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Ian Blair - Aircrew Details - Aviation Directory

Ian Blair

Signing the art print <i>Returning from Caen</i> by Graeme Lothian.

Ian Blair

Name : Ian Blair

Awards :
Distinguished Flying Medal

Ian Blair joined 113 Squadron in 1938 as a AC1/Armourer AG. on Hawker Hind and later Blenheim Mk 1s. He took part in the heavy fighting of the first Lybian campaign. He was forced to take control and fly the Blenheim airceaft after his pilot was killed following an attack by an Italian Fiat CR 42. Remarkably he managed not only to evade the enemy aircraft, but fly to fly the Blenheim 350 miles back to his base where he made a succesful textbook landing. This extraordinary action earned him the award of an immediate DFM. The experience led him to train as a pilot at No 4 SFTS RAF Habbaniya, where the No 6 War Course were heavily engaged in operations to raize the siege of the base from the Iraqi Army. He was finally awarded his wings in May 1941. On return to the UK he served with 501 Squadron on combat duties on Spitfire Mk V's until injured as a result of enemy action. On return to flying duties he was posted to 602 Squadron flying MkV's and MkIX's until June 1944. In February 1944, he claimed a high altitude victory by destroying a Me.109 F at an altitude of 35,000 feet, flying a Spitfire Mk.VII H.F.

Artwork signed by this Pilot or Aircrew



The Battle for the Skies Over Dieppe, 19th August 1942 by Graeme Lothian (AP)


Spitfires Over St Michaels Mount by Robert Taylor.


Fighter Pilot of the Royal Air Force by Graeme Lothian.


Returning from Caen by Graeme Lothian.

Photos Submitted Through Our Directory



Ian Blair
Signing the art print Returning from Caen by Graeme Lothian.



Aircraft for : Ian Blair
A list of all aircraft associated with Ian Blair. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
AircraftInfo

Blenheim



Click the name above to see prints featuring Blenheim aircraft.

Manufacturer : Bristol
Production Began : 1935
Retired : 1956
Number Built : 4422

Blenheim

The Bristol Blenheim, the most plentiful aircraft in the RAFs inventory when WWII began, was designed by Frank Barnwell, and when first flown in 1936 was unique with its all metal monoplane design incorporating a retractable undercarriage, wing flaps, metal props, and supercharged engines. A typical bomb load for a Blenheim was 1,000 pounds. In the early stages of the war Blenheims were used on many daylight bombing missions. On the day that war was declared on Germany, a Blenheim piloted by Flying Officer Andrew McPherson was the first British aircraft to cross the German coast and the following morning 15 Blenheims from three squadrons set off on one of the first bombing missions The Blenheim units operated throughout the battle, often taking heavy casualties, although they were never accorded the publicity of the fighter squadrons. The Blenheim units raided German occupied airfields throughout July to December 1940, both during daylight hours and at night. Although most of these raids were unproductive, there were some successes; on 1 August five out of 12 Blenheims sent to attack Haamstede and Evere (Brussels) were able to bomb, destroying or heavily damaging three Bf 109s of II./JG 27 and apparently killing a Staffelkapitän identified as Hauptmann Albrecht von Ankum-Frank. Two other 109s were claimed by Blenheim gunners. Another successful raid on Haamstede was made by a single Blenheim on 7 August which destroyed one 109 of 4./JG 54, heavily damaged another and caused lighter damage to four more. There were also some missions which produced an almost 100% casualty rate amongst the Blenheims. One such operation was mounted on 13 August 1940 against a Luftwaffe airfield near Aalborg in north-western Denmark by 12 aircraft of 82 Squadron. One Blenheim returned early (the pilot was later charged and due to appear before a court martial, but was killed on another operation); the other 11, which reached Denmark, were shot down, five by flak and six by Bf 109s. Blenheim-equipped units had been formed to carry out long-range strategic reconnaissance missions over Germany and German-occupied territories, as well as bombing operations. In this role, the Blenheims once again proved to be too slow and vulnerable against Luftwaffe fighters and they took constant casualties While great heroism was displayed by the air crews, tremendous losses were sustained during these missions. The Blenhiem was easy pickings at altitude for German Bf-109 fighters who quickly learned to attack from below. To protect the vulnerable bellies of the Blenheims many missions were shifted to low altitude, but this increased the aircrafts exposure to anti-aircraft fire. In the German night-bombing raid on London on 18 June 1940, Blenheims accounted for five German bombers, thus proving that they were better-suited for night fighting. In July, No. 600 Squadron, by then based at RAF Manston, had some of its Mk IFs equipped with AI Mk III radar. With this radar equipment, a Blenheim from the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) at RAF Ford achieved the first success on the night of 2–3 July 1940, accounting for a Dornier Do 17 bomber. More successes came, and before long the Blenheim proved itself invaluable as a night fighter. One Blenheim pilot, Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for an attack on Singora, Thailand, on 9 December 1941. Another bomber of No. 60 Squadron RAF was credited with shooting down Lt Col Tateo Katō's Nakajima Ki-43 fighter and badly damaging two others in a single engagement on 22 May 1942, over the Bay of Bengal. Katō's death was a severe blow to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.

