• Built at Castle Bromwich, autumn of 1943.
• First flown on November 27.
• Stored at 9 MU, Cosford until the spring of
1944. On March 13, MJ627 arrived at General
Aircraft for further checks which were almost
certainly conducted at Hanworth, Middlesex.
• Entered service with number 441(Silver Fox)
Sqn, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) on
September 25, 1944 and served with the RAF
from Advanced Landing Ground B70 located in
Belgium. She was given the codes ‘9G-Q’
• On September 27, 1944 Pilot Officer Bregman
took off in MJ627 to patrol the Arnhem area
and was credited with the downing of a Bf109.
The combat film of his victory still survives
• Remaining with 441 Sqn, MJ627 was kept
busy during the latter part of 1944 and the
following sorties were recorded:
• November 6 – Flying Officer F.E.Manette was
tasked to cover 216 Lancaster Bomber aircraft
that were targeting Gelsenkirchen.
• November 10 – Flight Lieutenant Smith flew an
‘op’ to Minoru, escorting Dakotas to Paris.
• November 27 – Flying Officer B.M. Mackenzie
gave top cover for Lancasters to Cologne.
• November 29 – Flying Officer Bregman flew as
a withdrawal escort for 270 Lancasters
• December 8 – Flying Officer Bregman escorted
220 Lancasters to the Heinbach Dam with
the Squadron then landing at Brussels as the
weather had closed in at home base.
• December 27, 1944 441 Sqn. moved to
Skeabrae, Orkney Islands, Scotland for defence
of the Naval Fleet. March 9, 1945, following
a routine patrol, MJ627 experienced engine
problems that resulted in a forced-landing
• On September 11, 1945, MJ627 was repaired
at Air Service Training, Hamble.
• MJ was sold to Vickers Armstrong Ltd on July
19, 1950 for conversion to a T9 Trainer
• MJ627 was sold to the Irish Air Corps,
given the markings IAC 158 and delivered to
Baldonnel, near Dublin on June 5, 1951, staying
until withdrawal on April 20, 1960.
• In 1989 MJ627 was moved to Coventry, Warks,
for assembly at Dollar Air Services and had its
first engine runs in 1992.
• First post-restoration flight: November 8 1993 –
timed to coincide with its original first flight 50
years previously at Castle Bromwich. In view of
MJ627’s operational history it was finished in
number 441 Sqn colours, and coded 9G-Q with
invasion stripes.
Now based at Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar and
YOU can fly in it. Enquire today!