Lyric1 found me some photos and profiles of this 79 Squadron RAAF Spitfire. This aircraft JG 891 was originally assigned to the Middle East painted in Dark Earth and Mid Stone and equipped with a Vokes air filter. In late 1943 it was transferred to the RAAF in Burma, renamed A58-178 and assigned to 79 Squadron RAAF based at Kirawana Island. Here the topsides were repainted in foliage green, with SEAC insignia and ID markings applied. The Vokes filter was removed and the paint was waxed and polished to gain a few mph. The lower nose was painted in Sky to cover the area where the filter had been.
Flt. Sgts. George Gilbert and Dudley Grinlington shared this aircraft. The noseart is of a devil and an outline of the Australian State of Tasmania, a "Tasmanian Devil". Tasmania was Flt. Sgt. Gilbert's home state. It was lost with its pilot on an over sea ferry flight on January 1944.
