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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth R Roscoe, Arthur

Squadron Leader Arthur Roscoe DFC

American Art Roscoe joined the RAF in February 1941, through the Clayton Knight Committee that was recruiting American civilian pilots for the RAF. Arriving in England he joined 71 Eagle Squadron, where he made his first claims. In June 1942 he volunteered for service on Malta and flew off the carrier HMS Furious on 11th August to join 229 Squadron. During his final combat on 12th October he was shot down, wounded and evacuated from the island in a Liberator, which in turn crashed on landing in Gibraltar. On recovery, he was posted to join 165 Squadron, then 242 Squadron, and in May 1944 was given command of 232 Squadron. He had destroyed 4 enemy aircraft and probably 3 more.

Distinguished Flying Cross

Spitfire Manufacturer : Supermarine Built : 20351

Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954.

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Squadron Leader Arthur Roscoe DFC Squadron details

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