For Red Indian # 3: Did you know...

[Strelnikov]

...that the last aerial combat victory achieved in a P-51D Mustang, and the last P-51D shot down, took place on 17 July 1969. Honduras and El Salvador were engaged in the "Football War" (and you Brits think you're serious about football hooliganism!)

http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/sierra/soccer1969.htm

Two Salvadorans in P-51's attacked two Hondurans flying F4U Corsairs. Each side lost one aircraft. The same day, the Honduran survivor shot down two Salvadoran Corsairs.

http://world.std.com/~Ted7/lastdan.htm

Thus the Mustang outlasted the Spitfire as a combat aircraft by about 20 years. The Spitfire was last used in combat during the Israeli War of Independence, 1948-49, by both sides. Israeli pilots had rather the better of it, and even shot down three RAF Spitfires.

Strelnikov

 

[red indian]

mmmm......(thinking)

my records show the spitfire used in combat (by the british)in the "Malayan crisis" which takes us in to 1950. The RAF were indeed involved in an air battle against other spitfires above Ramat David air field in the spring of 1948 when the Egyptians had the stupid idea of mounting an attack with Mark 1X spits and came up against the RAF,s Mark XV111,s.

I have no record of this skirmish you mention of Israelis fighting the RAF, Israel did of course obtain its own spitfires and used them against Arab spits but they could not be called RAF spits.

I have records of a spit being operational as late as 1963 for the Air fighting development squadron at Binbrook, which hooks up nicely with your bit about p51d,s, there was an Indonesian "crisis" looming and the Indonesians where equiped with P51,s so tests were run to see how a Lighting could best attack one but in the absence of a p51 a mark X1X spit was used in the mock battles.

 

[Strelnikov]

Spitfire

OK, Malaya, but the last use in aerial combat was 1949 by the Egyptians and Israelis. Found a website that listed 3 RAF Spits as casualties in an air engagement on 7 Jan 1949.

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/2848/operate1.htm

Two of the Israelis were flying P-51D's and one a Spitfire IX. Composite squadrons were common in the IAF at that time - whatever they could get hold of that would fly.

Strelnikov