https://www.spitfires.com/post/ale-delivery-spitfires

Hey Flyingiron, you might do this in the next Spit' iteration, adding a couple of casks below the wings ! 

 

Similarly, in WW2 in the Pacific, I know some of the Navy guys who drank "torpedo juice", which used alcohol that fuelled torpedoes (!)

Tangmere is a more sober place now, but thankfully Goodwood still has plenty to offer the thirsty visitor.😊

Not as much fun, but Hurricanes, comparatively sidelined during D-Day operations compared to Spitfires etc, carried post to the front lines. I don't think they were painted red with Royal Mail logos on them though. 😁

I had never hear of these beer runs in the Spitfire until now. It reminds me of my very first flight on C-130 as a trainee crewman. The flight (according to my log book) was conducted on 14 December 1977 and was tasked to fly a pallet of beer kegs from our home base to the Officer's mess of another base down country that had run out of beer during some brewery industrial action. In my youth and inexperience I felt awfully guilty for some reason. I hadn't signed up for this. Surely this was not a legitimate task? But my Squadron Leader captain went on to make Chief of Air Force so I can only assume it was 😁Thanks Dominique. You've just provided proof that beverage resupply of this type has and always will be a necessary part of keeping out forces refreshed!  

 

Cheers

Terry   

Edited June 8, 20241 yr by Lord Farringdon

8 hours ago, Lord Farringdon said:

I had never hear of these beer runs in the Spitfire until now. It reminds me of my very first flight on C-130 as a trainee crewman. The flight (according to my log book) was conducted on 14 December 1977 and was tasked to fly a pallet of beer kegs from our home base to the Officer's mess of another base down country that had run out of beer during some brewery industrial action. In my youth and inexperience I felt awfully guilty for some reason. I hadn't signed up for this. Surely this was not a legitimate task? But my Squadron Leader captain went on to make Chief of Air Force so I can only assume it was 😁Thanks Dominique. You've just provided proof that beverage resupply of this type has and always will be a necessary part of keeping out forces refreshed!  

 

Cheers

Terry   

It certainly was the case.  Late in the war, with air superiority achieved and the Spitfire lacking the range to escort bombers into Germany as the American Lightnings, Thunderbolts and Mustangs could, they were given under-wing racks to allow them to carry out fighter-bomber duties.  Although this was unpopular with pilots, who regarded the Spitfire as unsuitable for the task,  it allowed beer barrels to be carried over the Channel after D-Day.....  

Had the beer been dropped on the Germans the war may have ended sooner 🙂

Gotcha covered!

 

14 hours ago, Lord Farringdon said:

I had never hear of these beer runs in the Spitfire until now. It reminds me of my very first flight on C-130 as a trainee crewman. The flight (according to my log book) was conducted on 14 December 1977 and was tasked to fly a pallet of beer kegs from our home base to the Officer's mess of another base down country that had run out of beer during some brewery industrial action. In my youth and inexperience I felt awfully guilty for some reason. I hadn't signed up for this. Surely this was not a legitimate task? But my Squadron Leader captain went on to make Chief of Air Force so I can only assume it was 😁Thanks Dominique. You've just provided proof that beverage resupply of this type has and always will be a necessary part of keeping out forces refreshed!  

 

 

Imagine crewing a Barge, Refrigerated, Large!

https://www.military.com/history/why-us-navy-operated-fleet-of-ice-cream-ships-during-world-war-ii.html

 

19 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

Gotcha covered!

 

If I'm not mistaken, that first picture is of a 1944 prototype for a ground breaking Rolls Royce turbofan, developed years before its time.  Constructed in part from wood, based on the success or the De Havilland Mosquito, it was cancelled at the end of the war.  Unfortunately, given it was such a unfamiliar design, the two on that Spitfire have been fitted backwards.