King & Country
Captain
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,103
Hi Guys,
A couple of Consolidated PBY Flying Boats (better known to us Brits as “The Catalina”) just flew into Hong Kong yesterday…
Both aircraft are in typical WW2 Royal Air Force Colour Schemes…#88 is in mid to late war predominantly white whereas “WQZ” is in the markings of the aircraft that first spotted the German battleship “BISMARK” after it sank “HMS HOOD”.
Hope you like them…
Best wishes and happy collecting!
A little extra background… On May 26, 1941 a Catalina of No.209 squadron R.A.F. Coastal Command flown by US Navy Ensign “Tuck” Smith attached to the RAF spotted the German battleship together with its escort “Prinz Eugen”. What makes this so interesting was that the U.S. was not even in the war at this point… Pearl Harbor was almost seven months away!!!
The US Navy awarded Smith the Distinguished Flying Cross for finding the Bismark. He was ordered to keep quiet about how and why he was awarded the medal. Only years later did the story come out. He died in 2006 aged 90.
A couple of Consolidated PBY Flying Boats (better known to us Brits as “The Catalina”) just flew into Hong Kong yesterday…
Both aircraft are in typical WW2 Royal Air Force Colour Schemes…#88 is in mid to late war predominantly white whereas “WQZ” is in the markings of the aircraft that first spotted the German battleship “BISMARK” after it sank “HMS HOOD”.
Hope you like them…
Best wishes and happy collecting!
Andy C.
P.S. A little extra background… On May 26, 1941 a Catalina of No.209 squadron R.A.F. Coastal Command flown by US Navy Ensign “Tuck” Smith attached to the RAF spotted the German battleship together with its escort “Prinz Eugen”. What makes this so interesting was that the U.S. was not even in the war at this point… Pearl Harbor was almost seven months away!!!
The US Navy awarded Smith the Distinguished Flying Cross for finding the Bismark. He was ordered to keep quiet about how and why he was awarded the medal. Only years later did the story come out. He died in 2006 aged 90.