sUPeRMaRINe sPITfIRe Mk.IIa P7350

Spitfire Mk.IIa P7350 is special even among the Spitfires still flying. It was the 14th of 11,939 built at the Castle Bromwich site and is the only currently airworthy example that was involved in combat during the Battle of Britain.

Under Lord Nuffield the factory at Castle Bromwich failed to produce a single Spitfire but, following the intervention of Lord Beaverbrook, a slow build-up of construction took place.

In July 1940 the first 23 were completed. Among these early examples was P7350, although it did not fly until the following month when taken for an air test by Alex Henshaw.

It was initially sent to 6 Maintenance Unit at Brize Norton, but when it was decided that 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron, based at Wittering, would replace its Mk.Is with the Mk.IIa, P7350 was included in the delivery on September 6 and received the code UT-O. The squadron had already seen heavy fighting in the south and had been moved to recover and re-equip, but during this time it still saw limited action.

Just over a month after receiving the Mk.IIa, 266 Sqn reverted to the Mk.I, transferring the newer Spitfires, including P7350, to 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron at Hornchurch on October 17, 1940. With fighting still very intense, P7350 only lasted a short time before being damaged in combat with Bf 109s and a crash landing on October 25 while being flown by Polish pilot PO Ludwig Martel. Despite the wheels-up landing it was recovered and was at 1 Civilian Repair Unit at Cowley, Oxfordshire, by the end of the month. The original bullet holes in the port wing gained from the combat remained patched up until a major service in 2008.

Having been repaired, P7350 was placed in storage, probably due to the respite from fighting during the winter and increase in Spitfire production, but 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron received it while at Tangmere on March 18, 1941, for a few weeks until it was passed over to 64 Squadron at Hornchurch on April 10.

It stayed with 64 Sqn for several months until it was sent to Prestwick, where Scottish Aviation undertook a major overhaul in August. This was the last time that P7350 served with a frontline squadron as it spent the remaining war years in secondary roles, first at the Central Gunnery School, Sutton Bridge, and then, following an accident on February 4, 1943, it was repaired and flown by 57 Operational Training Unit, Eshott. It was damaged again when another Spitfire taxied into it on April 22, 1944. Following repairs it was placed in storage before being sold as scrap on July 8, 1948 for the princely sum of £25. Fortunately, instead of destroying P7350, the new owners, Messrs John Dale Ltd, understood the provenance of the

Battle of Britain veteran and donated it to the RAF Colerne Collection as a static display. It remained there until March 1967 when it was purchased by Spitfire Productions Ltd and registered with the civilian code G-AWIJ, although the Ministry of Defence retained ultimate ownership with a view to using it for the planned Battle of Britain film. It was transported by road to Henlow and restored to flying condition. As one of the first Spitfires acquired for the film it received a new scheme, albeit without any codes or serial. While waiting for filming to commence it was one of three Spitfires used in the background of the opening scene for the 1968 film The Devil’s Brigade. As a flying example of an ‘authentic’ Battle of Britain Spitfire,