The usual practice was that the governments in exile, all of which appear to have been based in London, would use funds available to them to provide the necessary aircraft to the respective squadrons - providing for many, if not all, required to equip a squadron. Most such aircraft were Spitfires but some were Hurricanes as well as bombers.

These governments in exile also formed "Spitfire Funds" for donations from their nationals in the UK or Allied nations around the world. By the end if the war these funds would total more the 20 Million Pounds Stirling - which was sufficient to purchase almost 10% of the 20,351 Spitfires which were eventually produced.

Following Germany's invasion of Denmark on April 9, 1940, the king and government continued to function as a de facto protectorate of Germany and as such maintained an ambassador in London and not a free government in exile (a state if affairs which continued until Germany placed the country under military occupation on August 29, 1943).

Under the circumstances, Free Danes who were in the UK when Denmark was invaded or found their way there after escaping from occupied-Europe who dreamed of establishing a Danish Squadron in the RAF did not have government funds to use for this purpose. Spurred on by formation of the first Norwegian fighter squadron, RAF No. 331 (Norway) Squadron, in the summer of 1941, they formed a Fighterr Fund Committee to create a Danish Spitfire Fund with the goal of raising £65,000 Pounds. This would have paid for the 12 Spitfires to outfit a squadron at their then-current production cost.

From late 1941 through early 1942 donations from Danish Communities around the world to the Danish Spitfire Fund came to only £35,574. Half of this came from Danes living in Britain and Northern Ireland with the second largest amount of £6,877 from Argentina, followed by communities in South African and Canada. A significant amount had been expected from the United States but following the US entry after the attack on Pearl Harbor, most Danes living there shifted their giving to US causes and not those associated with their homeland.

Unable to fund a full squadron, the Danish Spitfire Committee aimed to establish a flight within an existing RAF squadron. Thus on April 9, 1942 a total of £38,000 was donated to British authorities. Total collections eventually reached £40,972, which was enough to fund construction of 8 Spitfires.

Danish seamen serving in the British merchant marine had adopted the motto "Skagen Ind" as the motto for their collections intended for the Danish Spitfire Fund. The term represented the seamen's collective dream of being Inbound ("Ind") to Skagen, or the Skaw / Scaw, which is the northernmost tip of Denmark. As early as November 1941, the newspaper "Fril Denmark" published in the UK reported that "Skagen Ind" had been chosen as the name of a Spitfire.

The receipt of the £38,000 had obviously been anticipated by the British Air Ministry because three Spitfires Mk.Vb from Castle Bronwich taken on charge together to No. 4 MU Ternhill on February 16, 1942 would arrive at No. 234 (Madra Presidency) Squadron at RAF Ibsley on April 5 bearing Danish flags and Danish historical names/mottos on their fuselage sides, forward and slightly below their cockpits. These were Serial # BL831 - Squadron Code "AZ K", Serial # BL855 - Squadron Code "AX U" and Serial #BL924 - Squadron "AZ G". That April 10th, a ceremony was held at Ibsley for Winston Churchill to accept the donation of the three aircraft from the Danish Spitfire Fund.

The final issue involves the name/motto carried by BL924. One post-war reference source on markings of World War II aircraft stated that all three of the original Danish Spitfires, identified above carried the name "VALDEMAR ATTERDAG" in all caps - commemorating the Danish King from 1340 to 1375 who played a major role in Denmark achieving independence from the Germanic Principality of Holstein. By way of contrast, the Air Ministry's Form 78 for each aircraft - setting forth their detailed history show that BL831 was named "SKAGEN Ind", BL855 was named "NIELS EBBESEN", after another 14th Danish hero, and BL924 was named "VALDEMAR ATTERDAG".

Despite the latter 'official records', photographs of Aksel Svendsen, to whom BL924 was assigned, crouching on the aircraft's wing on April 5 after having flown it from No. 4 MU Ternhill to No. 234 Squadron at RAF Ibsley proudly displaying "SKAGEN Ind" on its fuselage, and of the April 10 presentation ceremony at which Churchill accepted the three aircraft from the Danish Spitfire Fund, BL924 is shown most prominently of the three with both "SKAGEN Ind" and its Squadron Code "AZ G" clearly visible. This clearly suggests that the clerk who have prepared the respective Air Ministry Form 78s had inadvertently switched the names of  BL831 (which is recognized today as having been "VALDEMAR ATTERDAG") and BL924.

Unfortunately, the combat career of BL831 and BL924 with Aksel Svendsen at the controls were short-lived. From April 10 -24, Svendsen logged 24 flights in BL234 and five in other aircraft. Then on the 24th, No. 234 Squadron was assigned top cover for six Douglas A-20 Boston (US Havoc) bombers on a raid on the Luftwafte base at Abbeville in Normandy France. They were jumped by Focke Wulf  F2 190s form JG 2 flown by more experienced pilots and both BL831 and BL924 were shot down near Berck-sur-Mer, France and Svendsen was killed - euphemistically reported as "went missing". He was 3 days short of his 20th birthday at the time.

An interesting note regarding the name on the model is that in the 1960s the Swendson family paid a commision to have a vintage Spitfire Mk.Vb done up to replicate BL924 / AZ G in honor of Aksel and on displayed in Merston Hall at the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum compounded the error made in BL924's Form 78 by having the aircraft named "VALDEMAR ATTERDAG" instead of "SKAGEN Ind" as it should have been. However, in 2012 an inpection revealed age-related structural problems that required restoration work that were beyond the Tangmere Museum's capabilities and as a result, the museum transferred ownership of the aircraft to the UK's Spitfire Society, which possessed the necessary facilities and expertise to restore the aircraft.

An unexpanable aspect of the Ixo Junior model being offered under this listing is that it does not bear either "VALDEMAR ATTERDAG" of "SKAGEN Ind" on both sides of its fuselage but instead the coding or lettering "I / IO / GRITI/ H/V a." This is all the more unusual in light of the fact that the model was released in 2010 when the actual aircraft was still on display in the Tangmere Museum. 

Very nice model with finely-defined panel lines. Propeller spins. Model comes with 'lowered' and 'raised' landing gear and therefore can be displayed "on the ground" or "in flight" on the stand provided. However, the model is so heavy it can only safely be displayed sitting on its landing gear if these are glued in place. Because the gear can otherwise collapse as well as to minimize our handling of the model when taking our pictures for this listing, we only took the pictures of the model on its stand without attaching any of the small parts that come with it.

The Ixo Junior model being offer under this listing was released in 2010, as stated above, replicates the same aircraft as DeAgostini's #DAWF09, which was released under DeAgostini's Japanese subscription service of WWII fighter aircraft on June 28, 2016. The models are effectively the same except that the "AZ A" markings on the Ixo Junior model are white while those on the DeAgostinin model are grey and the DeAgostini model has the serial number erronsously note as "BL924" rather than "DL924". This error is discussed at length in the listings of examples of DAWF09, which we have offered from time to time. 

Note that our first two pictures are of the Ixo Junior model and the last three are of the DeAgostini model. In case of the Ixo Junior model the wing-mounted cannons are not mounted on the model in the picture but come in a small plastic packet to be set in place once the model has been removed from its box for display.

Diecast model. Ixo Junior #PIXJ000012.

MIB.

FOR ANYONE NOT FAMILIAR WITH HOW TO INTERPRET A MODEL'S SCALE, THE MODEL IS 4 7/8 INCHES LONG WITH A 5 7/8 INCH WINGSPAN. THESE ARE EQUIVALENT TO DIVIDING THE LENGTH AND WINGSPAN OF THE REAL AIRCRAFT IN INCHES BY 72.