0:00:03 > 0:00:06We're talking about being British, aren't we?
0:00:06 > 0:00:09What really matters to us.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Fair play, roast beef, the Queen?
0:00:12 > 0:00:13Yeah, OK.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16But I'd like to nominate something quite different,
0:00:16 > 0:00:21something I've loved all my life and it's celebrating its 75th birthday.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24It's the most wonderful...
0:00:24 > 0:00:26the most beautiful...
0:00:26 > 0:00:28greatest...
0:00:28 > 0:00:30aircraft in the world.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32It is, of course, the Spitfire.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35Oh, gosh! A victory roll.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40But our story isn't just about a plane, it's about people -
0:00:40 > 0:00:44the men and women who've loved this thing for three-quarters of a century.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47It was the nearest thing to flying oneself.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50You went into combat daily with it together.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54The people who gave the Spitfire its soul.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56My Spitfire and me.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01Ordinary people who did the most extraordinary things.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Anything that moved, short of a horse, was an enemy.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06You would have done the same.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10First you hear it, then you feel it.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12- ENGINE ROARS - It's so exciting.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16And does it matter if it's British?
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Of course it does!
0:01:38 > 0:01:42I've come here to meet a legend - a British dream machine
0:01:42 > 0:01:47built by a golden generation.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50It was going to be called the Shrew.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52I'm so glad it wasn't.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53Are you ready?
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Fantastic!
0:02:02 > 0:02:04There it is, the Spitfire,
0:02:04 > 0:02:10surely the most beautiful British plane ever built.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26The Spitfire looks so beautiful
0:02:26 > 0:02:30because it was designed for a purpose, a brutal purpose.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34GUNFIRE
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Brutal and absolutely straightforward and horrible.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41It had to go at great speed...
0:02:42 > 0:02:45..and then bring all the force of its machine guns
0:02:45 > 0:02:47and cannon onto the enemy aircraft.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49GUNFIRE
0:02:49 > 0:02:52The key point about the Spitfire, as far as I'm concerned,
0:02:52 > 0:02:57is it's got this absolute purity of design.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00And that's why it's so beautiful.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02But beauty is only skin deep.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07I want to get to the heart of the Spitfire story,
0:03:07 > 0:03:12and this particular Mark IX Spitfire is going to be my guide.
0:03:12 > 0:03:18I want to tell the story about this particular Spitfire, the MH434.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20What did it do in the war?
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Where did it fly to?
0:03:22 > 0:03:24And who flew it?
0:03:24 > 0:03:27And what about all those people
0:03:27 > 0:03:30whose lives were changed by this Spitfire,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33the tens of thousands of people,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36who not only liked this plane, they loved it?
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Now for the really good bit.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49We're going to see it fly.
0:03:49 > 0:03:55Unfortunately, MH434 has only got room for the pilot.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59But don't worry, we're going to be up close and personal
0:03:59 > 0:04:03seeing the Spitfire in its natural habitat in the sky.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06I'm going to be cruising alongside in formation
0:04:06 > 0:04:08for the flight of my life.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12- Want a hand?- Yes, please.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15- JOHN LAUGHS - All right, I'll give it a push.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17I shouldn't be pushing on that, though, should I?
0:04:17 > 0:04:20'It might weigh more than three tons but pushing it is a joy,
0:04:20 > 0:04:27'and soon we'll be firing up the famous Merlin engine on MH434 one more time.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29'A top class commercial pilot,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32'Paul Bonhomme, will have the privilege of flying the Spitfire,
0:04:32 > 0:04:38'and I'll be in the safe hands of Bill Giles who will fly me in his Aztec.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41'I've been really looking forward to this.'
0:04:41 > 0:04:43- See you later. - All right, Paul, have a good one.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48I learnt to fly in a plane like this when I was an RAF Cadet.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53I was called Flight Sergeant Sergeant, if you want to know.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55Could I fly one of these things now?
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Only if things go wrong.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Hello, Bill, are you all right?
