A Captured Ms 406

[NARSES2]

Royal Thai AF MS 406C.1

Firstly, some real world background – Courtesy of Wikipedia

The Franco-Thai War (Thai: กรณีพิพาทอินโดจีน; French: Guerre franco-thaïlandaise) (1940–1941) was fought between Thailand and Vichy France over certain areas of French Indochina.

Negotiations with France shortly before World War II had shown that the French government was willing to make appropriate changes to the boundaries between Thailand and French Indochina, but only slightly. Following the Fall of France in 1940, Major-General Plaek Pibulsonggram (popularly known as "Phibun"), the prime minister of Thailand, decided that France's defeat gave the Thais an even better chance to regain the vassal state territories that were ceded to France during King Chulalongkorn's reign.

The German military occupation of Metropolitan France rendered France's hold on its overseas possessions, including French Indochina, tenuous. The colonial administration was now cut off from outside help and outside supplies. After the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in September 1940, the French were forced to allow Japan to set up military bases. This seemingly subservient behaviour lulled the Phibun regime into believing that France would not seriously resist a military confrontation with Thailand.

The Campaign

While nationalist demonstrations and anti-French rallies were being held in Bangkok, several border skirmishes erupted along the Mekong frontier. The superior Royal Thai Air Force then conducted daytime bombing runs over military targets in Vientiane, Phnom Penh, Sisophon, and Battambang with impunity. The French retaliated with their own air attacks, but the damage they caused was less than equal. The activities of the Thai air force, particularly in the field of dive-bombing, was such that Admiral Jean Decoux, the governor of French Indochina, grudgingly remarked that the Thai planes seemed to have been flown by men with plenty of war experience.

On 5 January 1941, following the report of a French attack on the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet, the Thai Burapha and Isan Armies launched an offensive on Laos and Cambodia. French response was instantaneous, but many units were simply swept aside by the better-equipped Thai forces. The Thai army swiftly overran Laos, but the French forces in Cambodia managed to rally and offer more resistance.

At dawn on January 16, 1941, the French launched a large counterattack on the Thai-held villages of Yang Dang Khum and Phum Preav, initiating the fiercest battle of the war. Due to poor coordination and non-existent intelligence against the entrenched and well-prepared Thai forces, the French operation was stopped and fighting ended with a French retreat from the area. However, the Thais were unable to pursue the retreating French, as their forward tanks were kept in check by the gunnery of French Foreign Legion artillery.

With the situation on land rapidly deteriorating for the French, Admiral Decoux ordered all available French naval forces into action in the Gulf of Thailand. In the early morning of 17 January, a French naval squadron caught a Thai naval detachment by surprise at anchor off Ko Chang island. The subsequent Battle of Ko Chang was a tactical victory for the French and resulted in the sinking of two Thai torpedo boats and the disabling of a coastal defence ship, with the French suffering no casualties. Fearing the war would turn in France's favour, the Japanese intervened, proposing an armistice be signed.

On 24 January, the final air battle took place when Thai bombers raided the French airfield at Angkor, near Siem Reap. The last Thai mission bombing Phnom Penh commenced at 07:10 on 28 January, when the Martins of the 50th Bomber Squadron set out on a raid on Sisophon, escorted by thirteen Hawk 75Ns of the 60th Fighter Squadron.

An armistice was signed on the 28th January 1941.

The Wiffery

On December 22nd 1940 S/Lt Blancard a descendant of the Baron Blancard who'd commanded the Carabineres at Waterloo, was patrolling in his Ms 406C.1 when he was hit by a sudden and totally unexpected heavy rain squall. With visibility at zero he descended to 500 metres when his engine suddenly started to miss-fire and was soon sounding as though it was just about to give up the ghost completely. Hastily looking below for a suitable patch of land to attempt an emergency landing upon, Blancard spotted a road running alongside the rice paddies towards a nearby village and decided to attempt an emergency landing. Unfortunately for Blancard whilst he made a textbook landing, he hadn't noticed that the road itself had numerous rain filled potholes and on encountering one of these his port side undercarriage leg collapsed and, hitting his head on the gun sight Blancard was knocked out. When he woke up, he found himself being administered to by a couple of the extremely attractive female villagers, but before he could say "merci" he noticed that they in turn were being guarded by two heavily armed Thai soldiers. S/Lt Blancard's war was over.

