Spitfire

Note that where a date is shown against a location, i.e. NWAfrica, Malta etc, this is generally the date of a census or return. The aircraft had invariably arrived at that location prior to this date. The exception is when the location appears immediatly after the name of a ship, in which case it is the port/country and date the vessel docked.

Dates recorded in respect of damage are often the date of survey. The accident or incident may have occurred a day or more earlier. Where an accident report or ORB reference is available I have corrected many dates to reflect the date of the actual incident.

Accident entries generally follow the format [description] [place] [damage category] [date] [pilot] [injury].

Entries in square brackets refer to errors or suspect entries contained in official documents or other sources, or are my comments.

Ship names are shown in inverted commas. Note that many ships used code numbers. For example the Operation Torch ships used code numbers in the R.600 series. Code names such as 'Bluff' and 'Hamble' were also used, in this case referring to the destination rather than ship name. 'Hapmat' was the code word for deliveries to the USSR.