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Right, get cracking.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13'Prepare for a great journey into the past.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16'We're going back to Spitfire Britain,
0:05:16 > 0:05:20'following the story of one plane, our plane,
0:05:20 > 0:05:26'MH434, as it roars back to some of its wartime haunts.'
0:05:26 > 0:05:30First, we're heading west to the Castle Bromwich factory
0:05:30 > 0:05:33where our plane was built in 1943.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Then we're off to Hornchurch in Essex
0:05:35 > 0:05:39where MH434 took off over 90 times
0:05:39 > 0:05:43to defend Britain against the Luftwaffe.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48We'll soar over parts of the most stunning coastline
0:05:48 > 0:05:51to revisit this Spitfire's battlefield in the sky.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56And, best of all, we'll be meeting some incredible people,
0:05:56 > 0:06:01the few remaining voices from Generation Spitfire.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09ARCHIVE COMMENTARY: 'Having got our pilot into his seat
0:06:09 > 0:06:13'complete with cap, goggles and the rest of the outfit,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17'we have got to lash him in there so that he will not fall out.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20'Wouldn't you hate to be in a strait waistcoat of this kind?'
0:06:25 > 0:06:30More than 20,000 of these iconic planes took off from British bases
0:06:30 > 0:06:32during the Second World War.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36Pilots as young as 19 flew several missions a day
0:06:36 > 0:06:39and during the darkest days of the war,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43one in five of them didn't make it back.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50ARCHIVE COMMENTARY: 'Now the takeoff.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53'Throttle right forward, stick central,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55'ease her off the ground,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58'back with the throttle to normal boost.'
0:07:02 > 0:07:05MUSIC: "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire
0:07:16 > 0:07:17Oh, I can see her now.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Wow, that is something, isn't it?
0:07:24 > 0:07:27And it looks surprisingly menacing.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35It looks like there's a shark with wings on.
0:07:35 > 0:07:36Blimey!
0:07:38 > 0:07:40Oh, it looks terrific, it really does.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43John, are you enjoying your trip?
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Absolutely fantastic. You look marvellous.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49I don't mean you personally, but you and the plane.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Well, I think I'm just a spare part. It's the aeroplane is the best bit.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57This is what it would be like if you were in a Messerschmitt
0:07:57 > 0:08:01and a Spitfire started to come in and attack you.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07I can't see anything now. I think I'd have been shot down if this was real life!
0:08:07 > 0:08:09I can't see him.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11Where is he?
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Where is that Spitfire? I'm sure he was somewhere.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Here we go. Ooh, gosh!
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Oh, yes! Right.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35He swept right past us.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Fantastic. Now, he could have riddled us with bullets.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42I bet he would have wanted to, but we're trying to say no to that.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44But isn't that wonderful?
0:08:46 > 0:08:48That's where you want to see a Spitfire, don't you?
0:08:48 > 0:08:52In the sky, not on the ground, not in some museum,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56flying there in the sky where it should do.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58It might look old-fashioned now
0:08:58 > 0:09:01but the Spitfire was the very latest in the Second World War,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05and our model, the Mark IX, was the best of the lot.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Its top speed was over 400 miles an hour.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11It could operate at higher than 40,000 feet.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Its two 20-millimetre cannons and four machine guns were fierce enough
0:09:15 > 0:09:19to bring down the mightiest planes in the Luftwaffe's arsenal.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21The stakes couldn't have been higher.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Tens of thousands of British civilians
0:09:23 > 0:09:27and hundreds of fighter pilots were killed during the war.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34And it wasn't only the RAF who believed in the Spitfire.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38It was flown by nearly all Allied air forces.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Hello, Paul, it's John Sergeant here.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45- Well done, brilliant flying. - Thanks, John.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Do you think we're a bit old-fashioned or do you think,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52you know, you're the old-fashioned plane?
0:09:52 > 0:09:54No, this is a beautiful machine.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57It's... As I've said before, it's a work of art
0:09:57 > 0:09:59and flying very well.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06Right, Paul, we're not too far from Birmingham now where we want to be.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11'It's so easy to get caught up in the excitement this plane generates.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13'But as the West Midlands spread out below us,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16'it's time to re-engage with our mission.'
