The Spitfire is the world’s most iconic airplane. Yet the history of the Spitfire contains many hitherto hidden or little-known stories of the men and women behind the plane; not only the gifted creators and inventors, or the brave fighter pilots who triumphed in battle, but also the thousands of other people whose lives were affected by their personal connection to it—engineers, ground crew, factory or office workers, and their families. This book recounts the memories and stories of these people, from the birth of the Spitfire in the 1930s to the present day. Among these accounts is the extraordinary tale of the fighter pilot who only discovered, 50 years on, the tragic truth of his last Spitfire flight, the businessman whose blank check changed the course of the war, the 95-year-old RAF engineer who was determined to be reunited with his beloved Spit before he died, and the little girl who inspired the plane’s creation—and went on to marry a movie star. Using documents, letters and photographs from the Imperial War Museums’ unparalleled archive, plus exclusive first-hand interviews, these stories of the Spitfire are a revelatory collection of small but significant histories, to be treasured by all who love and admire the iconic plane.
