[Flavio]

Dear all,

thanks for your comments; I add some notes:

Yes Alex, Finucane was wounded in late 1941 but at that time he was with 452; after his recovery, he was posted for the first time to 602 Sqn on January 20th 1942 , so unfortunately "P8722" was lost weeks before Finucane arrived to 602 Sqn.

In my opinion the caption should be correct infact we may read two
details: "new Spitfire" and "specially prepared for his return" : Finucane crash landed 6 days earlier of the date of the photo so he need a "new" aircraft, and he "returned" to command the 602 only on 10th March; the date and the text match with the facts.

Any way this does not help us to understand which was the serial number of the plane.

I will try to search between 452 Sqn. codes, but I believe this plane was in charge at 602 sqn. This is also confirmed by Stokes in his book "Paddy Finucane: Fighter Ace" were there is another photo of this very plane (detail of the shamrock); unfortunately Stokes give it the (now wrong) serial number BL548.

Hoping to find more details about this Spitfire

Regards
Flavio