0:10:16 > 0:10:19We're now right over the factory at Castle Bromwich
0:10:19 > 0:10:22that produced half the Spitfires in the war.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27But on 13th August 1943,
0:10:27 > 0:10:33one particular Spitfire was built there, and that's ours, the MH434.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35So it's a great homecoming.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48During the Second World War, the most important Spitfire factory
0:10:48 > 0:10:51in the country was here at Castle Bromwich.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54And one man can remember actually building the plant.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57His name is Eddie Fox.
0:10:57 > 0:11:03Our job as engineers was to build... make and build production lines
0:11:03 > 0:11:06so that you can make Spitfire aircraft.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09- You're going to show me round, are you?- Yeah.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Today, this is a state-of-the-art car factory.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16When Eddie arrived here for the first time, over 70 years ago,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19it was an empty shell, but he and his team soon created
0:11:19 > 0:11:21an efficient production line.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25When MH434 was built in August 1943,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29it was one of 300 Spitfires completed that month.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34Not bad for a man in his early twenties.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38How many Spitfires altogether did you end up building here?
0:11:38 > 0:11:41I think it was about 12,000.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45- And that's more than any other factory in the country.- Oh, yes.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47What was it like when you produced
0:11:47 > 0:11:49the very first Spitfire from this plant?
0:11:49 > 0:11:51It went out through the big hangar doors
0:11:51 > 0:11:56and we all stood and cheered and really...
0:11:56 > 0:11:58patted ourselves on the back, if you like,
0:11:58 > 0:12:00because we'd got one off.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Alex Henshaw, the test pilot, the chief test pilot,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07- he gave us a display with that aircraft.- Oh, right.- God!
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Talk about flying...low.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14How he never took our heads off I don't know, you know,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16but he really threw that Spitfire around.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19And that also gave us a great, warm feeling
0:12:19 > 0:12:23knowing that that was the first one that had come off the production line
0:12:23 > 0:12:26and it did everything that Alex Henshaw wanted it to do.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34By 1943, nearly 16,000 people were working round the clock here,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37building Spitfires and other aircraft.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Nearly half of them were women.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43With on-the-job training, and no shortage of work,
0:12:43 > 0:12:44people flocked here.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Catherine Degregorio was just 16
0:12:47 > 0:12:51when she arrived from County Limerick in Ireland.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55She was working in the tool room when MH434 was built.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02Coming from a little village and then come over here to a big place
0:13:02 > 0:13:05and to think you're going to build Spitfires... You can't...
0:13:05 > 0:13:09I can't explain the feeling, you know.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12You sort of think to yourself you're in a dream, it's not real,
0:13:12 > 0:13:14it's not real, but, of course, it was real.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16It was good, it was very good.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19And the people were lovely. People that worked there
0:13:19 > 0:13:21were all very cheerful
0:13:21 > 0:13:23and carrying on, helping each other along.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26It was such a delicate thing to sort of put all them bits together
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and see what comes at the end of it.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Gave you a lift to think, "Ooh, I helped to build that."
0:13:32 > 0:13:35It makes you feel quite proud to think we, you know,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37we took part in it all, yes.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Catherine didn't think she was building a legend.
0:13:40 > 0:13:41Nobody thought that.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44But she knew that her work was vital.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46She was determined to do her bit.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50And that certainly deserves a salute from one of her planes.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Oh, yes!
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Brilliant, Paul! Well done!
0:13:58 > 0:14:00OK, Paul, that was amazing, wasn't it?
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Going back, seeing the factory where your Spitfire was built.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06It is nice to take the aeroplane home.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Eddie and Catherine's stories
0:14:09 > 0:14:11show the passion people felt for their plane.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16It's amazing how many people found themselves
0:14:16 > 0:14:18caught up in the whole Spitfire story.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21One of the people who lived here during the Second World War
0:14:21 > 0:14:25was June Eastlake, and she was just a little girl
0:14:25 > 0:14:29when her whole life was turned upside down by the war.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33During the war, June's family lived
0:14:33 > 0:14:38just a few miles from the factory at Castle Bromwich.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42The Spitfire factory was one of the first factories targeted.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44- So you remember it?- Yes, yes.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46And what was it like?
