"Differentiating prepainted Spitfires" Topic

Thanks to generous folks at TMP (what a swell bunch of folks), I have 6 21st Century 1:144 Spitfires.
We have a game coming up soon, and they will be drafted into service.
How did the Brits differentiate between planes within a squadron? I know they have large numbers and letters on them, but which ones changed within a squadron, and what was the range of possibilities?
I want the players to have it easy to keep track of which plane is which. Aces, veterans, skilled and gren, and all that.

Usually, I believe, the two first letters represented the aerodrome they came from, the single letter after the roundel represented the particular plane. Some egoists had initials – I believe DB 'douglas bader' was one of them.
At least I see this on mainland Britain based aircraft. Not sure where the reference that would show what the two letter code mean, but sure it is most likely available.
Hope this helps, others will hopefully correct me.

This link will take you to RAF Squardon information

link

and this one covers RAF Squadron codes

link

Yep – the two letters are the same for the whole squadron (early on they were frequently the squadron leader's initials) while the single letter was different on each plane. The single letters could be anything from A-Z, and even numbers on occasion, although letters up to about M seem most common, with I frequently being skipped.

Dom.

This book might also be of use:

Combat Codes: A Full Explanation and Listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied Air Force Unit Codes Since 1938
by Victor Flintham (Author), Andrew Thomas (Author)

Wing leaders were allowed to put their initials instead of squadron codes.

Dom – where did you get the bit about early squadron codes being the leader's initials? I've seen a copy of the original signal issuing the codes in 1938, and they appeared to be entirely random.

Damn, one of those random things I heard many years ago and took as read. Having had a quick search I can only find it for senior officers, not squadron machines. I've just checked a Battle Of Britain list and I'm clearly talking for home service machines, although I'd need to check for other theatres, as foreign service squadrons didn't have their codes allocated from Blighty, so it might have happened there. (There are several instances of squadrons using the same code in different theatres.)

Dom.

PS – Were the 1938 codes the same in WW2? I haven't seen the '38 list, but know at least some had changed; eg. 7 squadron LT in 1938, MG in WW2.

There were also cases of RAF, FAA and several Commonwealth AFs' aircraft carrying no squadron codes, only an individual aircraft letter. I've seen photos of this practice in the Med, Africa and Middle East that I recall. So you have to investigate the individual cases.

RAF Fighter Command in the UK stuck closely to the regulations once they were established, so squadron codes plus aircraft letter for them, except for senior officers like Johnnie Johnson (JEJ) and Doug Bader (DB).

All codes were officially changed on the outbreak of the war, although several squadrons did keep the pre-war codes. The most notorious example is that of 92 and 616 Squadrons, both of whom kept their pre-war codes (GR and QJ, respectively). 92 changed theirs to QJ in mid-1940, but 616 didn't change theirs (to YQ) until 1941. That means that if you have a photo of a BoB Spitfire codes QJ, it could be from either of the two squadrons.

.. and Bob Stanford-Tuck (RS-T)

In Jonnie Johnson's autobiog "Wing Leader" he specifically mentions his delight at being authorized to have his initials as his call sign. When a subordinate suggested that he change them to an anonymous call sign to disguise his identity and prevent the Germans from being able to single him out as the commander, Johnson said he'd waited a long time for that right and Germans be damned! (he added that he would be flying in the middle of a whole wing so he thought it'd be tough to single him out anyway).

Cheers

w.

Squadrons sometimes had their code changed for operational reasons. A number of squadrons were recoded when they transitioned to a different type of aircraft. Some codes were reissued to new home based squardons when the original squadron was transfered to a different theater. Placement varied with the standard being the 2 letter squadron code forward of the roundel, with the plane in squadron letter after the roundel.