Morane-Saulnier MS406 under RAF colours
MS406 n°826 (AX674), N°2 French Fighter Flight, Haiffa, September 1940. A rare Middle East French plane. Soon replaced by Hurricanes. This MS406 was part of of 7 or 8 French fighters based in Syria in 1940. Following de Gaulle's speach from England (18th of June), they escaped and were assembled in Egypt with 274 Squ RAF. They fought in the Western desert until they were no longer airworthy. Some 3 of them were taken by on RAF charge, including the one shown here. A particularity clearly visible on a side view is the white "Bayard's helmet" above the UK fuselage roundel. That means that this plane or her pilot should have been of the French GC I/7 Spa 77. They were still flown by the first Free French AF pilots. Upper surfaces camo used is the French standard, but unsersurfaces show the early '40 half black & white RAF pattern.
Comment
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Comment by JEAN-FRANCOIS QUILLIEN on March 19, 2011 at 7:40am
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First af all, welcome Brian!
This MS406 was part of of 7 or 8 French fighters based in Syria in 1940. Following de Gaulle's speach from England (18th of June), they escaped and were assembled in Egypt with 274 Squ RAF. They fought in the Western desert until they were no longer airworthy. Some 3 of them were taken by on RAF charge, including the one shown here. They were still flown by the first Free French AF pilots. Upper surfaces camo is the French standard used, but unsersurfaces show the early '40 half black & white RAF pattern.
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Comment by Brian Mooney on March 18, 2011 at 11:01pm
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Cool, I didn't know such a camo scheme had ever been used. What was the idea behind it ... use at dawn / dusk? Just kidding, but it is unusal. Do you know any details as to why it was chosen / discontinued? In what areas was it used?
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