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Absolutely dreadful.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56The drone of the German aeroplanes, the sound of the bombs coming down.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Every time a plane came in or out, I used to shake.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02How much did you understand of what was going on?
0:15:02 > 0:15:07I can remember standing waiting our turn to be let out of the shelter,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10and it looked as though the world was on fire.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13AIR-RAID SIRENS WAIL
0:15:13 > 0:15:16My dad was a fire watcher.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20I've got the little card showing that he'd been trained in fire watching.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24There were thousands and thousands of incendiary bombs dropped,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26and, of course, they were there to put them out.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28So he was fire watching,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31and a landmine fell on the house next door.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33And, erm...
0:15:35 > 0:15:39..the house collapsed and buried my father.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43I can remember coming up from the shelter in the morning.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46We were taken round to where we lived, but of course,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50before you got there you could see that everywhere was devastation.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52And there was a tea wagon there,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55manned by volunteers,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59which was the normal thing where there'd been a big bomb dropped.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00I heard this person say,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04"Give this woman a cup of tea, she's just lost her husband."
0:16:04 > 0:16:08And that's how we realised that dad had died in the raid.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10But nobody told you directly?
0:16:10 > 0:16:13- No, no, no. Never did. - They never did?
0:16:13 > 0:16:15No, Mum didn't either.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17We just knew it had happened.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19But this was happening to not just us,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23it was the norm, and you accepted it, strangely enough.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27That's... What an extraordinary way of knowing something that would change your whole life.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31My dad died on the 17th of May.
0:16:31 > 0:16:37But March, two months before, we all went to the photographer's
0:16:37 > 0:16:40in the city centre, and there was Mum and Dad and the four children.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43We all had our photograph taken as a family group.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46That's the photograph there.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Pass it over and I'll show you.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52That's my dad. He was only 33.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54So this is the last photograph?
0:16:54 > 0:16:56It's the only photo, family photograph, we have.
0:16:56 > 0:16:57Where are you?
0:16:57 > 0:17:00I'm at the back with the sticky-out hair.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02- Yeah.- I was eight.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04I love that photograph.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09I've got... I carry one with me, a small one in my purse.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14- You carry it with you all the time? - Yes, it's in my purse, yes.- Yeah.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16PROPELLERS DRONE
0:17:17 > 0:17:22June's story gets to the heart of one of the main reasons we love the Spitfire.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26It's a physical reminder of the sacrifices
0:17:26 > 0:17:30people made during the war, the tragic side of the Spitfire story.
0:17:31 > 0:17:37We're leaving the midlands now, just as MH434 did in 1943,
0:17:37 > 0:17:43when it was delivered, by air, to RAF Hornchurch in Essex.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48It was flown by one of the Air Transport Auxiliary, or ATA pilots.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51They delivered more than 300,000 aircraft,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55despite being unarmed and without radio communication.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59They were sent to bases right across the country.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03All of them were volunteers, and one in five of them were women,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06among them a 20-year-old, Joy Lofthouse.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11You ask anyone, of the single engines, which was their favourite,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13and it would be a Spitfire.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16I've heard someone say you only had to blow on the stick
0:18:16 > 0:18:18and it did what you wanted.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20It was the nearest thing to flying oneself.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23It was almost as though the wings were part of you,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25not part of the aeroplane.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28I was 16-and-a-half when war broke out.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31I'd never SEEN an aeroplane, leave alone been in one.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Several of my boyfriends said, "Oh, you're joining ATA.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37"Are you going in as a driver or something?"
0:18:37 > 0:18:39And I said, "No, they're teaching me to fly!"
0:18:39 > 0:18:42And of course a lot of them didn't want to believe it
0:18:42 > 0:18:45as I'd never been in an aeroplane before.
