Sarkar, Dilip A Spitfire's Story

The Invisible Thread. Spitfire R6644 and the Pilots who flew it

The public's enthusiasm for the legendary Spitfire continues unabated; in fact, it is growing as more and more of these incredible aircraft are being restored to flying condition. However, the history of the Spitfire is a story of people, designers, engineers, pilots, ground crew and many others whose lives were touched in some way by this extraordinary machine and it is these stories that inspired this book. The Spitfire Mk. IA R6644 was built by Supermarine in Woolston and tested on 30 May 1940 by the famous test pilot Jeffrey Quill. The aircraft was then taken over by the 5 Operational Training Unit at Aston Down. There it was flown by a number of The Few, new replacement pilots who were retrained on this type. For example, it is likely that R6644 was flown by Pilot Officer Richard Hillary, who was shot down, suffered severe burns and became a member of the Guinea Pig Club. In his classic memoir, The Last Enemy, Hillary described how the young pilots of 5 OTU flew under the arches of the large railway bridge over the Severn Estuary. This inspired the famous scene in the 1980s television series Piece of Cake in which Ray Hanna flew the Spitfire MH434 under a bridge to pose for the camera. Among the other pilots known to have flown the R6644 at Aston Down are at least two aces. On 26 February 1941, the R6644 was transferred to No. 65 Squadron. One of the pilots of No. 65 Squadron who flew the R6644 was the great ace Flying Officer Brendan Paddy Finucane DFC. In April, R6644 was taken over by the newly formed 308th (Polish) Squadron. On 11 May 1941, Pilot Officer Franciszek Surma flew the R6644 to investigate an unknown radar blip, which turned out to be a friendly Blenheim, but had to abandon the Spitfire due to an engine fire near Malvern, Worcestershire. Surma, also one of the Few, was able to parachute to safety; he was reported missing on 8 November 1941 during Operation Circus 110 off Dunkirk. This book not only covers the men who flew R6674 throughout its wartime service, but also brings the story up to date by detailing the excavation of the Spitfire's crash site in 1987.