Subsequently "his" Ms 406 was shipped to Bangkok and restored to flying condition where at the same time its minimal French markings were overpainted in white and Royal Thai Airforce markings applied. Latter in the spring of 1941 it was flown in the "Great Victory Parade" that was held in Bangkok by Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh the pre-war racing driver, sailor, and aviator, who had returned home to "play his part" in the conflict. For this flight Prince Bira, as he was known, had his personal emblem painted on the rear fuselage band. The subsequent history of this aircraft remains a bit of a mystery to this day, as it just seems to disappear from the records shortly after the parade. Some say it was taken by the Japanese when they moved in to control Thailand, whilst others say that Prince Bira had plans to turn it into a racing machine, but that upon testing the powerful engine he'd had installed the aircraft caught fire and blew up. Who knows ? One day its remains may even turn up in some rural Water Buffalo shed and be restored for display in some museum or other.

The Model

This is the Azure Morane-Saulnier Ms-406C.1 1/72 kit "Red and Yellow Stripes" boxing and whilst a limited run offering is a quite nice and easy build. Just take your time in ensuring the cockpit insert is fitted properly before attempting to close the fuselage. Ask me how I know ? The aircraft is in the camouflage pattern and colours that are in one of the options provided in the kit, that flown by S/Lt Mezy, Escadrille 2/596, Dong Heng, French Indo-China in the later part of 1940. As such it has not been re-painted with Vichy identification markings as these did not come into effect in Indo-China until latter in 1941.

I've used colours from Hataka's Blue Line Early French WWII Aircraft Colours set, namely; Gris Bleu Clair, Khaki Francais, Brun Fonce and Gris Bleu Fonce. Now it appears that not only did the French Air Force give manufacturers complete freedom when it came to applying the camouflage pattern, but that they were also given some leeway in the actual shades used as well. As such Hataka offer two versions of both the brown and the green shades and I have taken advantage of that in my choice of colours. They may not be accurate for the actual aircraft, but they offer a contrast to ones I've previously modelled.

Transfers are from a mixture of "bits and bobs". The national markings are from a Kora sheet which offers these roundels, the rectangles worn by their Hawk 75's and the "elephant" markings used when the Thai's became "allied" to the Japanese. Prince B's personal emblem is from the Special Hobby Hawk 75 kit and is from an aircraft flown by Pilot Sgt Sangwan of the 60th Fighter Group (Pak Tai). To be honest I am not sure if this is his personal marking or the unit's, but I thought it looked somewhat suitable for a Prince.

So, there we have it. I lost my way a bit in the middle of this build, nothing to do with the kit, but in the end I enjoyed it and am pleased with the finished result, and that after all is what really matters.

Finished Photos













Unit Badge

[Rheged]

What a beauty!!  ................and I'm delighted to see a guest appearance by Prince Birabongse.

[TomZ]

Nice one!

TomZ

[Old Wombat]

Job well done, that man!

[Dizzyfugu]

Cool. And so different from mine that was inspired by your original idea! 

[Hotte]

Nice Morane 

Hotte

[zenrat]

Good job Chris.

[kitbasher]

Very smart, Chris.  That'll confuse the uninitiated.

[tigercat]

Rather marvelous

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Good one I like that. Very princely!

[Weaver]

Wow - that's a truly obscure corner of WWII that I've never seen exploited for a whiff before, indeed I've only just about heard of it full-stop.

Nice job Chris - well done. 

[TheChronicOne]

Out of left field!! I love it..... the more obscure, the better sometimes. Paint scheme is pretty wicked!

[NARSES2]

Thanks gents