Spitfire F Mk.22 - Syria - 1956

The Syrian Spitfire Mk.22s were delivered in 1950 directly from RAF storage and arrived in Syria in the known High Speed Silver colour on top of which the SyAAF insignia with the green contour was applied. It is not entirely clear how long (years?) they have flown like this and when exactly they received the camouflage painting (sand with olive drab). The Spitfires were used as trainers until at least 1957 and were retired again in storage in Syria.
After Syria left the UARAF in late 1961, Egypt took away also most of the trainer aircraft stationed in Syria. The SyAAF being reconstructed again was facing major issues training new pilots due to the lack of trainer aircraft. Therefore the Spitfires were taken out of storage, overhauled and pushed back into service in 1962 even as advanced (!!) trainers.

The reference historical photograph is from the late 1960's and it represents an abandoned, derelict airframe. There were several other abandoned Syrian Spitfires aligned in the open at that military air base (where this photograph was taken). Some people say there are more photographs of those abandoned Spitfires somwhere, but I have never seen them so far. I have seen 2 more photographs of these Spitfires from the mid 1950's, but they're of terrible quality and you can't really distinguish any meaningful detail.