Hind



Click the name above to see prints featuring Hind aircraft.

Manufacturer : Hawker
Production Began : 1935

Hind

The Hawker Hind entered service with the Royal Air Force in November1935 and eventually 20 RAF bomber squadrons equipped with Hawker Hinds. Many Hinds were also sold to foreign customers including Afghanistan, the Irish Free State, Latvia, Persia (Iran), Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia. The Hawker Hind was gradually phased out of frontline service from 1936 onwards and replaced by the Fairey Battle and Bristol Blenheim. At the outbreak of world war two only 613 squadorn was still equipped with Hawker Hinds in the roll of Army co-operation before re-equipping the Hawker Hector in November 1939. The Hawker Hind became a training aircraft from 1938 being the next step up from basic training on Tiger Moths. In 1941, Hinds flew combat missions in their original role as light bombers. South African Hinds were employed against Italian forces in Kenya, Yugoslav Hinds were used against the Germans and Italians.

Spitfire



Click the name above to see prints featuring Spitfire aircraft.

Manufacturer : Supermarine
Production Began : 1936
Retired : 1948
Number Built : 20351

Spitfire

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 MKs 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.



Squadrons for : Ian Blair
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Ian Blair. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
SquadronInfo

No.113 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 1st August 1917
Fate : Disbanded 10th July 1963

Velox et vindex - Swift to Vengeance

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.113 Sqn RAF

No.113 Sqn RAF

No. 113 Squadron was formed on 1 August 1917 at Ismailia as a corps reconnaissance unit. In September it began tactical reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions in Palestine flying RE8's against the Turkish 7th and 8th Armies where it remained until the end of the war. Returning to Egypt immediately after the war in May 1919, the Squadron was renumbered 208 Squadron on 1 February 1920. No. 113 reformed at Upper Heyford on 18 May 1937 as a day bomber unit with Hinds. In April 1938 it left for the Middle East, converting to Blenheims in June 1939. After Italy joined the war in June 1940, the Squadron carried out bombing raids on Italian bases in Libya before moving to Greece in March 1941. There it was overtaken by the German invasion and lost all its aircraft, the Squadrons personnel being evacuated to Crete and Egypt. Bombing operations began in June 1941 but the after the outbreak of war in the Far East the Squadron was moved to Burma where it attacked Japanese columns until it was evacuated to Calcutta in March 1942. From their main base in Asansol the majority of the strikes were made against targets in the Arakan and over into Southern Central Burma. The Squadrons anti shipping role was a very large effort (for the Burma theatre) and is worthy of note as it resulted in a large number of a/c and crews lost. The 113 continued to bomb Japanese communications and airfields until it converted to Hurricanes in March 1943. These were used for ground-attack duties being replaced by Thunderbolts in April 1945 which were flown until the Squadron was disbanded on 15 October 1945. On 1 September 1946 No. 620 Squadron at Aqir was renumbered No. 113 and was engaged in transport duties with Halifaxes until disbanded on 1 April 1947. The Squadron reformed on 1 May 1947 at Fairford again with Halifaxes, being disbanded on 1 September 1948. No.113 was reformed again on 22 July 1959 at Mepal as a Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile unit until it was disbanded on 10 July 1963.

No.501 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 14th June 1929
Fate : Disbanded 10th March 1957
County of Gloucester, City of Bristol (Auxiliary)

Nil time - Fear nothing

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.501 Sqn RAF

No.501 Sqn RAF

Full profile not yet available.

No.602 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 12th September 1925
Fate : Disbanded 10th March 1957
City of Glasgow (Auxiliary)

Cave leonem cruciatum - Beware the tormented lion

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.602 Sqn RAF

No.602 Sqn RAF

We have been informed by pilot Ian Blair about one of the aircraft of this squadron : The Spitfire MkVII had the Squadron markings of 312 Sqdn (DU-G) but the aircraft was on the strength of 602 Sqn. and was inherited by 602 Sqn from the Station Flight at Skae Bray, after 312 Sqn had left the area. The time span did not permit the ground personnel sufficient time to paint new letters on the aircraft. This fact has led to the incorrect assumption that I, the pilot of the aircraft, was a member of 312 Sqn.




Last edited : 14:29, May 25, 2017
Last editor : kc

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