BATTLER BRITTON !

It's been a little while since we looked at contemporary comic book heroes as prospective characters in the Hereford VBCW, but here is one to give "The Wolf of Kabul" (and his Social Democrat supporting Afghans) a run for his money - "Battler Britton"!!

Square jawed, stiff upper lipped, laughing in the face of potential death -
"Battler Britton" takes on the entire crew of a destroyer (and its forward
main armament) - all the while carrying a wounded comrade. What a chap! 

This battleship might be a little large for the Wye River Flotilla, and flying
a rather suspicious flag. But eagle eyed "Battler Britton" will sink it all the
same, using only his trusty Browning Machine Guns. I say !

After a battleship, what price a Nazi tank ? Now back home for a warm beer
and some manly, back-slapping badinage in the mess...

Not that "Battler" is unused to action at close quarters.
Here he is demonstrating his Very British ju-jitsu skills
 in the cause of "Anti-Fascism".

But sometimes even a British gentleman must "fight dirty" - especially
when (yet another) Nazi stands between him and his beloved Lysander..

Mind you, "Battler Britton" is so intensely courageous that he will even -
incredibly - take on a Me.109 in a Brewster Buffalo - and triumph! Tally-ho!

No doubt coming to a Hereford VBCW landing field some time soon -
ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the Very British "Battler Britton" !
Hurrah !

SHOBDON AIRFEST 2024

 It's the "Shobdon Airfest" at the end of this month:

with the promise of a flying show from a Swallow, a classic 1930s civilian light aircraft, amongst many other types:

1937 Swallow

Strangely, the Airfest programme makes no mention of the crucial part played by Shobdon Airfield during the VBCW, nor it having been captured by the Red Hordes of Comrade Commissar Professor Winters at the Second Battle of Shobdon (see Spring Big Game 2019 HERE).

Check out the HEREFORDSHIRE AERO CLUB HERE for more information. If classic aircraft are not your thing (eh ?), but you're still searching for inspiration for the Modelling Challenge 2024 (Ladies! To the Barricades!), then there will also be an appearance by that contemporary singing duo, "The Bluebird Belles":

The prospect of being reduced to 28mm prompts amusement from the "Bluebird Belles".

COBI WELLINGTON BOMBER - AND HEREFORD MODEL CENTRE

Hereford is blessed with an old fashioned model shop, helpfully situated at 4 Commercial Road, on the direct walk from the Railway Station to the Town Centre:

Dolls houses, trains, toys, kits, soldiers, paints, books....the Hereford Model Centre

The big picture windows allow for display of built models, and right at the moment one of the windows displays something rather interesting and very VBCW :

The Cobi WW2 Historical Collection Vickers Wellington Mk.2

The Cobi Wellington "as built" - and as displayed in a window of the Hereford Model Centre

Read all about the Vickers Wellington HERE, or see it in context HERE. Undoubtedly one of the most powerful bombers of the VBCW, the Kobi model measures about 2 foot x 2 foot, and contains 2 40mm aircrew, so it doesn't look ridiculously out of scale next to nicely based (heroic) 28mm figures:

Wellington and air crew out of the cockpit.

All parts are pre-coloured, and there is no need for something as traditional as glue; a lego like system is used to fit the parts together. Producing this Wellington is therefore less about modelling and more about shopping (price c. £60), but if you need a big bomber to dominate a VBCW table, and need it in a hurry, this is undoubtedly the "kit" for you.

Note: for a different scale look, check out the the Meng Lancaster HERE

VBCW BOMBERS

 A lovely late 1930s illustration of the "Bombers of the VBCW":

A bewildering array of different types (15 in total) - and many of them obsolescent or nearing obsolescence by the late 1930s, viz. the Hawker Hart and Hawker Hind biplane light bombers, designed by Sidney Camm in the 1920s, the Handley Page Heyford heavy bomber, a 1927 design being phased out of front line service by 1937, and (most notoriously) the Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bomber, a 1925 design simply blown away by Japanese Zeros (when not destroyed on the ground by their accompanying bombers) at Singapore in 1941. The similar fate of the Fairey Battle at the hands of the Luftwaffe in 1940 has already briefly been referred to....

