Group Captain George Kemp Gilroy DFC and Bar.

George Gilroy was a neighbouring farmer and his family still live nearby. He was an interesting character. He would buy straw from my Dad and roll up with his Massey 135 abd baler, knotted handkerchief on his head and a pair of flying goggles. On one occasion he was taking a load of straw home and sparks from the tractor set fire to the trailer load of bales. George was oblivious for a while but he unhooked the trailer in a field and saved the tractor. The road verge was ablaze though!

He would come round when I was growing up and have a glass of whisky. They would talk Spitfires a bit. Gilroy was a far more illustrious figure than my old man of course, but they'd been in the same wing in Corsica for a spell. Also Gilroy was friendly with 243's Group Captain in Corsica, Petrus Hugo (https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/19720).

I once asked George what it was like to bale out. He said "completely silent!"

There are mentions of him in the Osprey Mk V Aces book too and in Cocky Dundas' book. He wasn't one for publicity though and was reportedly irritated by veterans seeking him out for their memoirs.

The Kit.

This was a rescue job. I built Gilroy's Spifire a while ago with the Revell MkIIa and the various modifications to make it a Mk1a. I was never happy with it so stripped it down, tidied it up and gave it a respray. The alternative was the Kotare kit, but I already had invested in the Eduard cockpit and the oil cooler/ fabric aileron conversion. I bought a second Revell kit for the glass and the landing gear.

I think this Revell kit is much traduced. It never claimed to be a Mk 1 and according to the history, the MkIIa's in the Revell kit would certainly have had metal ailerons. I did shape the spinner a wee bit with putty and a sander. Again the kit spinner isn't that far out for a De Haviland CSU. The oil cooler, yes that is an error for a Mk1 for sure. However, there seems to have been a great deal of retro fitting and in field modifications of MkII's, so Revell might get off the hook on that one too?

Added wires and some PE scratchbuilding of the undercarriage brake pipes and locking lugs. I ordered the Kits World Warbirds decals for 603 Squadron. However, I wasn't happy with the letters. They were too dark so I used the Xtradecal RAF letters. The font on the serial seems smaller on the illustration here than I have used.

Cockpit door I found in my spares box sans crowbar of course. Also omitted the rear view mirror as I wasn't sure if it wuld have one or not.
I enjoyed rescuing this kit. The Eduard cockpit is excellent although I suspect the undercarriage control is incorrect for a 1a.

I will probably try the Kotare at some stage, but I might wait till they bring out a Mk IX and build my old man's again! Could do with a good MK IX that's less complicated and overdone than the Tamiya offering.

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.