DINKY TOYS #719 CUSTOM USAAF SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE 309th FS, PILOT LT R.J. CONNOR

Description

CUSTOM RESTORED AND DETAILED
DINKY TOYS # 719
VICKERS-ARMSTRONG SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MKII
RAF WWII COMBAT FIGHTER  PLANE
PILOTED BY LT. ROBERT J. CONNOR USAAF
309th FS, 31st FG.
In June 1942 the 31
ST
. Fighter Group's personnel were shipped to England . All three squadrons received Spitfire Vbs and assigned the squadron codes MX (307th), HL (308th), and WZ (309th).
Its pilots and technicians spent a two-month period undergoing intensive training in flying and fighting with RAF pilots in the British aircraft from airfields in southeast England.
The squadron flew its first combat mission on 18 August 1942, when it attacked enemy positions in occupied France. Assigned to the new Twelfth Air Force and deployed to Gibraltar in November 1942 as part of the Operation Torch invasion forces, initially operating from former Vichy French airfields in Algeria. Advanced east across Algeria and Tunisia during the North African Campaign, supporting the Fifth United States Army which halted Field Marshal Rommel's advance on allied positions.
Spitfires from the squadron provided support for Allied Forces as the Invasion of Italy began with the capture of Sicily, and later the landings by Allied forces in Fascist Italy, moving north supporting the Fifth Army during the Italian Campaign. As Allied bomber forces operating from Italy began the strategic bombing of Axis petroleum and communications facilities in central Europe and the Balkans, the squadron was re-equipped with the North American P-51 Mustang to replace the shorter-ranged Spitfire.
From the time they first went into action in August 1942, up to March 1944 when they finally and reluctantly
traded in the Spitfires for P-51s, the group had destroyed 194 1/2 enemy planes and had grown quite fond of the Spitfire.
CUSTOM RESTORED AND DETAILED TO NEAR MINTY CONDITION
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BODY PAINT  WWII  RAF BATTLE OF BRITAIN FINISH
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UNIQUE PORKY PIG "NOSE ART"
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CLEAN & CLEAR CANOPY.
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TRIM AND DECAL/STICKERS EXCELLENT BRIGHT COLORS INCREDIBLE DETAIL.
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LANDING GEAR & WHEELS INTACT,  SPRING TENSION STRONG TAIL WHEEL REPAIRED
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MADE IN ENGLAND