Still, back in 1938 and the Hereford VBCW, possession of even one functioning bomber, obsolescent or not, might prove of decisive advantage....

MUCH MARCLE LARGE MODEL AIR SHOW 2023

All kinds of things go on in Herefordshire without much publicity...and that's not just in the VBCW.

This Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd September 2023 heralds the return of the Much Marcle Large Model Air Show to the Malvern area, promising a sky filled with RC model aircraft "from before WW1 to the present day". The event is run by the Large Model Association and will no doubt have its quota of "VBCW Aircraft":

An RC Model of a participant in the VBCW Airwar. This appears to be an Anglican Hawker Hart.

Only "large scale" will do at Much Marcle.....this is clearly from the VBCW RAF Bomber Force
(see HERE), possibly even Wing Commander Daring's own plane (see HERE)

The sky contested.....RC Models in action.

The event takes place between 10am and 5pm each day at Much Marcle Garage, just off the A449 by the Walwyn Arms. Full details, plus lots more photographs, HERE.

No.73 SQUADRON RAF - COLOURISED (AGAIN)

Following THIS POST on Cobber Kain and the 1937 Coronation Air Pageant, here he is nearly three years later, in March 1940, outside the Officers Mess at Rouvres, reading the telegram informing him of his award of a DFC:

The 1940 photograph. From LtoR, Flt Lt. Lovett, F/O Kain, Sgt. Pyne, F/O Orton

and the same photograph colourised:

otherwise known, from LtoR, as "Unlucky" Lovett, "Cobber" Kain, "Titch" Pyne and "Fanny" Orton

and the Pathe newsreel of precisely the same event, regrettably without sound:

Notes: 

(1). Sadly, none of these four RAF pilots survived the war.

(2). Sgt Pyne was shot down and wounded on 23rd April 1940, when his section was surprised by Bf109s of III/JG53 west of Merzig. After a period of recovery, "Titch" returned to flying duty, but was shot down and killed by Bf110s of III/ZG26 on 14th May 1940. He is buried in Choloy War Cemetery.

(3).  For "Cobber" Kain and "Fanny" Orton, see HERE

(4). Fl/Lt. Lovett acquired his "Unlucky" nickname through a series of misfortunes during the Phoney War, including shooting down a French Potez 63 in error. On 10th May 1940, the first day of the German blitzkreig, he was shot down by return fire from a Dornier 17 (which resembled the Potez 63 in appearance). Lovett managed to crash land his blazing Hurricane, but his hands were very badly burned. He was rushed to hospital and then air evacuated to the UK. After weeks of treatment, he returned to flying duty on 23rd July 1940. On 5th September 1940, he was again shot down but managed to bale out unhurt. Finally, but two days later, on 7th September 1940, he was shot down and killed in a crash landing close to the little village of Stock, Essex. Eye witnesses suggest that Lovett might have baled out successfully, but stayed with his stricken Hurricane in order to guide it away from the village. He is buried in Hendon Cemetery. See more at this Lovett Link

HEREFORDSHIRE'S OWN SCIENTIFIC GENIUS - WINFORTON HOUSE

Most factions within the Hereford VBCW have their very own "scientific genius" to hand, essential for producing (or explaining) the odd (sometimes very odd) "secret weapon" occasionally featured in "Big Games" - one thinks of Professor Fergal McGonagall for HMG, the now marooned Professor Dave Ross of the BUF, Engineer Scott of the Ludlow Anglicans, and a host of others. Yet truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction....

Some time ago, we looked at "Airfields of the VBCW", relying on the seminal "Herefordshire & Worcestershire Airfields in the Second World War" by Robin J. Brooks (pub. Countryside Books, Newbury (2006)). However, save for Shobdon Airfield, captured by Comrade Colonel Professor Winter's Communist Front at the Second Battle of Shobdon, few VBCW factions have shown any great interest in developing (or acquiring) their own airfield. As noted above, the opposite is true in the field of scientific geniuses. Pps.17-18 of Brooks may therefore be of interest:

“Malvern, in Worcestershire, is known as “radar country”, for it was here that the early experiments in Radio Direction Finding and radar-equipped navigational aids were carried out, experiments that continue today in the same establishment. The technique of radar detection was developed in various ways in order to help the airmen who flew in our dangerous skies. Defford airfield was to play a definitive part in these flying experiments.

This was also the scientists’ war, and deep in the Herefordshire countryside another invention that would be instrumental in assisting the war effort, and radar in particular, was being perfected. Sir Thomas Merton is today almost unheard-of, yet one of his inventions was the long persistence radar screen, a kind of cathode ray tube. Unfortunately, someone else came up with the idea a year later and won the patent. The screen was created in two bungalows known as the ‘Laboratories’ adjoining a large property by the name of Winforton House in west Herefordshire. Purchased by Sir Thomas in 1923, it became a secret wartime base for much scientific research……………

“……..A later discovery involved the use of a special gas which, when applied to the engine of a fighter aircraft, would increase its top speed by about 45mph. This application was to be used to great effect during the battle with Hitler’s revenge weapon, the V1 rocket. On 24 August 1944, out of 101 V1s launched against the UK on that day, 97 were brought down, many by fighter aircraft with gas-boosted engines. A light-reducing black paint was also perfected by Sir Thomas in the ‘Laboratories’. When applied to bomber aircraft, this paint reduced the light reflected from the fuselage if caught in the beam of a searchlight to less than 1%.

            Secluded as it was, Winforton House played host to many of the leading scientists of the day. Henry Tizard and Barnes Wallis were among the frequent visitors there, together with Lords Cherwell and Berkeley. Sir Thomas Merton’s inventions played a major part in the defeat of Nazi Germany and Winforton House stands today as a testament to an unsung hero of scientific intelligence.”

"COBBER" KAIN & THE CORONATION AIR PAGEANT 1937

 After the last "colourised photo" blogpost, an overdue riposte to restore the Very British balance:

A colourised photograph of F/O Newell "Fanny" Orton and F/O Edgar "Cobber" Kain DFC
relaxing between sorties, France 1940. The RAF uniforms are perhaps a little too blue, rather
than grey/blue, but a noble effort at colourisation all the same. The photograph must post-date
March 1940, as "Cobber" wears his DFC ribbon, awarded in that month. Orton is 'ribbonless"
in this photo, but was to receive his DFC in May 1940, and a bar in July 1940.

The original photograph. In true 1930s Very British style, Orton was raised in
Warwickshire, and Kain in New Zealand. By the end of their campaigns in France,
the two were the highest scoring "aces" of No.73 Squadron, companion to No.1 Squadron
in 67 Wing, Advanced Air Striking Force ("AASF").

Another colourisation - Kain leans against his Hurricane ("Paddy III") in France,  late 1939.
Here, his colourised RAF uniform is "just right".

A popular hero. This edition of "Modern World" dates to 27th April 1940,
with Kain being promoted as "Britain's Air Ace No.1".

Unfortunately, both Kain and Orton would be dead within 18 months of the "colourised photograph" being taken. Kain (aged 21) was killed in a aerobatic accident on 7th June 1940, just as he prepared to leave France for the UK. Orton, wounded on 15th May 1940 when his Hurricane was shot down and thereafter repatriated to the UK before the end of the Battle of France, was subsequently appointed as Squadron Leader of No.54 Squadron and lost (aged 26) in an offensive "sweep" across France by the Hornchurch Wing on 17th September 1941.

And what does all this have to do with the Hereford VBCW, 1938?

