History of 616 Squadron
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History of the Royal Air Force Squadron 616. 616 South Yorkshire Royal Auxiliary Squadron was equipped with Hawker Hinds, Gloster Gauntlets before World War II and Supermarine Spitfires when transferred to Fighter Command in 1939. Supermarine Spitfire shown in aviation art print by M A Kinnear, available from aviationprints.co.uk.

616 squadron was formed at Doncaster on 1st November 1938 as the last of the Auxiliary Squadrons. Formed initially as a bomber squadron equipped with Hawker Hinds, it was re-equipped with Gloster Gauntlets in June 1939 and transferred to Fighter Command. The squadron's first Spitfires arrived in late October. 616 first saw action and claimed its first victories whilst covering the evacuation from Dunkirk in May 1940. Returning to Yorkshire, the squadron claimed further enemy victims with 15th August standing out as a memorable day. 616 intercepted a large force of unescorted German bombers off the Yorkshire coast and claimed eight enemy aircraft destroyed. They moved to Kenley to join 11 Group at the height of the Battle of Britain, and destroyed 15 aircraft and claimed a further 15 as probables or damaged. During February 1941, 616 joined the Tangmere Wing led by Wg Cdr Douglas Bader. Flying Spitfire II fighters, they flew 'circus' and 'ramrod' sweeps over Northern France, and re-equipped with Spitfires Vb during July 1941. For the next two years 616 continued as a front line fighter squadron and was heavily engaged during the Dieppe expedition and later flying beach-head patrols on D-Day. In July 1944, 616 re-equipped with Gloster Meteor jet fighter thus becoming the first and only Allied squadron to operate jet aircraft in World War II. The squadron destroyed a number of V1 flying bombs whilst operating from Manston before joining the 2nd Tactical Air Force. In January 1945, 616 moved to the continent and operated in the ground attack role before being disbanded at Lubeck on 29th August. The squadron was re-formed at Finningley on 31st July 1946 equipped with Mosquito NF XXX night fighters which were replaced with Meteor F 3 day fighters a few months later. 616 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force was finally disbanded at RAF Worksop on 10th March 1957 whilst equipped with Meteor F8 aircraft.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Ia N3093 of 616 Sqn RAF by Keith Woodcock.

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Open edition print. £9.00

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Ia N3093 of 616 Sqn RAF by Keith Woodcock.

Open edition print. Image size 12 inches x 8 inches (31cm x 20cm). Price £9.00

ITEM CODE WC0003

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The Royal Navy in Focus, 1930 - 1939.

The Royal Navy in Focus, 1930 - 1939.

Item Price : £8.95

DPK1.  Pack of four WW1 Aces Series prints by Ivan Berryman.

DPK1. Pack of four WW1 Aces Series prints by Ivan Berryman.

Item Price : £190

Supermarine Spitfire MKVb W3458 YQ-X. by M A Kinnear.

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Open edition print. £13.00

Supermarine Spitfire MKVb W3458 YQ-X. by M A Kinnear.

Open edition print. Image size 16.5 inches x 11.5 inches (42cm x 30cm). Price £13.00

ITEM CODE AP0009

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Eagle Force by Robert Taylor.

Eagle Force by Robert Taylor.

Item Price : £200

Easy Company - The Taking of Carentan by Chris Collingwood.

Easy Company - The Taking of Carentan by Chris Collingwood.

Item Price : £150

Summer of 41 by Tom Marchant.

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Open edition print. £14.00

Summer of 41 by Tom Marchant.

The Pilot, Squadron Leader L.H. Buck Casson D.F.C., A.F.C., a founder member of 616 Squadron took this aircraft into action in July 1941. In August he was shot down over France and became a prisoner of war. After the war he returned to Command the Squadron flying Meteors.

Open edition print. Image size 15 inches x 10 inches (38cm x 25cm). Price £14.00

ITEM CODE TM0001

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Thermopylae 480BC, Spartan and Thespaian Hoplites. By Chris Collingwood. (PC)

Thermopylae 480BC, Spartan and Thespaian Hoplites. By Chris Collingwood. (PC)

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Robert Taylor Mosquito Aircraft Print Pack

Robert Taylor Mosquito Aircraft Print Pack

Item Price : £175

Inspiration by John Young.

