That Australian connection! Spitfires down under!

Peter Gartshore flying in a Spitfire.

Recently Spitfires.com helped Spitfire owner Peter Gartshore of Brisbane Australia realise his dreams by carrying out his conversion to Spitfires on our two-seater T9 SM520. Peter from Brisbane, Queensland, is owner of Spitfire Mk VIII MV154, and although a long-time pilot with many hours on tailwheel types needed type familiarisation, ground school and simulator training at our Goodwood home to help him reach his goal of flying his very own Spitfire, MV154.

His aircraft is ex Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Spitfire Mk VIIIc MV154, registration VH-A58, based in Southeast Queensland. This aircraft has been painted as Australia's highest scoring pilot Clive Caldwell (later Group Captain) personal mount A58-484. Caldwell had been the Wing leader in the now infamous Defence of Darwin from the Japanese air attacks on the Australian homeland in 1943, which involved RAAF and RAF Spitfire squadrons using the Mk Vc variants. Little did Peter know that he would be "slipping the surly bonds of earth" over landscapes and backdrops familiar to many Australian pilots during World War 2, including Tony Gaze DFC** OAM, who was later famous as an Australian Formula One motor racing driver, and his brother Irvine Scott Gaze, both of whom flew from Goodwood with 610 (County of Chester) Squadron.

Many Australians were embedded within RAF Squadrons as well as serving in dedicated RAAF Squadrons who also served locally to Spitfires.com home airfield at RAF Ford, 453 Squadron being one of them, operating Spitfire Vs and IXs.

However, one Australian pilot who flew in action close by from RAF Tangmere also flew in the air battle of Darwin in 1943 alongside Wing Commander Clive Caldwell, DSO,DFC*, whose Spitfire is represented by Peters Mk VIII.

Granville Allen Mawer was born in 1919 in Canterbury, New South Wales. and enlisted in the RAAF in Sydney in December 1940. He completed his training in Canada to become a pilot as did many future Spitfire pilots as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

His first posting to an operational squadron was 501 Squadron, who in July and August of 1942 were to be located at RAF Tangmere, just across the road from Spitfires.com home airfield of Goodwood. He was flying Spitfire Vb EP191 on regular patrols across the Isle of White and sweeps south to Cherbourg including claiming a Do 217 on the 19 August 1942. The Squadron records state: -

"501 Squadron formed part of the Ibsley and Tangmere Wings escorting a main convoy 8 miles North of Dieppe. 8-10 FW190s were seen and one of them was damaged by Flt/Lt Stanbury. Wg/Cdr Gibbs, who led the squadron, destroyed 1 Do 217 and F/Sgt Mawer damaged another. P/O Lighthbourne bailed out and was picked up. Wg/Cdr Gibbs aircraft was damaged by an FW 190 and F/Sgt Mawer’s aircraft sustained damage to the hood, causing slight injury to the pilot."

Mawer managed to get rid of his damaged hood and belly land his damaged Spitfire at Shoreham. Granville claimed a Fw 190 and another Do217 but ended up with the unfortunate nickname of ‘Cannon Shell’ due to his ability to attract cannon shells!

Mawer flew as No 2 for Wing Commander Ian Gleed DSO DFC on no less than 15 occasions.

Little did Peter know that in doing his Spitfire Conversion in our T9 SM520, taking off over RAF Tangmere and heading down to the Solent area and Isle of Wight, he would be flying over familiar territory for Granville Mawer.

In November 1942, F/Sgt Mawer was recalled to Australia and in 1943 was posted to 54 Squadron RAF in Darwin, later to be posted to 452 Squadron RAAF, both equipped with Spitfires.

Back home again!

Flying Officer Granville Allen 'Cannon Shell' Mawer

Flying Officer Mawer arrived in the Northern Territory with 54 Squadron to one of several forward fighter strips protecting Darwin.

His squadron’s mission was to intercept and repel Japanese bomber and fighter formations approaching the Darwin area from the islands to the north.

Duties and operations

Mawer flew Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vc aircraft, operating as part of fighter sections that scrambled to intercept incoming raids over the Arafura Sea and Darwin Harbour.

The job was punishing: operating in tropical heat from rough airstrips, and long periods of waiting punctuated by violent, brief engagements in the sky.

Pilots often took off with only minutes’ warning to climb to interception altitude before the Japanese bombers arrived.

Cooperation with RAAF units

54 Squadron RAF provided seasoned combat pilots and alongside No. 452 RAAF and No. 457 RAAF with the Mk VIII Spitfire, it formed No. 1 Fighter Wing, commanded by Wing Commander Clive Caldwell, Australia’s top-scoring ace.

The mix of British and Australian airmen under one command created a uniquely joint “Empire” defence effort.

Operational bases

The wing operated from a chain of airfields south of Darwin:

• Livingstone, Strauss, and Coomalie Creek — all primitive, dusty strips carved out of bushland

• 54 Squadron was typically based at Livingstone Airfield, about 30 miles south of Darwin

• The airfields were spaced so that at least one squadron could scramble to intercept Japanese formations while another refuelled or patrolled

Combat and incidents

The first Japanese raids on Darwin had occurred on the 19th February 1942, when 188 Japanese aircraft raided the port of Darwin, the first of 64 raids over the next 20 months.

The first Spitfire engagement started on the 6th February 1943, with the result that a Ki46 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down.

The next big raid occurred 20 miles off the coast of Darwin occurred on 2nd March 1943, when the wing intercepted a large Japanese formation of 30 aircraft. Raids continued with often 50 plus aircraft being seen on their way to the Australian mainland.

54 Squadron pilots claimed a number destroyed, though losses were high — a few aircraft were lost to engine overheating or running out of fuel during the long pursuits north.

Flying BS 305 a Mk Vc on the 15th March, Granville Mawer claimed a Japanese zero over Darwin harbour, the first of his 3 claims!

On 20 June 1943, during Raid No. 57, Mawer was flying Spitfire A58-54 (BR548), call sign QY-M of 452 Squadron, when he engaged Japanese aircraft during a raid on Darwin.

His Spitfire sustained damage from a 7.7 mm bullet that pierced the oil system, forcing him to make a wheels-up landing at Strauss Airfield.

Mawer was uninjured and returned to flying duties shortly after — a testament to his composure and training.

This engagement is one of several recorded combats in which 452 Squadron defended Darwin’s approaches during 1943, preventing heavy losses on the ground and in shipping. The combined efforts of the Spitfire pilots and anti-aircraft defences effectively blunted the Japanese air offensive.

Allen, as he was known, shot down and destroyed three Japanese fighters. Tragically, he was killed in a flying accident in September 1943. Allen is buried in the Adelaide River War Cemetery.

Fast forward to 2025

Peter Gartshore's Spitfire at our Goodwood airbase

On the 30th October 2025 Peter Gartshore, having returned from his type familiarisation on the South Coast of England, climbed into the cockpit of his Mk VIII and started its engine, taking to the skies for the first time in his Spitfire in the footsteps of those that went before. The Merlin engine echoed across the Australian sky — those echoes carrying the memory of both men. The Spitfire’s growl reminds onlookers that courage once stretched from the fields of RAF Tangmere to the flames of Darwin.