Well, before No.73 Squadron flew Hurricanes, the squadron was equipped with Gloster Gladiators (re-equipment seems to have taken place in May 1938, making No.73 one of the earliest RAF squadrons to fly Hurricanes). Flying Gladiators, "Cobber" Kain and 73 Squadron took part in the 1937 Coronation Air Pageant at Hendon. Thankfully (for all VBCW fans) the news cameras were there :  see this stirring Pathe News 1937 Film of the 1937 Coronation Air Pageant, and cross- reference with this alternative version of the same event - another Pathe News 1937 Film. For followers of Edward VIII (then Prince of Wales), you can see him landing and getting out of his plane at the earlier (1934) Hendon Air Display HERE.

We have a very good idea of the "colours and markings" of Cobber Kain's pre-war Gladiator from the Shuttleworth Collection's own Gladiator - still flying above Bedfordshire - repainted in Kain's 1937 Coronation Air Pageant markings (K7985):

Cobber Kain's 1937/1938 Gladiator - Shuttleworth Collection

The same Gladiator was subsequently re-issued by Airfix in "Cobber" Kain's pre-war markings (now OOP, but still available on the 2nd hand market):

The Airfix 1/72 Kit of the Shuttleworth Collection - and therefore Cobber Kain's - pre war Gladiator.

So we know what aircraft "Cobber" would have been flying in 1938 (obviously before re-equipment of his squadron, no doubt delayed by the outbreak of the VBCW), but we have no idea which side, if any, No.73 Squadron would have taken upon the outbreak of "our" Civil War. Still, it is not hard to imagine a young "colonial" like Cain continuing to support "his King" and stunting above Herefordshire, perhaps crossing swords (or machine guns) across the tabletop with Herefordshire's premier aviator, Randolph Trafford, in a 1/72 battle for air supremacy....

Notes:

[1]. "Cobber" Kain's WIKI page is HERE. His body is buried at the Choloy Military Cemetary, near Nancy. "Fanny" Orton's WIKI page is HERE. He has no known grave.

[2]. For the Shuttleworth Collection's WIKI page, see HERE, For the history of the Shuttleworth Collection's Gladiators, see HERE.

[3]. The second Pathe News Film of 1937 contains rare footage [at 3.36 on] of two very new "RAF types" - the Supermarine Spitfire and its "fighter interceptor" competitor, the Vickers Venom.

[4]. For those who insist on the "latest kit" for the VBCW, or wish to meddle in France 1940 wargames, Corgi also issued a (diecast) 1/72 version of "Cobber" Kain's 1940 Hurricane, Paddy III, within their "Aviation Archive" series:

[5]. Add edit - Matchbox's long OOP version of the Gladiator was also issued in No.73 markings, but with number K7984 rather than Cobber's K7985. Still, an ideal companion piece for the 1937 1/72 Coronation Air Pageant!

POLIKARPOV I-16 'RATA'

 

A splendid "colourised" photograph of a Polikarpov I-16 "Rata" with pilot and ground crew. Just one of the "colourful interwar types" of aircraft to be found in (or above) the Hereford VBCW. Some historians argue that this photograph was taken in Spain, during the Spanish Civil War. While the 'Rata' is clearly in Republican colours, VBCW researchers point to the similar insignia of the "Escadrilla Espana" in Herefordshire during 1938, and argue that "the treeline" just visible in this photograph clearly identifies Shobdon Airfield.

VBCW AIRCRAFT STICKERS (PART THREE) - RAF or BUF SQUADRON MARKINGS

During both the 1930s (pre Munich) and the 1950s (post war), the Royal Air Force loved silvered  and highly decorated aircraft, particularly with distinctive squadron markings along both sides of the fuselage: 

1950s Squadron Markings

Not the VBCW Vickers Venom, but the post war De Havilland Venom.
RAF Squadron Markings.

Back in period - RAF Squadron Markings for the 1938 VBCW

Using the ancient technique of "print carefully and cut even more carefully", these sheets can be used to bring historical colour to VBCW aircraft. Some markings, incorporating national roundels and "flashes", can even be used to decorate the fuselages of BUF aircraft without photoshop amendment:

RAF 617 Squadron - or BUF Air Fleet Marking?