0:18:45 > 0:18:46You must remember, we were young.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49When you think what the youngsters do now -
0:18:49 > 0:18:52jumping out of aeroplanes and bungee jumping.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Nothing seemed dangerous.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Nothing seemed out of our abilities, if you like.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04I never remember being instructed on to how to use a parachute.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08We were usually taught forced landing was the better way.
0:19:08 > 0:19:13If the engine cut, try to save the aeroplane if you can
0:19:13 > 0:19:17by making as good a forced landing as you could.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Don't be a bleedin' hero, just try to get it down safely.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23If you knew you were near an American airfield
0:19:23 > 0:19:24you would always choose that,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28partly because they were full of admiration for us flying,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32and the food was better in the mess, you got a good lunch.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34And also they would take you to the PX
0:19:34 > 0:19:38which was their equivalent of NAAFI, their shop.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42And there they would let you buy lipstick and chocolate and stockings.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47The proudest achievement of my life, obviously, was flying the Spitfire,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52being allowed to fly this aircraft, which everyone knew about,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55that sort of saved the country in the Battle Of Britain,
0:19:55 > 0:19:57and I was allowed to fly it.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01I don't think I could do anything that would make me prouder than that.
0:20:01 > 0:20:07There's a story that when he couldn't subdue us in the Battle Of Britain,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Hitler got cross with Goering
0:20:09 > 0:20:13and said, "What do you want to wipe out this air force?"
0:20:13 > 0:20:16And Goering said, "A squadron of Spitfires."
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Joy tells her story so charmingly
0:20:19 > 0:20:23that you could easily forget just how much nerve it took,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26climbing into a Spitfire with so little experience,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29in the middle of the war.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33And would she have found it difficult to fly the Spitfire?
0:20:33 > 0:20:37I don't think so. I think the Spitfire's a delight to fly.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40I think as long as you follow the basic rules of, you know,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42opening the throttle slowly on takeoff
0:20:42 > 0:20:44and treating the aeroplane with respect,
0:20:44 > 0:20:46it's a delight to fly.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49So the only thing she would have difficulty with, I suppose,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52would be the prejudice of some of the male pilots
0:20:52 > 0:20:55who would have thought a girl couldn't do a thing like that.
0:20:55 > 0:20:56That's exactly.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00I don't know, it's a little bit of that.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04But probably laid to rest when a Spitfire arrived out of the gloom
0:21:04 > 0:21:07on a foggy day, and a young lady steps out of it.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10A lot of the pilots would have liked that, wouldn't they?
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Yes, quite right.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16MH434 was delivered to RAF Hornchurch in Essex
0:21:16 > 0:21:20where it became the favourite plane of an ace South African airman,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22Flight Lieutenant Pat Lardner-Burke.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25He had already established a reputation
0:21:25 > 0:21:27as a top-class fighter pilot
0:21:27 > 0:21:31when he received his brand-new Mark IX Spit.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34He revelled in being centre-stage in battle.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38But he was less keen on the limelight in peacetime.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Remarkably, his children are only finding out now,
0:21:41 > 0:21:4740 years after his death, what an extraordinary man their father was.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51When did you first see all this stuff that your father had?
0:21:51 > 0:21:54- It was probably only about two months ago.- Really?
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Well, I've always known that it's, you know,
0:21:57 > 0:22:01it's been in the family, but my mother, as good a hoarder as she was,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05she generally had all of this stuff boxed up and kept in the attic.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08This is an amazing treasure trove, isn't it?
0:22:08 > 0:22:10What have we, what is this?
0:22:10 > 0:22:14I think here you have got the... the seat for the Spitfire,
0:22:14 > 0:22:16and this is the parachute.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Named as Squadron Leader Lardner-Burke, so...
