Help please, Spitfires in India

[Billcgreen]

Some help is required please, I am a plastic aero modeller and I have been asked by a friend to model an aircraft that his father maintained in India at the end of WW2. I have no idea where he was based but I know that he worked on a Spitfires, I need information on what types of Spitfire were in use at that time and where there would have been maintained. My friends father's surname was Singleton again I don't know what RAF Squadron. Sorry it's so vague but I have to start somewhere. I wanted to create a diorama of a suitable Spitfire being maintained. I need information on Spitfire types and squadrons to make the aircraft accurate and the likely maintenance scenario's to make the scene accurate. If you can point me in the direction of suitable photos of the tine that would suit or where to look.

[Jagan]

Billcgreen,

Here is a starting point:

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/Aircraft/Spitfire.html

just after the first three images in the page is a table givign RAF units and the types it operated



Sqn No. Mark Time Period Located at Sqn Code
11 Mk XIV Jun 45-Sep 45 Madurai.
17 Mk VIII Mk XIV Sep 45 Madurai 'YB'
34 PR XIX Aug 46 to Jul 47 Stood Down Kohat.
67 Mk VIII Dec 44 Double Moorings, 'RD'
81 Mk VIII Jun 45 Amarda Rd 'FL'
131 Mk VIII Jun 45 Dalbumgarh, ‘NX’
132 Mk XIV Aug 45 Madurai, ‘FF’
136 Mk VII Jun 44 Chittagong HM’
152 Mk VIII Dec 44 Tulihal 'UM’
155 Mk VIII Jan 45 Palel, ‘DG’
273 Mk VIII Jul 44 Cox Bazaar ‘MS’
607 Mk VIII Jan 45 Tulihal ‘AF’
615 Mk VIII Jun 45 Cuttack ‘KW’
681 PR XI PR XIX May 45 Jul 46 Alipore Palam

Do go through the page for further details

[Billcgreen]

Jagan

Thanks very much for your swift response, it's given me plenty to think about. If I have questions can I come back to you?

[Jagan]

Sure, anytime!

[Billcgreen]

Jagan

Sorry it's been some time since I last wrote, I'm still trying to track down the chap by the name of Singleton. Where can I begin searching. I know he served in the RAF in India in I believe 1944 as ground crew on Spitfires, any help or a pint in a direction would be appreciated

Thanks

bill

[Jagan]

It is a bit tough to dig out information about airmen - especially if no unit info is available. He may have served with the Squadrons, or he may have been with some of the MUs that were erecting the Spitfires, or even the Training units that sprang up. Is there any surviving documentation that will help us a bit more?

[Billcgreen]

Jagan, sorry but that's all the information I or the family have. For what I need to do I think I'm just going to have to take a guess. Thanks for your help it's appreciated

[Lyffe]

Bill,

The logical place to start is to ask your friend to obtain his father's service record; details as to how to proceed can be found at https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records#how-to-apply-for-service-personnel-records . The record will include a list of places at which he was stationed, and from there it should be relatively easy to identify the squadrons based there at the time. It doesn't matter if the person being researched is 'simply' an airman or an officer, the record will contain exactly the same information.

My apologies for not picking this up sooner, but it have been better posted in the General Forum.

Brian

[Billcgreen]

Brian

Thanks for your help it's appreciated. I will share this with the family and ask them to follow it through. For what I need to do I now have sufficient information to allow me to crack on.

Kind regards

Bill

[Lyffe]

I should have added, Bill, that one should not expect an immediate response; my understanding is that the current waiting time is of the order of 22-25 weeks. This is an ongoing niggle with researchers, but the reason, basically, is that there are too few staff to deal with the inquiries.

Brian