Jessica Cooper reviews Hobbytime Decals sheet 48002 featuring Spitfires and FW-190s of the Turkish Air Force. This sheet allows for 10 different aircraft to be portrayed.

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During WWII Turkey tried to remain neutral with a pact with Britain and a non-aggression pact with Germany. Eventually Turkey declared war on Germany on 23rd February 1945.

Turkey’s first attempts to acquire Spitfires began before the war in January 1937 when it asked for 30 Spitfire Mk Ias followed by a request for a licence to build another 30. In February 1938 the Foreign Orders Committee discussed a changed order for 50 Spitfires. On 17th November 1938 the request was allotted priority No. 4 by the Foreign Office, for 30+30 Spitfires.

In July 1939 Spitfire Mk I L1066 was prepared for shipment to Poland. With the outbreak of war it was offered to Turkey and arrived on the 18th September onboard SS Lassell becoming Turkey’s first Spitfire. In May in40 Turkey requested 45 sets of components for licence building. Eventually a contract of 15 Spitfire Mk Ia was agreed but only two further Spitfires were received, the other thirteen being retained for the RAF. At this time deliveries of Allied aircraft virtually ended as attempts were made to make Turkey break off trade and diplomatic relations with Germany.

On 30-31st January 1943 a military agreement was reached between Turkey and the Allies at the Adana conference to supply Spitfire Mk Vb/Trops. These were offered by the British government as Lend-Lease aid but it was not until September 1944 that the first Spitfire Mk Vb arrived. This was followed by a further 69 Mk Vb/c Trops plus one F.IX between November 1944 and May 1945. All the Mk Vs were ex-RAF from the Middle East and were for the most part in poor condition. Some were withdrawn from use within a year and none returned to the RAF. Used primarily for training purposes until they were replaced in 1948-49 by Spitfire Mk IXs and P-47s. A few MK Vcs survived in the Flying School until 1951.





Post-war, Turkey obtained 197 ex-RAF Spitfire F.IXc and LF.IXc/es. Off these nine crashed before or during delivery flight. They were flown from England to turkey via Bordeaux, Istres/Marseilles, Corsica, Italy, and Malta. In England the Spitfires were marked with the TuAF national emblems on the wings and fuselage and the Turkish national flag on both sides of the fin but retained their RAF serial numbers. These were replaced after arrival. These were Turkey’s only air defence fighters until replaced November 1954 when they were replaced by NA F-86E Sabres.





In the case with relations with Germany, Turkey had the advantage. By 1941 Germany’s resources were badly depleted and wanted to obtain chromium ore from Turkey. At that time Turkey was quite a wealthy country and a normal commercial agreement was out of the question. In return for supplies of ore, Germany agreed to deliver modern aircraft, torpedo boats and tanks.

The first deliveries of Fw 190A-3s reached Istanbul in mid 1942. Usually described as Fw 190A-3a (ausländisch, an export version with differences in equipment) everything points to the majority being repaired/refurbished combat veterans. The first batch, sent between August and September 1942, included sixteen airframes produced by Arado. Each aircraft cost 510,000, - RM. A number of pilots were sent to the Fliegerhorst Sprottan flight school in Germany for training and at the same time ground staff were trained at Fliegertechnishe Schule 3 in Munich. Training finished in March 1943. Deliveries continued almost without a break until late 1944. In total 72 Fw 190A-3as were received. They were produced by Arado, AGO, and Focke-Wulf with new Werk Nummer from 0134 101 to 0134 172. Delivery was by sea; the aircraft disassembled and packed in wooden crates. They were accompanied by German technicians who supervised reassembly and then stayed to instruct ground staff.

Turkish Fw 190s were fitted with the standard BMW 801D-2 engine and FuG VIIa radios which were already obsolete. Some were fitted with surplus British radios that arrived with deliveries of Spitfires. In August 1944 Turkey was resupplied with a further eight Fw 190As (seven had been lost in accidents) with the following serial numbers: 130404, 130327, 130458, 130501, 130527, 132141, 135344 and 135438. There is no doubt that these were examples withdrawn from service when replaced by superior versions or taken from flying schools. By the end of the war acquiring spare parts, especially engine parts and MG 17 ammunition, was a difficult, if not impossible task. An to attempt install British armament failed. It seems either the German constructors did not want to cooperate with the British armament manufacturers or vice versa. As a result of these problems the Fw 190 was quickly withdrawn from service.

The Fw 190 was well liked by its pilots who noted good flying characteristics and ease of control and rated it higher tan the Spitfire. In total, 80 examples were delivered to the TuAF, the last being written off in 1949.