Click to enlarge image

A line of Spitfires Mk. Vc of No. 253 Squadron undergoing service and repair in Italy, 19 July 1944. Note the inscription GUNS UNLOADED and the date chalked under the cockpit.

The aircraft nearest to the camera is almost certainly EF553, a Mk Vc (Trop), built with a Merlin 46 by Westland; produced in February 1943 and sent, along with JK226 visible in the far back, to Africa. The third visible aircraft, SW-K is JK868.

After the liberation of Corsica, No. 253 Squadron returned to Italy in April 1944 to perform fighter-bomber duties over Yugoslavia.

According to its archival caption, this image depicts the training of Yugoslav ground crew with the RAF In Italy, prior to the creation of No. 352 (Yugoslav) Squadron, which has been previously described on these pages here.
[US National Archives]

Labels: Spitfire Mk. V