Supermarine Seafire MK III PP972 flying at the 2015 Flying Legends air show
Seafire MK III PP972 was one of 250 Type 358 Seafire aircraft ordered from Westland Aircraft in July 1943. It left the works during September 1944. The aircraft was transferred to 809 Squadron Fleet Air Arm in November 1944 serving on HMS Stalker and then on HMS Attacker. PP972 then re-joined HMS Stalker in March 1945. HMS Stalker, with PP972 on board, left Gibraltar on the 7th of March 1945 for Trincomalee, Ceylon, with the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron, arriving on the 20th of March. This then became part of the East Indies Fleet consisting of six CVE’s sent to re-occupy Singapore. During its time in Ceylon, operating from both HMS Stalker and from RNAS Trincomalee, PP972 was involved in numerous operations PP972 then sailed aboard HMS Stalker back to the UK arriving in October 1945 and then returned to RNAS Nutts Corner, Northern Ireland. Following the disbandment of 809 Sqdn in January 1946 it was taken by 767 Sqdn in May, initially at Easthaven, and eventually at Lossiemouth and Milltown where it received the Milltown code of 120/MV. The aircraft was then transferred to the French Aeronavale with code No. 12F2 then later to 1F9 when it was operated from the carrier “Arromanches” in Indo China. It was retired for instructional purposes in 1949. After it was retired from technical training it was placed in storage at Hyéres and eventually ended up in a wired off compound at Base Aeronavale 83 Gavres, near Loirent. It was privately purchased in 1970 and moved to the aerodrome at Vannes-Meucon. There the aircraft was restored to static condition and exhibited at the Resistance Museum at St Marcel from 1982. The aircraft was acquired by a new owner in 1987 and moved back to the UK.
Size: 4068px × 3254px
Location: Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2, air, aircraft, arm, east, fighter, fleet, french, preserved, seafire, supermarine, war, world
