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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth F Finlay, Hartland

Squadron Leader Hartland Finlay DFC

Born in Montreal, 1920 and educated at McGill University. Former COTC and RCA. Hartland Finlay enlisted for the RAF in Montreal, on the 14th of September 1940 and trained at No.1 ITS, graduating on 21st December 1940. He then went to No.4 EFTS followed by further training at No.9 SFTS graduating on the 28th of May 1941. Commissioned from Warrant Officer to Pilot Officer in 1942 and Flight Officer in January 1943, he went to Britian in 1943. Posted to 1 Sqn in June 1943, he moved to 416 later in the month. On August 12th Flt Off. Hartland Finlay bailed out of a malfunctioning Spitfire and was rescued from the English Channel. Transferred to 443 Sqn in September 1944 and promoted to F/L in March 1944. Attended Fighter Leaders course in May-June 1944 and posted to 53 OTU in July as an instructor. In March 1945 he rejoined 403 Sqn and in April was posted to 443 Sq. Successfully bailed out at 200 ft when his Spitfire was set on fire by return fire from a Ju88 he was attacking. Returned to unit 3 days later and was awarded DFC on 24th July and promoted to S/L later that month. Joined RCAF HQ in September 1945 and returned to Canada in November1945. Squadron Leader Hartland Finlay DFC after leaving the air force flew for KLM from 1946 to 1948. Served with the Canadian Department of Transport. Sadly, Squadron Leader Hartland Finlay DFC passed away on January 22nd 2009.

Distinguished Flying Cross

Spitfire Manufacturer : Supermarine Built : 20351

Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954.

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Squadron Leader Hartland Finlay DFC Squadron details

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