[Spitfire 9]

It really is PT467;

Perhaps the key lies in that the '7' is actually crossed as in the standard European style of writing. (I have never seen this on any 'foreign' A/C before though ?)

I have a copy of this photo with a faded note pasted to the rear which reads...Certified as passed by SHAEF CENSOR FRA 200453. I assume the FRA is for the French A/F?

The main text reads; A French pilot warms up his Spitfire fighter on a snow covered field in the foothills of the Vosges mountains of Eastern France from where planes of the First Tactical Air Force are taking off for missions inside the Reich.
A crew chief seated on the wing of the British-made plane instructs the pilot into position for the take-off.
U.S. and French pilots of the First Tactical Air Force are flying in support of the Sixth Army Group, consisting of the Seventh U.S. Army and the First French Army. The Air Force, commanded by U.S. Major General Ralph Royce has been ????? firing German ammunition dumps and bombing Nazi road and rail center's in support of the Allied ground troops in Eastern France where the French Army began a new offensive January 20, 1945, on a 25 mile front from St.Amarin in the Vosgos to the Rhine northeast of Mulhouse. First Tactical Air Force Photo.

Quite a bit of useful info there !!

The usual allocations etc, are well documented elsewhere.

Mervyn