Tomahawk II Clive Caldwell Raf Desert Rats Air Force 1/48 Scale Airplane by Carousel 1

Tomahawk II Clive Caldwell Raf Desert Air Force 1/48 scale by Carousel 1. Each airplane comes with a history card of the pilot.

Clive Caldwell was the most famous of the Australian and New Zealand "Desert Rats" who bore the brunt of the fighting in North Africa, and the highest-scoring Australian ace of World War 2. Caldwell altered his birth certificate when he enlisted at the outbreak of the war. because he was 29 years old and the age limit for pilots was 29. In May 1941 he was posted to 250 Squadron, and gained his first victory on 26 June 1941. On 30 August 1941 Caldwell flew fighter cover for Royal Navy ships supplying the besieged garrison at Tobruk. He was bounced by Messerschmitt Bf 109E's flown by Luftwaffe ace Lt. Werner Schroer and his wingman from JG 27. Schroer set Caldwell's Tomahawk afire and wounded Caldwell. Schroer decided the burning Tomahawk was done for and flew away. Caldwell sideslipped his Tomahawk to extinguish the fire and prepared to bail out, but when he noticed that the fire had stopped, he attempted to limp home. But on his way back to base Caldwell spotted another pair of Bf 1O9's, shot one down and hit the other. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and promoted to Flight Lieutenant. On 5 December 1941, Caldwell led 19 Tomahawks from 250 and 112 Squadrons against a formation of about 60 German aircraft: "No. 250 Squadron went into line astern behind me and as No. 112 Squadron engaged the escorting enemy fighters we attacked the JUs(8 7) from the rear quarter. A13 00 yards I openedfire at the leader of one of the rear sections of three, allowing too little deflection, and hit No. 2 and No. 3, one of which burst into flames immediately, the other going smoking and went into flames. I then attacked the leader of the rear section, opening fire at very close range. The enemy aircraft tuned over and dived steeply. Opened fire again at close range, the enemy caught fire and crashed in flames. I was able to pull up under the belly of one, holding the burst until very close range. The enemy caught fire and dived into the ground. " In January 1942 Caldwell was promoted to be Squadron Leader of 112 Squadron. After the Japanese bombed Darwin in February 1942, Caldwell was trained on Spitfires and sent home to Australia. In November 1942 Caldwell was assigned to be Wing Leader of No. 1 Fighter Wing, which arrived in Darwin in January 1943 with their Spitfires. His first victories in the Pacific Theater came on 2 March 1943, when he shot down a Japanese fighter and dive bomber. His final score was 17 German, 3-1/2 Italian, and 8 Japanese aircraft shot down. He resigned from the RAAF in 1946 and became a successful businessman in Sydney. Clive Caldwell died on 5 August 1994.