The underbelly of history. A lot of stories like this buried with the men
who fulfilled the missions...

In the lighter moments of WWII, the Spitfire was used in an unorthodox role:
bringing beer kegs to the men in Normandy.

During the war, the Heneger and Constable brewery donated free beer to the
troops. After D-Day, supplying the invasion troops in Normandy with vital
supplies was already a challenge. Obviously, there was no room in the
logistics chain for such luxuries as beer or other types of refreshments.
Some men, often called 'sourcers', were able to get wine or other niceties
from the land or rather from the locals. RAF Spitfire pilots came up with an
even better idea.

The Spitfire Mk IX was an evolved version of the Spitfire, with pylons under
the wings for bombs or tanks. It was discovered that the bomb pylons could
also be modified to carry beer kegs. According to pictures that can be
found, various sizes of kegs were used. Whether the kegs could be jettisoned
in case of emergency is unknown. If the Spitfire flew high enough, the cold
air at altitude would even refresh the beer, making it ready for consumption
upon arrival.

A variation was a long range fuel tank modified to carry beer instead of
fuel. The modification even received the official designation Mod. XXX.
Propaganda services were quick to pick up on this, which probably explains
the official designation.

A staged shot of the Mod. XXX tank being filled. As a result, Spitfires
equipped with Mod XXX or keg-carrying pylons were often sent back to Great
Britain for maintenance or liaison duties.. They would then return to
Normandy with full beer kegs fitted under the wings. The Spitfire had very
little ground clearance with the larger beer kegs.

Typically, the British Revenue of Ministry and Excise stepped in, notifying
the brewery that they were in violation of the law by exporting beer without
paying the relevant taxes. It seems that Mod. XXX was terminated then, but
various squadrons found different ways to refurbish their stocks, most often
done with the unofficial approval of higher echelons.

In his book Dancing in the Skies, Tony Jonsson, the only Icelancer pilot in
the RAF, recalled beer runs while he was flying with 65 Squadron. Every week
a pilot was sent back to the UK to fill some cleaned-up drop tanks with beer
and return to the squadron. Jonsson hated the beer runs as every man on the
squadron would be watching you upon arrival. Anyone who made a rough landing
and dropped the tanks would be the most hated man on the squadron for an
entire week.