Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV with Doodlebug (RAF 610 Sqn 1944) (1:72 scale)
- In January 1944, No. 610 ‘ County of Chester’ Squadron became one of the first units to re-equip with the Rolls Royce Griffon engined Spitfire XIV & from June 1944 the squadron was heavily involved in countering the increasing number of V-1 attacks.
Squadron Leader Richard Newbury DFC was the Commanding officer of 610 Squadron & he recorded a personal tally of 9 V-1s while flying Spitfire XIV, DWD/RB159. By September of 1944 his squadron had claimed a total of 50 V-1 rocket kills.
The flying bomb raids on Britain were code named ‘ Diver’ by the allies & the first recorded attack by a V-1 hit Swanscombe in Kent on June 13th 1944. More than 2400 V-1s reached England & they were soon referred to as the ‘ Doodlebug’ or ‘ Buzz Bomb’. The designation V-1 was an abbreviation for its German name of ‘ Vergeltungswaffe 1’ or ‘ Revenge weapon No.1’ although its official title was Fieseler Fi 103A-1.