Brewster B-339 Martinique 1940
22 June1940: Franco-German Armistice is signed, as part of the provisions France guaranteeing that her fleet would not operate against Germany, but  that her forces would resist an attack by any power.  3 July 1940: Operation Catapult - the Royal Navy bombard the French fleet in Mers-el Kebir, killing 1,297 French servicemen, sinking a battleship and damaging five other ships. Presented as a regrettable necessity, it was largely regarded as a betrayal and atrocity in France.

The French island of Martinique was governed by Admiral Georges Robert, who firmly supported Petain's government and refused to join General de Gaulle's Free French. The aircraft carrier Bearn had arrived on 15th June and on board were  15 new Curtiss H-75A-4 fighters, 25 Stinson 105 utility aircraft, 44 Curtiss SBC Helldiver biplane dive bombers and 6 Brewster Buffalo fighters intended for the Belgian Air Component.

In the real world, American influence ensured that the Bearn was effectively interned until 1943 and the aircraft landed and sabotaged or abandoned.

What if [/b]Admiral Robert had been more pro-active? There was hope for a long time that the French-owned aircraft might be allowed to be sent to Indo-China, but could the Belgian B-339s be considered abandoned?
Incensed by Operation Catapult, Robert decided to requisition the Belgian aircraft to show that Martinique would defend itself against any British (or American) attack. An airfield was rapidly constructed, and pilots recruited from the Aeronovale  - the Navy was to run the operation. The unit was Escadrille Martinique, bearing the island's flag of a St Michael's cross with four snakes on the fin. The aircraft were named after French naval heroes of the battles in support of the American War of Independence. Reluctantly, yellow neutrality markings were applied to nose and tail. The aircraft served until 1943, when Free French forces took over the island; disarmed, two survivors were kept as aerobatic trainers until 1945.


Brewster B-339 "Comte de Guichen", Escadrille Martinique


Brewster B339 Martinique by Glenn Gilbertson, on Flickr

Very believable. and colourful too. 

I like that 

Very good!

TomZ

Thanks, gentlemen.

quite a good idea and history there, but there's one thing i should note:

the name "Belgian Air Component" was not used until the reforms in 2002 (within the MoD and the population, its still regarded to as Belgian Air Force), before that is was Belgian Air Force (from 1946 onward), and before that it was the "Aeronautique Militaire Belge / Belgisch Militair Vliegwezen" (Belgian Military Aviation, from 1909 to 1946).

Thanks, Nils,
I learn something new every day!

Very nice! 

I think that is just wonderfull, and a trefficic use of the Buffalo.
Give it a bigger engine and you could call it a "Gruffalo".

Thanks, gentlemen - I did toy with the thought of it being called "un bison" as a play on "Buffalo" and secondary as in "Route Bison" - but I gather that the latter is a recent usage. Maybe "le Brew", "le Belge" or "le Baril"?

Fit a Rolls Royce Griffon to make a Gruffalo? The mind boggles!

Quote from: JayBee on February 18, 2021, 11:13:38 AM
I think that is just wonderfull, and a trefficic use of the Buffalo.
Give it a bigger engine and you could call it a "Gruffalo".

There have been successful R-2600 transplants in the past (I am aware of two on this board), but the tail needs to be lengthened a bit, too, to compensate for the longer nose.

The real aircraft on Martinique:










Chris

I think your version looks better than the real ones!

What's the difference between a 'fighter' and a 'pursuit plane'?

I thought they were the same thing........... 

Quote from: PR19_Kit on February 20, 2021, 05:34:17 AM
What's the difference between a 'fighter' and a 'pursuit plane'?

I thought they were the same thing........... 

They are the same thing, Kit.

Note that all "fighters" in the USAAF had the P for "Pursuit" prefix (P-38, P-40, P-47, P-51, etc.), their role being to "pursue" enemy aircraft.

The USN called theirs "fighters", hence the F prefix (F4F, F6F, F4U, etc.), their role being to fight enemy aircraft.

Different terminology, same thing.