Hurricane Mk.I Trop V7826 flown by Roald Dahl

1
May 14, 2020
While I have found no picture of V7826 in action in Greece, a couple of pictures were taken of it as it left the factory (apparently). I don't know how many of the Hurricanes were photographed like that, but luckily, this one was. A few important details to note : the tropical filter, DeHavilland propeller and spinner, oil collector ring, 1rst type Rolls Royce exhaust pipes, late radio mast and external canopy rearview mirror. Type B camouflage pattern, and of course the exact placement and types of roundels and decorations.
2
May 14, 2020
Another, rarer, picture of V7826, found by chance on the internet (eBay, I think). Clearly, the aircraft is 'on display', and factory-clean. The background also points to an English setting.
Of note, also, the spare wing tanks, which were not droppable, but used for ferry flight when delivering the airplane to its theater of operation. I chose to depict the airplane like this, as it may have first landed in Eleusis, the airport closest to Athens on which Squadron 80 was based when Dahl landed there.
3
May 14, 2020
The next couple of pictures were taken in Takoradi (present-day Ghana, then Gold Coast), the RAF base on the 'West African Reinforcement Route' which was the main British way to bring new airplanes to the Eastern Mediterranean frontlines.
This one shows how Hurricanes were crated while shipped by sea.
4
May 14, 2020
Another view of RAF Takoradi with a batch of new Hurricanes brought out of their crates (more in the background, with their ferry tanks mounted, as well as Blenheims Mk. 1. (which were the two main aricraft types ferried to Greece to replace the obsolete Gladiators).
5
May 14, 2020
An Imperial War Museum picture of a new batch of Hurricanes at the end point of the West African Route : the Abu Sueir RAF maintenance base in Egypt.
Interestingly here, we se a mixed batch of Hurricanes : none are tropicalized, but T9530 in the forefront was Canadian built and has exhaust deflectors mounted, while the 3rd has different fin flash to the ac 2 and 4. This is typical of the situation during the Greek campaign, when England was sending whatever aircraft was available to try to make up for the high losses.
6
May 14, 2020
A poor quality picture of (most likely) 4 Hurricanes making the long last leg of their trip, from Abu Sueir to Greece. This meant the Hurricanes had to have their ferry tanks (which could not be dropped so made the aircafts more vulnerable) and were led by a two-engine aircraft, usually a Blenheim.
7
May 14, 2020
The next couple of pictures also illustrate the ferry flight to Greece. V7795 (an aircraft with quite a history in its own right) is seen here following a Blenheim. V7795 is famous for its 'spaghetti' camouflage (visible under the nose) inherited from its earlier use against the Italians in the Egyptian desert. Again, any airplane that could be spared from the Egyptian/Lybian front was sent to stave off the quick advance of the Germans in Greece. The date is (supposed) April 9th 1941, so less than a week before Dahl made the smae flight.
8
May 14, 2020
A second picture of V7795 during its flight to Greece, now over typical Greek landscape. The picture shows the Blenheim as well as a 2nd Hurricane.
V7795 was flown by Sgt J.K. Norwell on this flight, assigned to 80 Sqn. in Eleusis, and flown notably by BIll Vale. It's one of the few aircraft that survived and was flown to Crete where it was eventually destroyed.
In the confusion of the quick defeat of Greece (once the Germans intervened), aircrafts (those that survived any time) were constantly being re-assigned to pilots, and even squadrons. Obviously, there was no time to even give them squadron markings.
9
May 14, 2020
This picture is interesting because it was taken in Eleusis, and shows that the air base, close to Athens, was quite well set up, unlike some of the airfields where 33 and 80 Sqn operated in other parts of Greece (Paramythia, for instance, was just an airfield hidden in the mountains of Northern Greece).
This picture is obviously taken earlier, probably while the RAF still had a fighting chance against the Italians and air base life was somewhat normal. Notably, V7599 even had (80 Sq) codes.

Comments

1 14 May 2020, 08:36

14 May 2020, 10:33

Boris B
Hi Alex, I'm uploading the most relevant pictures related to Hurricanes in Greece. Pictures of my build will follow, but it's less interesting...

14 May 2020, 10:48

Alex K
Interesting research - thanks for sharing, much appreciated 👍

14 May 2020, 21:43

Boris B
Thanks. If you have anything to add, let me know. The build is finished, but i am still interested.
I was also tempted to build the crashed Me109 that Dahl photographed after it was shot down in Eleusis. But that's another project !

15 May 2020, 09:37

Alex K
I've already checked and the truth is that the totality of RAF-Hurricanes-in-Greece photos I know of / have copies of are of wrecked Hurricanes after the Luftwaffe attacks - you know the kind, the wrecks found at Argos etc... e.g. the famous V7773 "Surrey" etc. (btw, here's the 1/72 rendition of that one by a good friend [or rather: mentor...] of mine: ipernity.com/doc/elias_k/album/1245960 ) - so I don't know (also given the diversity of little details per each different example, as you pointed out) if these could be of any help for this particular project - but of course I will be happy to share, if you are interested!

15 May 2020, 17:34

Alex K
As for the Me 109 "Black Ten" brought down in Eleusis airfield, yes, that's a nice idea (I knew that the photo appeared in "Going Solo" - and there's a second one in Shores & Cull "Air war for... etc" - interestingly enough, they misidentify the example as the one shot in Larissa, while it is definitely the one shot down at Eleusis!). While I'm not a fan of Luftwaffe aircraft, such Me 109s shot down during the Greek campaign (the above Black 10 at Eleusis, White 5 at Larissa, Black 4 and Black 1 in Crete) are indeed interesting subjects... maybe I might me tempted some day... Needless to say, it is a real pleasure having a scale-mate interested and knowledgeable in the '40-'41 Greek campaign! 🙂

15 May 2020, 17:45

Boris B
Hi Alex,
I have several pictures of Functional Hurricanes in Greece, in case you are interested :
V7288 with Cullen before his last flight
V7419 in Larissa with the pilots of 33 Sqn posing in front.
V7599 in Eleusis earlier, with a few pilots in front
V7804 (?) in Paramythia
And of course, the Megara Hurricane in Dahl's book labeled "My Hurricane" (whether correct of not). It's definitely not V7826, since it has exhaust light deflectors visible.

The pictures of the wrecked ACs at Argos were obviously taken by a German photographer. I'd love to see hi-quality versions of those photos from the Bundesarchiv and such !

Regarding the Me109, it is a far off project, and rather unlikely. Not a big fan of Axis airplanes either, and I would try to do it crashed, as in the pictures. There is a set of decals for it in 1/48 :
Bf 109's of the Balkans (Eagle Strike Productions 48120, 1:48)

16 May 2020, 16:40

Project info

Roald Dahl's Hurricane Mk.I Trop V7826

9 images

1:48

Completed

1:48 Hawker Hurricane Mk.I (w/3 Figures) (Tamiya 37011)

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