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Signed limited edition of 500 prints. £250.00

Inspiration by John Young.

Official limited edition print of the 60th Anniversary of the Douglas Bader Foundation. Douglas Bader (D-B) leading Dogsbody Section, 616 Squadron, including Johnnie Johnson (YQ-E) , Cocky Dundas (YO-A) and Jeff West (YQ-H) on his final operational take off from Westhampnett on August 9th 1941.

Signed limited edition of 500 prints. Paper size 29 inches x 23 inches (74cm x 58cm). Price £250.00

Signed by Wing Commander George Grumpy Unwin, DSO, DFM*, Wing Commander David COX DFC, Flight Lieutenant Richard L Jones, Flight Lieutenant Wallace Cunningham DFC, Flight Lieutenant N L D Kemp DFC, Squadron Leader Jocelyn G P Millard, Squadron Leader Doug Nicholls DFC, Squadron Leader Vic Bergman DFC, Wing Commander Gordon Sinclair OBE DFC, Squadron Leader Peter Brown AFC, Squadron Leader Arthur Leigh DFC, DFM, Squadron Leader Tom Draper WilliaMS DFC, Squadron Leader Dennis Armitage DFC, Sergeant Butch Morton, Flight Lieutenant Sir Alan Smith DFC, Wing Commander Paddy Barthropp DFC AFC, Flight Lieutenant Peter Ward-Smith, Squadron Leader Robert Beardsley DFC and Air Commodore Sir Archie Winskill KCVO CBE DFC AE

ITEM CODE LI0028

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Silent Fortress by Randall Scott.

Silent Fortress by Randall Scott.

Item Price : £85

Silent Fortress by Randall Scott.

Silent Fortress by Randall Scott.

Item Price : £85

 
Aircraft side view by M A Kinnear   Supermarine Spitfire MKVb W3458 YQ-X.  Aircraft History:  First flight 11th July 1941, then onto 12 Maintenance Unit 16th July 1941. W3458 was delivered to 616 Squadron on 23rd July 1941. It failed to return from operations over Northern France on 9th August 1941.  Squadron Leader LH Buck Casson DFC, AFC: Coming from Sheffield Lionel H Casson was one of the original volunteer pilots to join 616 (South Yorkshire) Auxiliary Air Force Squadron on its formation at Doncaster in 1938. After pilot training, he served briefly with 79 Squadron flying Hurricanes from Biggin Hill before rejoining Spitfire equipped 616 at Leconfield in July 1940. With the squadron he flew south to Kenley in mid-August and over the next three weeks was involved in fierce fighting during the Battle of Britain. On 30th August he was credited with a probable and a damaged HE111. Two days later he claimed a Bf109 followed by the destruction of a Do17. After suffering severe losses, the squadron was withdrawn to Kirton-in-Lindsay on 4th September and after a rest period, 616 moved to Tangmere in February to join the 'Bader Wing'. On 5th May 1941, Casson shared in the destruction of a Ju88 but was hit by return fire and was forced to bale out. Flying on daily sweeps and bomber escorts over Northern France, he destroyed a Bf109 on 22nd June and he claimed a damaged two days later. He was made Flight Commander in July and claimed two Bf109s as probables. On 9th August as he was leading his flight over St Omer, his aircraft was hit and he was forced to crash land. He was soon captured and spent the rest of the war in the infamous Stalag Luft 3. Shortly after his capture he was awarded the DFC. After his release four years later, he rejoined the peacetime 616 Squadron, equipped at first with Mosquito night fighters and then Meteor jet fighters. He was appointed as Commanding Officer in December 1950 during which time the Squadron won the coveted Esher Trophy awarded to the top Auxiliary Air Force squadron. After three years in command, he retired having been awarded the AFC for his outstanding leadership.

Summer of 41 by Tom Marchant   The Pilot, Squadron Leader L.H. Buck Casson D.F.C., A.F.C., a founder member of 616 Squadron took this aircraft into action in July 1941.  In August he was shot down over France and became a prisoner of war.  After the war he returned to Command the Squadron flying Meteors

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Ia N3093 of 616 Sqn RAF by Keith Woodcock

Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV.  Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to  1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MK's V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs.

Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI.  The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service.  To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine.  The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires.

By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires.  The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced.  The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954. 

 

 

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