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Spitfire X4254 |
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Type : Spitfire Mark : Ia First Flew : 21st August 1940 Built at : Eastleigh Powered by : Merlin III |
| Known information | |
| 07th September 1940 | Badly damaged in combat with Me109 over Thames Estuary and crash landed at Biggin Hill. Flying Officer Elsdon injured. |
| Pilots and Aircrew who flew : Spitfire Ia X4254 | ||
| A list of all aircrew from our database who are associated with this aircraft. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | ||
| Name | Info | |
| Elsdon, Thomas Arthur Francis Click the name above to see a profile of Elsdon, Thomas Arthur Francis
| Elsdon, Thomas Arthur Francis Flight Officer Thomas Arthur Francis Elsdon of No 72 Squadron was wounded on the 7th of September 1940 following combat. He crash landed his Spitfire I (X4254) near Biggin Hill. Born January 22, 1917 in Broughty Ferry Dundee, "Jimmi" Elsdon at the Academy of the RAF in 1936 and received his promotion to the rank of officer in December 1937. Posted to 72 Squadron, was was witht he squadron when war broke out and participated in the first battles of the phoney war. During the Battle of Britain, his Spitfire was shot down by a Me 110 on 7 September. Injuring his knee and foot, As a reward of 8 wins that totals at this time (including 6 obtained after August 31), he received the DFC in early October. he returned flying in mid-July 1941 and was assigned to Squadron 257. On the 24th of July, he was again wounded slightly. On August 25th, he was promoted to commander of Squadron 136 that has just been set up to go to the middle east. While on route to its new destination, the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbour . The Squadron was ordered to Burma where he arrived in January 1942. The squadrons Hurricane were the first in combat in this sector. After the retreat from Burma to India, he was promoted Wing Commander Wing 165 in Dum Dum, September 8, 1942 before taking command of Wing 293 in October and 169 in February 1943 and then to 185. Finally, in October 1943 he returned to Wing 165 and led the offensive at the front of Arakan in late November. In July 1944, he was assigned to District General Far East in Calcutta before returning to Britain in September 1944. He then served in the Transport Command in April 1945 and became commander of the base Boreham. He received the OBE in January 1945 and continued serving in the RAF becoming Wing Commander in 1949 before retiring as a (acting) Group Captain in October 1959 | |
| Squadrons for : Spitfire Ia X4254 | ||
| A list of all squadrons known to have flown Spitfire Ia X4254. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name. | ||
| Squadron | Info | |
No.111 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 1st August 1917 Adstantes - Standing by | No.111 Sqn RAF Full profile not yet available. | |
No.266 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 27th September 1918 Fate : Disbanded 30th June 1964 Rhodesia Hlabezulu - The stabber of the sky | No.266 Sqn RAF Full profile not yet available. | |
No.72 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 28th June 1917 Fate : Disbanded 12th November 1981 Basutoland Swift | No.72 Sqn RAF Full profile not yet available. | |
| Aircraft type : Spitfire | ||
| A profile page including a list of all art prints for the Spitfire is available by clicking the aircraft name. | ||
| Aircraft | Info | |
Spitfire 
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. | |
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Died : 9 / 9 / 2003