Corgi AA38703 Spitfire MkXIV, 610 Sqn, Sqn Ldr R A Newbery, Sept 1944 with Fi 103 ‘Doodlebug’ flying bomb

In January 1944, No. 610 ‘County of Chester’ Squadron became one of the first units to re-equip with the Rolls Royce Griffon engined Spitfire XIV and from June 1944 the squadron was heavily involved in countering the increasing number of V-1 attacks. Squadron Leader Richard Newbury DFC was the Commanding officer of 610 Squadron and he recorded a personal tally of 9 V-1’s while flying Spitfire XIV, DW-D/RB159. By September of 1944 his squadron had claimed a total of 50 V-1 rocket kills. The flying bomb raids on Britain were code named ‘Diver’ by the allies and the first recorded attack by a V-1 hit Swanscombe in Kent on June 13th 1944. More than 2400 V-1’s reached England and they were soon referred to as the ‘Doodlebug’ or ‘Buzz Bomb’. The designation V-1 was an abbreviation for its German name of ‘Vergeltungswaffe 1’ or ‘Revenge weapon No.1’ although its official title was Fieseler Fi 103A-1