This display represents a meeting I had with a real Canadian hero. Gordon Ockenden was in the RCAF during the Second World War and flew Spitfires for the RAF in southern England and over France after D-Day. My research came up with a great deal of material and in particular a photograph taken of Gordon landing his Spitfire on a roadway next to a hastily prepare landing field in northern France as part of the first wave of the RAF squadrons that deployed after D-day in June of 1944.
Unfortunately, this project pre-dated my ownership of a digital camera and I have very few pictures of the completed project. My ambition to include as much as I could on the display meant it took longer than I expected and Gordon passed away before I could complete it. I presented the display to Gordon’s wife, Pat. Today it is in the Kelowna Military Museum in Kelowna, BC, donated by the family.
When the opportunity presents itself I will try to convince the museum to allow me to refresh the information on the display, correct some errors, and hopefully take some better photos.
The kit is a 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk IXc from Hasagawa. You may be able to tell from these old photos that the port side represents the aircraft 2I-T and the starboard side represents 2I-V. Gordon flew both of these aircraft during his tour. The 2I-T aircraft was the one in the picture of him landing in Normandy. The 2I-V aircraft was restored to flying condition after the war and in 1984 the town in England that did the restoration invited Gordon and his wife Pat over to meet the plane. So the port side represents 1944, and the starboard side represents 1984.
