[sjmacke]

I can throw a bit of light on these points.

a) White wing leading edges - the initial Spitfire Mk.Vs did not have them but after the RAAF issued the order requiring their use, they probably had them painted on in late 1943/ early 1944.

Unfortunately photos of the Mk.Vcs from this era are pretty scarce.

The early Spitfire Mk.VIIIs in the A58-300 to 550 range initially used by 457 Sqn were mostly painted in the Temperate scheme of Dark Green/ Dark Earth uppersurfaces ( or the RAAF similar colours - Foliage Green / Earth Brown if repainting had been required ) complete with White wing leading edges.

After the unit received Spitfire HF.Mk.VIIIs in the A58-600 range, they were operated in the Dark Green/ Ocean Grey schemes that they were delivered in with initially White wing leading edges. Late in the war however the White leading edges were not always painted onto replacement airframes as there was no longer an official requirement for them.

Also on some machines which had previously had them, they became very worn and faded and often hard to pick up in photos.

b) As for only squadron leaders having Red spinners painted on their Mk VIIIs, he is clearly mistaken with his memory on this one.

Initially ALL the Mk.VIIIs had Red spinners, no matter who was flying them. Sometime in 1945, these were changed to White for 457 Sqn.

I have ample photos to illustrate this point. For instance of the 3 airframes flown by Fred Inger (who certainly did not have the rank of Sqn Leader), the first two had Red spinners, the last one White.

A58-419 ZP-Y 'Blondie' - Temperate scheme, no sharkmouth, Red spinner
A58-615 ZP-Y - Dark Green/ Ocean Grey scheme, initially small sharkmouth, later changed to the larger version, Red spinner with White backplate.
A58-672 ZP-Y - Dark Green/ Ocean Grey scheme, large sharkmouth, White spinner.

HTH

Steve Mackenzie
Co-author Ventura Classic Warbirds #2 - 'Spitfire - the Anzac Story'