it is (Bluie East 2, 25 NM 025°T from Kulusuk, Greenland) but what kind of contraption is it? And what would it be doing there so far from Adolf?

Using [ctrl +] it is possible to increase the size of the the picture - unfortunately at same resolution.

It looks like a Warwick [low res so hard to see] with maybe a lifeboat underneath? Just a wild stab...... 1940 seems too early though.....

Am much more certain it is a Warwick and the tailplane fillet and missing mid upper turret was evident in some pics I have just discovered. The camouflage doesn't seem to be standard for a Warwick with lifeboat attached or was it possible to fit the boat to any Warwick?

My Old Man used to build Wimpys, Warwicks and Windsors at Weybridge but is not available for info any more - dammit!

1940 is a little early as Bluie East 2 was established 1942/3.

So presumably Warwicks with underslung lifeboat were doing SAR in the North Atlantic?

Not necessarily, they were put where the least distance was to drop a lifeboat to downed bombers in the fiords or north sea - 617 called in a Warwick one such instance on a raid on the Tirpitz. Anyway I agree that it is a Warwick. Could be wrong but there ya go!

It appears to be a Warwick Mk.V (note the tail dorsal), which entered service in 1944. Perhaps "1940" should be "circa 1940".

1940 is too early. As I wrote above the runway (sorry Air Base) Bluie East 2 was established 1942/3.

Warwick Mk.V ..1944 - interesting, got a link to a list of Warwick versions?

Warwick ASR Aircraft
 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...r9/Warwick.jpg

This photograph shows a Warwick G R Mk 1 ASR. This mark of aircraft carried a Mk 1A lightweight airborne lifeboat, 17.7M long and 1.67M wide. Although the small dorsal fin was fitted initially to the Warwick Mk 5, it was also retro-fitted to earlier marks. This could be an example of the aircraft in question.

OK, got the Wikipedia article ++ now.
Based on the "dorsal fin" it will be safe to assume that the picture should be dated April 1944 or later?

A couple of sources that suggest early 1945 at the earliest...

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/6047/img313l.jpg

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/7893/img314i.jpg

Interesting. Could the "registration letters" [ S (H or M) F ] be of any use?

The southern Greenland airfields were standard transit stops for aircraft ferries from the US/Canada to the UK. It would make a lot of sense to have a SAR asset based there - especially considering that the North Atlantic is the biggest graveyard for ferry pilots.

Indeed. Thanks for your effort, gents.

280 sqn was split up into detachments near the end of ww2,inc iceland,but all the pics I have seen were of a/c without the dorsal fin ext...

from history of war

A couple of nice pics here of Iceland based a/c...
planeid

If you can establish the lettering, this might be helpful in locating the Squadron? But 280, mentioned above sounds promising.

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2788/img320m.jpg

269 Sqn operated from Reykjavik from March 1943 to January 1944.

251 Sqn (Sqn code AD) was also based there from August 1944 to October 1945

Both operated Warwick I's whilst in Iceland so are unlikley candidates for the aircraft in the photo, but passed on for information.

Didnt finish my post this morning,had to dash out LOL...

It looks like it could be an 'MF' code on the fuselage which would make it 280 sqn,and because it has the dorsal mod the pic could be between 1945 - june 46 which is when the sqn disbanded.
I couldnt find any individual a/c codes online but somebody on here must have a Vickers/and or Coastal Cmnd book.
If 280 sqn then it would have been on a detachment.