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Post by campbellbox on Jul 31, 2011 14:59:17 GMT 12
The grandfather of a friend of mine is turning 90 in two weeks. I have been asked to source a Spitfire for the top of the cake.
He flew Hurricanes and Spitfires, and ended the war with 485 squadron in France - on Mk IXs I reckon, but he is not specific about the mark in his book.
I haven't built a kit in, oh... 20 years, but I think the best solution is for me to do a quick build of in 1/72 scale. Die-cast Spits are apparently hard to come by and pricey (and not as much fun).
There may be an aspect of this being a good excuse to get back into modelling, but let's not analyse my motives too much.
I'm not sure the birthday boy will notice, but I thought it would be nice to source some 485 sqn markings, if only for the benefit of the grand nephews and nieces.
Any ideas on where I could get some from and have them arrive in under a week or so? The (very helpful) guy behind the counter at Modelair reckoned the best bet was just buying a sheet of generic alphabet markings. He's probably right, to be fair, but I'm interested in opinions.
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Post by McFly on Jul 31, 2011 15:50:43 GMT 12
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Post by campbellbox on Jul 31, 2011 16:39:39 GMT 12
Hi McFly, thanks for the quick and comprehensive reply.
I've ended up with an Airfix IXc, but it looks about right (although I swear these kits have got smaller...). It has markings for Johnnie Johnson's D-Day aircraft, so the basic markings should be fine, I just need to source an O, a U and an R (he mentions being shot down in R for Robert - poor form to build that one?).
The gentleman in question is J N King. He's not as fit as some other veterans, and I don't know if he has been to any reunions.
There's a photo of Collett's plane in the profile above in his book, so I'm thinking I'll leave the D-Day stripes off.
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Post by McFly on Jul 31, 2011 21:23:07 GMT 12
That would be F/L James N. King (NZ413089) Known as 'Norby' - 485 (NZ) Sqn from 6/44 to 3/45. Flew with 485 when under the command of S/L John Pattison DSO, DFC, Legion D'Honneur. Certainly James King deserves our gratitude for his courage and bravery during the war - Salute that man on his 90th birthday.  An excerpt on some action James King was involved with is reproduced here:
The advantage of holding aerial supremacy over the battlefield were clearly emphasised early in October 1944 when F/L Owen Hardy led 485's Spitfires into an attack on some enemy infantry units. The Germans were using the cover of some woods to assemble their infantry for a counter-attack on British and Canadian troops. The Allied ground forces indicated this position for the pilots with red smoke markers. The Spitfires swept down on the target, ignoring the concentration of flak that defended the assembly zone, and twice lashed the area with a hail of cannon and machine-gun fire. The efforts of the pilots ruined any further ideas of a German counter-action. During the attack F/L James King's Spitfire was hit but he had sufficient time to land his aircraft just inside Allied lines. Wing Leader Harries described the battle: When the New Zealanders went in first they dived from 4000 feet right down to the deck in the face of strong flak defences. They swept over the wood, with their cannon and machine-guns blazing and they returned and did it again. The wood was full of enemy troops and in one corner of the target area there were several fortified buildings. Before the New Zealand Squadron had finished, one of these buildings was burning with flames and smoke reaching 1500 feet.485 (NZ) Sqn at Selsey - F/L James King is front row 6th from left.  485 (NZ) Sqn Pilots and Ground-crew at Maldegem - F/L James King is 4th from left.  |
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Post by Andy Wright on Jul 31, 2011 22:07:03 GMT 12
Brilliant, Marty. You should write a book!
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Post by McFly on Aug 1, 2011 13:51:29 GMT 12
A good review by one Dave Homewood - www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/RNZAF%20Books.htm Green Kiwi Versus German Eagle by J. Norby King This is a really good account of the war of Norby King, who trained in the RNZAF, and went to Britain where he became a Hurricane pilot. He flew Hurricanes, and then Spitfires, in the North African campaign, and up into Italy, and then after a spell as an instructor, he returned to Spitfires with 485 (NZ) Sqn in time for the D Day invasion. I found the book was easy to read and an interesting tale, which often reminded me of other books in the same vane - particularly Byran Young's Beckoning Skies, although the latter is a bit more detailed in its storytelling and photos. Though Norby missed out on a Hurricane raid on Dieppe, he was in the thick of things on D Day, and he flew alongside the more famous Johnnie Houlton, whom he'd also trained with. All in all a great read at a great price. 251 Pages, Softcover, Published by the author in 1991. Republished 2003. ISBN 0-473-01210-3 This book is still available for $15.00 from the author at this address: J.N. King 28B Ranch Road Mount Maunganui Bay of Plenty NEW ZEALAND |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 1, 2011 14:13:24 GMT 12
Is he still at that address I wonder?
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Post by campbellbox on Aug 1, 2011 19:29:06 GMT 12
I directed a couple of the family to this thread and they really appreciate the interest shown and knowledge of their granddad's service.
I bought, I think, may have been given, a copy of the book reviewed above when it came out in 1991 or so. I did not realise it had been republished. I re-read it not too long ago and picked up on a lot of things my 13 year old self missed.
