"Diver! Diver! Diver!": Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVc and the V-1 menace.

The man and the airplane:

Rudolf Frans "Rudy" Burgwal was born September 27th, 1917 in Surabaya, one of the larger cities in the island of Java, then part of the Dutch East Indies. His parents brought him to the Lower Countries in 1933, settling in The Hague. Rudy was a student when the german onslaught brought Holland to its knees five days after the beginning of operations against the country. A year after, in May 1941, he and other four made a daring crossing in a fishing boat and arrived to England. They had a close call on the way out when they ran aground on a sandbank and got spotted by the germans. Things could have ended rather bad for the young lads but, before leaving the germans directed them to make themselves available to the local port authority as soon as the tide changed and the boat got loose. It was only natural for them to disobey but they had to come back for the cover was blown, and as soon as there was a chance and water under the keel they set course for England again on September, 3rd.

After arrival they were greeted by Queen Wilhelmina and narrated their journey on the BBC. In meeting with Prince Bernhard on April, 1942; Rudy had to choose going to the armoured corps or the RAF. He chose the latter. On November 15, 1941, Burgwal and Waardenburg were sworn in at the Department of War at Arlington House in front of the Chief of General Staff. He then had to follow a 12-week course in Cambridge . In January 1942 he passed the exam as the best, after which nothing happened again for eight weeks. Burgwal became impatient and wanted to actively participate in the war. When Japan became involved in the war, he requested the resignation of the RAF to go to India, but the resignation was refused. He was transferred to Desford Aerodrome, where he received basic flight training on the Tiger Moth .
 
On the way to New York , an alarm was sounded on Sunday, June 21. Depth bombs fell and a U-boat was hit. It was his first confrontation with warfare. From New York he continued his journey by Pullman train to Canada. More training awaited, formation flying and aerobatics during the day, and further night flying. He flew there in Supermarine Spitfires.
 
Burgwal was placed in the 322 Dutch Squadron RAF, flying Siptfire Vs, and made his first solo flight in May 1943. From January 1, 1944 he was with the '11 Group Fighter Command 'at Dover , with good weather they could see the French coast. In January 6, 1944 he was allowed to make his first flight above enemy territory. On January 7 they flew to Cherbourg and a few days later via Le Touquet to St Omer, where they were received with a lot of anti-aircraft guns . One of the bombers was hit, three of the five crew members managed to escape with the parachute. Two more were hit, but nobody jumped out.

Memebers of the 322 Sqn. perched onto one of the Squadron's Spit XIVs.

In March of that year the squadron changed their war-weary Spitfire V for the Griffon-powered XIV. And what a change it was! Compared to their Vs, the sheer engine power, superior speed and outstanding maneuverability thoroughly surpassed the increase in "muscle" to fly it, the change in taxiing and the rudder compensation due to the engine turning the opposite way.

R.F. "Rudy" Burgwal standing by the propeller of one of 322 Sqn.'s Spitfire XIVc.

It was to prove providential. Come June 13th, 1944, the germans started launching the V-1 flying bombs from the french and dutch coast against the city of London. While the fastest fighter to counter the rather speedy and low flying menace was the Hawker Tempest, the XIV was fine-tuned to bring every horse power out of the engine. The "Anti-Diver" patrols were rather messy until the different zones were lined out for coastal AA, fighter interception and AA barrage around London.

Rudy standing (left) in front of a Spitfire XIVc, probably the same machine as in the previous photograph.

Rudy in the cockpit. The amount of weathering is noteworthy

and a clear indication of the hectic activity during "Anti-Diver" patrols.

It was during one of these interceptions that Flight Officer Rudy Burgwal was to make his name in history. Taking off from RAF West Malling in 3W-F (NH649) on July 8th, he managed to shoot down five V-1s during ninety minutes in a single patrol. Rudy actually became the top ace when it came to V-1s, for he achieved 19 confirmed kills. others had higher numbers but they remain a claim or have not been confirmed. The momentum that followed the normandy landings would see the 322nd Sqn. going thru some hectic weeks, and the "Anti-Diver" patrols would ultimately done in a result of 128 flying bombs shot down, adjusted by the RAF to 110.5.

Rudy would acompany the squadron's activities until August 12th, when he was shot down and killed by AA fire over France while scorting Lancaster Bombers in Spitfire XIV 3W-L (MH370). During the same mission, he had previously shadowed F/O Jan Jonkers after his Spitfire IX got damaged by AA fire, guarding the crippled machine until it landed and the pilot walked out. Jonkers and his machine were retrieved shortly after by Allied forces. Rudy wouldn't be so lucky. He was twenty-six.

The kit: Fujimi's Spitfire XIVc "V-1 Killer".

This kit was bought to a gentleman for under 2 U$D, the main airframe and the V-1 already assembled. He had no clear intention of finishing it, perhaps due to the Fujimi curse; part of which is that the images on that article were lost (Thanks, Photobucket!). One issue was the landing gear, glued in the closed position. So the leg covers were carefully dettached, the wheels ended up being grinded away with a Dremel rotary tool and a round bit since they wouldn't give way and come loose. Thy were replacd by the likes on the MPM FR.XVIII kit, refined from their original shape. Fujimi would have you attach the tail wheel directly to the fuselage, but it's not correct for the XIV since it had a retratctable tail unit. The well was cut and the doors fashioned out of curved plastic card. The cockpit was repainted to the appropiate colours and straps added, these being quite noticeable under the canopy. The scheme was applied using Humbrol's RAF enamel set. Humbrol was also used for the other generic colours.

 The model was varnished and polished and decals applied. Unlike your usual Fujimi decals, these ones were printed by a third party for this special issue and fought me all the way. Silvering everywhere. Even some strange doting on one of the fuselage codes. It was literally "bubbling" while drying. What it was, it's beyond my knowledge and comprehension.

 

 

Weathering came next. Luckily, there's enough material to work with, - both on the internet and books - so an accurate look can be achieved. I used Mig's 7420/7 set for rust, smoke and oil, along craft acrylics for the dirt and grime. Chipping was done via a silver pencil.

Here is the finished model:

It doesn't look good. Somehow, the Griffon Spitfire look still manages to elude me. But at least I managed to tell Rudy Burgwal's story, which had always fascinated me. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

Until then, take care and good luck.

TMU.