Dates

Event

Constructed as a Swordfish I.

21 October 1941

First flight.
Flown at Blackburn Aircraft facility at Sherburn-in -Elmet, Yorkshire.

Taken on Strength/Charge with the Royal Navy with s/n W5856.

12 May 1945

Transferred to Naval Air Gunnery School.
Transferred to Canada and served with the gunnery a until disposed of in 1947.

Alastair Storie comments (21 March 2022): I found your pictures and realised that this was the plane flown by my father in WW2, he was The Telegraphist Air Gunner.

Taken on Strength/Charge with the Royal Canadian Navy with s/n W5856.

August 1977

Recovered.
Retrived by Sir Williams Roberts from Alabama and transferred to Strathallan.

23 October 1985

To William James Denby Roberts, Trustee of:, Strathallan Aircraft Collection, Strathallan Castle, Auchterarder with new c/r G-BMGC (FAIREY SWORDFISH MKII, W5856).

2 September 1991

Civil registration, G-BMGC, cancelled.

To Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton, Yeovilton, Somerset, England.
View the Location Dossier

To Royal Navy Historic Flight, R N A S Yeovilton, Yeovilton, Somerset, England.
View the Location Dossier

Markings Applied: City of Leeds, A2A
W5856 is painted in the pre-war colours of 810 Squadron embarked in HMS Ark Royal. The horizontal stripes on the fin denote the Commanding Officers aircraft, and the blue and red fuselage stripes are the colours for Ark Royal with the letter code A being for the ship, 2 for the second squadron and A for the first aircraft of that squadron. The long yellow fuselage strip identified 810 as Yellow Squadron in the summer air exercises held in 1939. In September 1996 W5856 was adopted by the City of Leeds and now proudly wears the Citys coat of arms and name on her port side just forward of the pilots cockpit.

16 July 1993

Photographer: joop de groot
Notes: 1993 photo taken at Yeovilton in the UK. Photo displayed with written permission of Joop de Groot

22 July 1994

Photographer: Unknown Photographer
Notes: Photographed at RAF Fairford.

17 September 1994

Photographer: Peter Nicholson
Notes: On display at the 1994 RAF Leuchars Airshow with the Royal Navy Historic Flight.

15 September 2001

Photographer: Peter Nicholson
Notes: On display at the 2001 RAF Leuchars Airshow.

17 July 2002

Photographer: Robert Nichols
Notes: at RNAS Culdrose Airshow. City of Leeds badge on front fuselage

8 July 2017

Photographer: Thomas Delvoye
Notes: Yeovilton International Air Day 2017.(UK)

13 July 2019

Photographer: Alan Kilham
Notes: Noted in the static aircraft park at the RNAY Yeovilton International Air Show

17 March 2020

To Fly Navy Heritage Trust, Yeovilton with new c/r G-BMGC.
Operated with markings: A2A