RAF-in-Combat's Squadrons #34: Spitfire II - Foreign Squadrons

The latest in RAF-in-Combat's series on WWII RAF squadrons concentrates on the Spitfire II and its use with foreign squadrons that were part of the RAF during WWII. Most of you know that pilots and crews from other nations that were overrun by Germany in the early days of the war were accepted into the RAF and often squadrons were formed with a majority if not all the pilots being from a specific nation. In fact, after WWII, many of these squadrons took their planes back home and some of those units are still extant in their home countries.

The Spitfire II was basically an up-engined Spitfire I and was on frontline service for about a year before being replaced by the Spitfire V. Some Mk.II aircraft were reworks of the Spitfire I and some were converted on the assembly line, though the number of both is fairly small. Almost 1,000 of this variant were built. Some Mk.II aircraft survived until the end of the war.

The units covered in this edition are 303, 306, 308, and 315 Squadron, which were all Polish and the largest user of the type amongst the foreign units. Also covered is 310 (Czech), 313 (Czech), 331 (Norwegian), 340 (Free French),  and 350 (Belgian). These latter units were formed later than the Polish ones so their use of the Mk.II was for a very short period of tome before moving on to later types.

This book follows the usual format  with a brief history of the type then the more extensive history of the units themselves. There's the usual information on victory and tables of losses as well as some great period photos and more than the usual number of superb full color profiles of aircraft used by most of these units.

Thanks to all the well done research and choice of illustrations, it makes for a superb addition to the series and its reasonable price is one that should appeal to many. These do make for great references for the fans of the RAF.

June 2019

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