¹⁄72

Airfix are to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the RAF and FAA involvement in the Channel Dash. Airfix are to release a 1/72 double kit including a Spitfire Vb and a Swordfish Mk I.

The Channel Dash, (codenamed Operation Cerberus by the Germans), was a major naval engagement during WWII in which a German Kriegsmarine squadron consisting of both the battleship Schanhorst, the and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen along with escorts, ran a British blockade and successfully sailed from Brest in Brittany, France to their home bases in Germany, their route taking them along the length of the English Channel.
On 11 February 1942, the Kriegsmarine's ships left Brest at 21:15 and escaped detection for more than 12 hours, approaching the Straits of Dover without discovery. As the German ships passed through the straits and on into the North Sea, British armed forces intercepted them, and attacks were made by the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm and Coastal Artillery. The attacks and bombardment were unsuccessful, and by 13 February all the Kriegsmarine's ships had completed their transit. In support of the German naval operation, the Luftwaffe launched Operation Donnerkeil (Thunderbolt) to provide air superiority for the passage of the ships.
Six Swordfish were dispatched to engage the Kriegsmarine squadron, but only five crewmembers survived the unsuccessful engagement. Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde a veteran of the hunt of the Bismark was lost along with his entire detachment of torpedo bombers, and was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.

Oddly at the time of going to press this release does not feature on the Airfix website, but pre-orders can be made via Modelzone. The Swordfish looks like the new mould that Airfix released just before Christmas.

Cat no: HOA50147
Price: £24.99

For more information on the product above, please visit Modelzone.

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