RAF 60 Squadron - or BUF Air Fleet Marking?

VBCW AIRCRAFT STICKERS

The Elstree Industries "Vickers Venoms" (aka "Ebay cheep Chinese planes"), having been introduced to the Herefordshire VBCW as the 2020 Modelling Challenge, appear to be enjoying something of a resurgence of late:

There are rumours of a Japanese "Air Wing" making an appearance over Newquay, West Wales (flying off the carrier Hosho, apparently making an "international goodwill tour" in 1938), plus significant "export orders" received from Borsetshire, home of Sir Rufus Pitt-Bulstrode and the 'retirement estates' of our very own Sir Gilbert Hill.

One of the challenges of the Elstree Industries aircraft (manufactured to no particular scale, but dimensions above) is that they come without transfers (or decals, if you're from the States). The choice is therefore between painting something suitable, manufacturing your own, or boxing clever.

Those of a pugilistic bent should head on over to Ebay seller "obsesso" - see his shop HERE - who sells very handy multipacks of aircraft roundels (sized between 5mm and 40mm). These are not waterslide transfers, but good old fashioned self adhesive stickers. Not all sizes are useful for Elstree Industries aircraft, but there is a good variety and some are bang on.

WW2 RAF Roundels (fuselage)

WWS RAF Roundels (wings)

Pre WW2 RAF Roundels (especially useful!)

French Roundels

Italian Roundels

Pre WW2 American Roundels (especially useful again!)

The smaller stickers can be used on 1/55 armour or trucks - the largest make useful "markers", or "blinds" if you're playing "Lard inspired" rules. And the "in between" sizes are just right for the planes: 

"Venoms", "Gladiators" and "Mongrels" with "Obsesso stickers" (tail markings hand painted).
 Meng Models Lancasters with their own transfers/decals/stickers.
 A coat of varnish prevents the stickers "lifting with age" -
especially useful as they're supposed to have been around since 1938...

VBCW AIR WAR - AIRFIX BLOOD RED SKIES

As we wait for the last of the "staff photographers" to wire their Spring Big Game 2022 propaganda battle photographs in to an anxious and over-excited Fleet Street, agog at the news of the Fall of Leominster, a return to VBCW Air Wars and Warlord/Airfix Blood Red Skies "Battle of Britain" boxed set. What's in the box ?

The box. And special dice for the game.

Four Airfix 1/72 kits - 2 x Spitfires and 2 x Me109s. Nice transfers/decals

Some rather nifty "spinning prop" displays, one for each aircraft.

Cardboard cut outs. Barrage balloons and game markers. The other side shows clouds.

More cardboard markers

Trait cards for the aircraft. There are only two in English - the remainder
are in different European languages. The short rules pamphlet is similarly in five languages.

Plastic gubbins for the game, including rulers and turning mechanics

The key to Blood Red Skies. Stands for the aircraft which can swivel into
different postures, conferring the all important "advantage" on aircraft.
There are enough for the 4 aircraft in the game, but the absence of more on
the after-market is a limitation on anyone wanting to fight "bigger games"

The 1/72 Blood Red Skies stands. The interior circular stands are from the original
Blood Red Skies games - the larger ovals have been introduced to allow for the
larger, heavier Airfix 1/72 aircraft. To the right, a Hereford 1938 "Vickers Venom"
with patent home made stand from a Tesco Coffee Pot Lid and bamboo skewer. Gribbly!

First impressions are that the rules are innovative and thankfully short. The anticipated difficulty lies with the aircraft stands themselves - the games rulers and turning mechanics are the same as for the original Warlord Blood Skies game, designed to be used in conjunction with the circular Blood Red Skies stand. The introduction of the "Airfix Oval" sabot base/stand could make manoeuvres "less than optimal". More when the planes finally take to the air.....