The Spitfire – The Little Fighter That Won The Second World War**
By Judith Schrut email judith0777@gmail.com
There’s no shortage of iconic British vehicles, from the black cab, bright red double-decker bus and Mini, to the Rolls-Royce, Brompton fold-up pushbike and Triumph motorcycle. But perhaps nothing captures the spirit of Britain as a symbol of the very best in superb design, solid engineering and sheer fighting spirit as.....the Spitfire.
In 1940, as all of Europe fell to the Nazis, only the Royal Air Force stood against a seaborne invasion of Britain by Hitler. The RAF only had about 650 fighters left. Against them was ranged the huge might of the German air force – 2,800 fighters and bombers. If the Germans destroyed the RAF’s airfields in Southeast England and pushed British air cover away from the coast, then they could safely land their troops and invade. It was, as Sir Winston Churchill put it, the“darkest hour”.
The RAF relied on two fighter aircraft, the Spitfire and the Hurricane. The Hawker Hurricane was a powerful warhorse: solid, quick, and reliable. The Supermarine Spitfire was altogether different, based on an elegant, efficient racing design that had won many international trophies. Both aircraft were fitted with the superlative Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, but the Spitfire outclassed the Hurricane in raw speed and manoeuvrability - and crucially the Spitfire also outclassed all the German fighters.
Pilots liked the Hurricane. They loved the Spitfire. It was a beautiful airplane to look at and to fly. To the Germans, it was death from above. As the Battle of Britain raged through the summer of 1940 in the skies above south-eastern England, the Germans lost over 2,000 aircraft, the bombers helpless against the Hurricanes and the German escort fighters – who had little flying time over England – falling in their hundreds to the swifter Spitfires. When Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe asked German fighter ace Adolf Galland what more could be done, Galland replied, “Give me a squadron of Spitfires.” Goering was not amused.
In September 1940, the Germans, with their air force repulsed and battered, had to cancel their waiting invasion force, never to be redeployed. Of the 3,000 Allied pilots who fought the Battle of Britain, 544 died. Many more were wounded. Their average age? Just twenty.Together with their planes, they saved us all from a Nazi-dominated world. As Churchill said: “Never before in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.” And owed to the Spitfire.
There are still plenty of Spitfires flying – the ones that are left are loved, renovated, repaired and renewed. They can be spotted flown by enthusiasts, dancing in the skies over eastern England as they did 75 years ago and will always feature in air shows or in a flypast for a Royal Wedding and the Queen’s birthday. If you want to experience them close up you can see them at the Imperial War Museum in London and Duxford and the RAF Museum in Hendon, North London. Just remember, it’s not only a fighter. It’s an icon.
Further information: www.rafmuseum.org.uk www.iwm.org.uk www.spitfiremuseum.org.uk
**With grateful thanks to Ivor Benjamin for his splendid contribution.
Image: The Mighty Spitfire, photo courtesy of the Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford