331 RAF Spitfire Vb Norwegian Historic Skin Pack

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

331 Squadron RAF was formed at Catterick in North Yorkshire on 21 July 1941. The squadron was manned by exiled Norwegians, except for the ground crew and the commanding officer.  In November 1941 the squadron was equipped with the Spitfire Vb and in May 1942 moved to North Weald.  It continued to operate with the Spitfire Vb until August 1942.
For more detailed history of squadron: http://airsoc.com/articles/view/id/5a08f6c63d2d2e96338b4cf7/raf-331-norwegian-squadron

 

The historic skin pack comes with the following aircraft:

ID          Serial     Pilot                    
FN-A    BL588    Sgt. Halldor Espelid - Shot down 27 August 1942 by flak near Dunkirk and taken prisoner.  Eventually transferred to Stalag Luft 3.  Participated in "The Great Escape" as one of 76 prisoners on the night of 24-25 March 1944.  Recaptured near the Danish border, interrogated by the Gestapo and executed 29 March 1944.  Info: https://www.aircrewremembered.com/espelid-halldor.html

FN-C   BL919    Lt. Henning Leifseth - Shot down 21 July 1942 during a low-level sweep around Dunkirk.  The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went down in flames and crashed on the beach.  Info:  https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/181702  (Note: added after OP)

FN-E    BL681    Unknown

FN-F    AR293    Unknown

FN-L    BL903    2nd LT J Greiner - Aircraft failed to return from an operational flight over Dieppe, France 19 August 1942.  Pilot injured but safe.

FN-N    AR298   Flt Lt Jens Müller - Shot down 19 June 1942 off the Belgian coast and taken prisoner.  Eventually transferred to Stalag Luft 3.  Participated in "The Great Escape" as one of 76 prisoners on the night of 24-25 March 1944.  Was able to make his way to Sweden via boat and back to London.  Only one of three of the 76 POWs to escape occupied Europe.  Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jens_Müller_(pilot)

FN-S    BL891    Unknown

Notes:  
1. The shield present on FN-S is unclear in the photo and I could not find one on-line connected to this aircraft.  The shield used in the skin is from a museum Spitfire IX FN-W and I believe is the same subject.  If you know of a better version please let me know.

 

2. Photos FN-A and FN-N were unavailable to skin from.  I used the skins from the closest serial number to generate them.

 

3. If anyone has information on the pilots listed above as Unknown please let me know and I'll update this post.

 

Hope you enjoy them.

Thanks to ICDP for his template.

 

Available on HSD.  Author is VBF-12_Stick.  Skin Pack is 331 RAF Spitfire Vb Norwegian.  Plane names are 331 RAF Norwegian Spit Vb FN-A, etc.

Link: https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/70078-haluter’s-skin-downloader-for-the-il-2-sturmovik-great-battles-series/

 

Also available direct:  https://www.mediafire.com/file/43ekfwu8jewkkuh/SpitfireMkVb_331_RAF_Norwegian.zip/file

 

Click on image a few times to see full size.

Edited June 11, 2022 by VBF-12_Stick-95

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

Original photos I worked from.  The bottom photo is cropped.  The photos are attributed to being taken at Catterick in North Yorkshire in 1942.  My guess would be May which is when they left for North Weald and everyone is wearing light clothing.  I also think that the top photo was taken from the wing of FN-L which in the lower photo was next to FN-S.

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by VBF-12_Stick-95

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

** bump - Now available on HSD **

[Stig]

FN-L  BL903

 

The other 2 only served with 331 Sqd briefly

 

FN-E  BL681 

Quote

BL681

Vb

CBAF

M45

38MU 26-1-42 331Sq 'FN-E' 15-3-42 VASM mods 5-10-42 1DelFlt Taxied off runway and tipped on nose Speke CA 24-10-42 P/O R Lobarzewski (Polish) safe. Scottish Aviation 18-11-42 VASM fuel syst elev and rud mods S type pt wing stiff MkIII IFF bomb carrier 8-7-43 501Sq 'SD-Z' 5-11-43 engine failed on takeoff Hawkinge crashed into trees CE 22-12-43 FH261:35 F/O RC Deleuze safe

 

FN-F  AR293

Quote

AR293

Vb

West

M45

38MU 26-1-42 331Sq 'FN-F' 15-3-42 VASM mods 12-8-42 Scottish Aviation 25-10-42 VASM fuel syst mods wing stiff 27-3-43 349Sq 8-10-43 602Sq 6-3-44 118Sq Hit by BM538 while taxying Sumburgh CE 28-3-44

 

 From Spitfire Production

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

Thanks @Stig  FN-L nails down that one.  I've seen these source records for E and F but had not looked closely at them.  Now that I have both E and F appear to have been with the squad from March until August 1942.  From what I'm reading, 331 began being equipped with the Spitfire IXB as early as March 1942 and fully converted by October.

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by VBF-12_Stick-95

[Stig]

I think you are after right after looking more closely at the text; BL681 even seems to have been with 331 until October.

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

21 hours ago, Stig said:

I think you are after right after looking more closely at the text; BL681 even seems to have been with 331 until October.

 

Yes, not August as I wrote, but probably was with 331 until it was sent off for mods.

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

After studying the top original photo more closely,  I am pretty convinced the Spit on the far side of FN-E is indeed FN-C BL919 which was piloted by Lt. Henning Leifseth who was shot down 21 July 1942 during a low-level sweep around Dunkirk.  The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went down in flames and crashed on the beach.  Added to the skin pack on HSD.

Info:  https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/181702

Edited June 4, 2022 by VBF-12_Stick-95

[imanuthep]

Very interesting stuff... could it be possible to get a separate download link ? thanks

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

2 hours ago, imanuthep said:

Very interesting stuff... could it be possible to get a separate download link ? thanks

 

Yes.  I did a zip file of them and put the link in the OP.

[imanuthep]

thanks for the link and for a historical skinpack