Website that links Spitfire serial numbers to fuselage codes?

[Gazzas]

Is there one?  I've been digging through AllSpitfirePilots.Org and finding lots of info.  But no link to fuselage codes, yet.

[mozart]

You might be lucky Gaz, but probably not. My main experience is with Lancasters, and then specifically with 467 and 463 Squadrons, both RAAF but based at Waddington. There was a chap called Bob Baxter who managed to reconcile serials with individual squadron code letters but there were many, many gaps.
 

The problem is that aircraft losses could be so frequent, the individual code then being re-allocated to the new aircraft and any official documentation that existed (I’ve never seen any but presumably there was) could be soon out of date. A friend in Brisbane is trying to complete Bob Baxter’s now defunct list but sources are difficult to find. 

 

Good luck! 

[Gazzas]

57 minutes ago, mozart said:

You might be lucky Gaz, but probably not. My main experience is with Lancasters, and then specifically with 467 and 463 Squadrons, both RAAF but based at Waddington. There was a chap called Bob Baxter who managed to reconcile serials with individual squadron code letters but there were many, many gaps.
 

The problem is that aircraft losses could be so frequent, the individual code then being re-allocated to the new aircraft and any official documentation that existed (I’ve never seen any but presumably there was) could be soon out of date. A friend in Brisbane is trying to complete Bob Baxter’s now defunct list but sources are difficult to find. 

 

Good luck! 

 

I feared as much.   So many great RAF references...   but it's another needle in a haystack to link pilot, serial number, fuselages codes, and maybe a photo.

[Kagemusha]

29 minutes ago, Gazzas said:

 

I feared as much.   So many great RAF references...   but it's another needle in a haystack to link pilot, serial number, fuselages codes, and maybe a photo.

 

The best thing you can do is search using the serial number and put it in speech marks, for example "N3290" Spitfire, try different search engines, and the image options. Is there something specific you're looking for?

[RBrown]

Check out this site: Allocation by serial number

 

It will only give you the squadron codes for a serial number, not the aircraft identifier.

[RBrown]

Here is another: Production summary

 

It will give short history that often includes fuselage codes.  List is by serials.

[Gazzas]

1 hour ago, Kagemusha said:

 

The best thing you can do is search using the serial number and put it in speech marks, for example "N3290" Spitfire, try different search engines, and the image options. Is there something specific you're looking for?

 

45 minutes ago, RBrown said:

Check out this site: Allocation by serial number

 

It will only give you the squadron codes for a serial number, not the aircraft identifier.

 

38 minutes ago, RBrown said:

Here is another: Production summary

 

It will give short history that often includes fuselage codes.  List is by serials.

 

Thank you, Guys!  Each step gets me a little closer.

[Dpgsbody55]

Many aircraft had more than one identity (squadron codes) as they'd be re-allocated within the squadron or moved from one squadron to another.  It was common for planes to be left behind at the station when the squadron personnel moved, or the plane was sent off to a Maintenance Unit for repair or overhaul only to be re-issued to another squadron.

 

If you can lay your hands on a copy of the Morgan and Shacklady book on the Spitfire, you'll find a history of each aircraft from first flight to being struck off charge.  The book is a must for Spitfire enthusiasts and can still be found in bookshops or online.  Here's a good link.  Spitfire

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[mozart]

You can sometimes get lucky by looking at the Operation Record Books (ORBs) for the squadron in question. The squadron’s adjutant was largely responsible for filling these in; the norm for each operation was the pilot’s name and a/c serial number like this:

 

 

but some diligent adjutants also added the a/c letter as well. 

Edited April 2, 2023 by mozart

[thierry laurent]

As Max wrote there are a lot of gaps so this finally this goes down to the airframe you select. I can only reinforce what Michael added about the Morgan-Shacklady book. This is a must have for Spitfire afficionados. Nonetheless, even that book is frustrating as to be really comprehensive, it would need to be twice as thick. MANY marks are badly covered, even in that book... Globally, available Spitfire documentation is quite good but not fully comprehensive about Mk. II, V, IX and XIV. Nothing more! Out of that, it is average (e.g. Mk.I, PRXI & 21/22/24 and most Seafires) and for some marks such as the short series Mk. VI/VII, Mk.XII, very early PR marks or the FR46/47 saying it is very limited is unfortunately an understatement! It is not surprising we are always seeing kits of the same marks and quite often with the same markings...