Unfortunately Mr King was finding it a bit of a struggle on his own in Mt Maunganui, so he has moved up to Auckland where he gets constant care and is closer to family.
I'm starting to feel the pressure on this build. Maybe I should build another at the same time in case I bugger one up beyond repair.
On the decal front, I think I may be able to get a sheet of RAF codes via mail order from Modelcrafts and Hobbies in Wellington.
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Post by McFly on Aug 1, 2011 21:19:14 GMT 12
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Post by smithy on Aug 2, 2011 8:00:45 GMT 12
Hi Campbellbox,
If you would like to model an actual aircraft that your friend's grandfather flew here are a couple of options.
Norby King flew in B Flight with 485 and both of the following were B Flight machines that Norby had "incidents" in:
MK897 OU-R Norby was hit by return fire strafing infantry on 7/10/44 and was hit in the glycol tank, only just making it to inside allied lines. This is listed as MK697 in his autobiography.
PL165 OU-Y Norby was hit by flak 17/1/45
Cheers,
Tim
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Post by campbellbox on Aug 2, 2011 18:23:42 GMT 12
Hi Tim,
Thanks for the info on the serials. I was thinking OU-R. Like you say, it is mentioned in his book - it's the one he was flying in the incident described in McFly's 2nd post in the thread.
The JE-J scheme in the kit I bought has the serial MK392, so I reckon I could pull off a bit of surgery and get the serial right.
I have ordered a sheet of decals from Hannants in the UK for the codes. Timing on the postage might be a bit tight, but with a bit of luck it'll be fine.
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Post by campbellbox on Aug 13, 2011 13:10:12 GMT 12
Unfortunately due to my decals not arriving from Hannants in time (I blame the riots!) the thread title is a little misleading and I'm now posting in the wrong forum. Time considerations (birthday party being today) meant that I ended up just finishing it in the JE-J markings from the box. I don't think it's come out too bad. Given that I have all the paint I need now though, when the decals do finally turn up I might have to have another go.  |
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Post by campbellbox on Apr 26, 2013 21:07:41 GMT 12
Obviously I did not end up with the result I was after on the first attempt. The JE-J, brush painted model looked OK on a cake, but I figured after a bit of practice I could do much better. So after a few test runs I had a lash with the Revell 1/48 Mk IX which I gave to Mr King's family a few months back. They had a case made for the model and gave it to Mr King on ANZAC day. Here is a phone camera shot of the finished product.  So finally, thanks in no small part to the people who contributed their knowledge about Mr King's service in this thread, I was eventually able to give the family a representative model of a Spitfire flown by him, which they were pretty happy about. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 26, 2013 23:32:37 GMT 12
Well done! I am pleased to hear that Norby King is still with us as about a year back someone told me he had passed away. They were obviously mistaken.
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Post by baz62 on Apr 27, 2013 11:41:34 GMT 12
A very nice tribute, well done.
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Post by suthg on Apr 27, 2013 13:10:23 GMT 12
Fabulous - brought tears to my eyes! A lovely story and great support from members here.
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Post by Mustang51 on Apr 29, 2013 8:31:51 GMT 12
Folks, can someone find out where I can write to obtain a copy of that manuscript? It all helps with background material.
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Post by paulashman on May 4, 2013 12:07:39 GMT 12
Really cool -I wish I could have done one for my grandad before he passed away... a lovely tribute to a brave man!
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Post by McFly on Feb 14, 2014 16:23:21 GMT 12
Max Collett (Ex 485 Sqn) informed me today that 'Norby' King passed away last night (14/2/14). Another flyer gone  That would be F/L James N. King (NZ413089) Known as 'Norby' - 485 (NZ) Sqn from 6/44 to 3/45. Flew with 485 when under the command of S/L John Pattison DSO, DFC, Legion D'Honneur. Certainly James King deserves our gratitude for his courage and bravery during the war - Salute that man on his 90th birthday. An excerpt on some action James King was involved with is reproduced here:
The advantage of holding aerial supremacy over the battlefield were clearly emphasised early in October 1944 when F/L Owen Hardy led 485's Spitfires into an attack on some enemy infantry units. The Germans were using the cover of some woods to assemble their infantry for a counter-attack on British and Canadian troops. The Allied ground forces indicated this position for the pilots with red smoke markers. The Spitfires swept down on the target, ignoring the concentration of flak that defended the assembly zone, and twice lashed the area with a hail of cannon and machine-gun fire. The efforts of the pilots ruined any further ideas of a German counter-action. During the attack F/L James King's Spitfire was hit but he had sufficient time to land his aircraft just inside Allied lines. Wing Leader Harries described the battle: When the New Zealanders went in first they dived from 4000 feet right down to the deck in the face of strong flak defences. They swept over the wood, with their cannon and machine-guns blazing and they returned and did it again. The wood was full of enemy troops and in one corner of the target area there were several fortified buildings. Before the New Zealand Squadron had finished, one of these buildings was burning with flames and smoke reaching 1500 feet.485 (NZ) Sqn at Selsey - F/L James King is front row 6th from left. 485 (NZ) Sqn Pilots and Ground-crew at Maldegem - F/L James King is 4th from left. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 14, 2014 17:22:57 GMT 12
Sad news. RIP Norby
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