0:22:18 > 0:22:20So it was written on there.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Ready to go. He would have been flying Spitfires at that time.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26- We've got his boots, haven't we? - It's the flying boots.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29I understand the idea of these was that the fur part was detachable
0:22:29 > 0:22:32so that they could, if they were shot down over the Continent,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36they would detach this part of the boot, or the top part,
0:22:36 > 0:22:40so they could pretend that they were a French civilian, possibly.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44- And walk their way to Switzerland if they were lucky.- Hopefully, yes.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46Yeah. Now this is the famous helmet.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49This is the proper, this is the pukka helmet, yes.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52When we think of a Spitfire pilot, we think of them wearing these.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Well, this is, I can promise you, this is original.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Yeah, here are the goggles.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01The goggles. The oxygen mask.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06What's it like for you, seeing this equipment that your father had?
0:23:06 > 0:23:10It has reignited our father's memory.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13- That's your dad there, isn't it? - It is, yes.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17That's his Natal Squadron, 222 Squadron, based at Hornchurch
0:23:17 > 0:23:20and he would have been flying 434.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22So these would be his flying friends.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26And that's him. Looks as if he's alongside a Spitfire, doesn't it?
0:23:26 > 0:23:29It does. That's certainly him. This is the 222 Squadron.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32- Where is he in the picture? - Sitting on the front row with...
0:23:32 > 0:23:35seems to have the squadron dog in front of him.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38- Squadron dog, he seemed keen on dogs.- He does, yes.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40We never saw any of that in later life.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Do you wish you could have asked him about the war when you knew him?
0:23:43 > 0:23:47I would say that we actually spoke very little about it, if at all.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50He certainly wasn't going to start discussing the war
0:23:50 > 0:23:54with his young children, so very, very little.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56He died when I was 14,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00so I do feel that perhaps we would have a little...
0:24:00 > 0:24:02If I was a little older and, you know,
0:24:02 > 0:24:04we'd have had a pint of beer in a pub,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06I think maybe we could have spoken about it.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10But as we were children, it was never discussed.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25Martin never had the chance to talk to his dad about the war.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27But his father's logbook reveals
0:24:27 > 0:24:30that this was really where they played with fire -
0:24:30 > 0:24:32the English Channel.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36Our Spitfire marshalled the skies over this strip of sea.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42It provided cover for Allied bombers headed for German targets in France.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Within three weeks of our Spitfire being built
0:24:47 > 0:24:50it was in action against the Luftwaffe.
0:24:50 > 0:24:57And for seven of some of the most difficult months of the war in 1943,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01this aircraft was right in the thick of it.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04And you can imagine what it would be like,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07streaking out over the Channel, as we are now,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10and at any moment, you could be hit by German raiders.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14In fact, you were HOPING to meet German raiders.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Your job was to defend England.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21Martin has allowed me to read the logbook
0:25:21 > 0:25:26and also 222 Squadron's operational flying diary,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29written during the war at debriefing sessions
0:25:29 > 0:25:33which were held after his father's missions in MH434.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36It's a remarkable account.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39On August 27th, 1943,
0:25:39 > 0:25:45Lardner-Burke set off at 1830 hours from his base in Essex.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47He was a member of 222 Squadron,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51which had 12 Spitfires in operation that day.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56They were providing cover for 240 American B-17 bombers,
0:25:56 > 0:26:01flying fortresses, each loaded with 8,000 pounds of bombs.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Pat Lardner-Burke died in 1970.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10But there are still a few men left who know exactly what it feels like
0:26:10 > 0:26:16to have to set off in a Spitfire to defend Britain, nearly 70 years ago.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Once you're up there, you're part and parcel of the aeroplane.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26You can't be terrified.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31Doesn't even take the time that it's now taking me to speak to you.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34You're away. You're getting on with the job.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39Once you're in that aeroplane, then a totally...resignation came in.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41"I'm here, I've got to go, I'm going to do it."
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Really, when you're in it you're in it so tight with the straps done up
0:26:45 > 0:26:47so that when you turn upside down
0:26:47 > 0:26:49you don't bang your head on the hood.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52And I'm going to do my very best to get back
0:26:52 > 0:26:58and do as much damage to those Black Cross "gentlemen" as I possibly can.
0:27:02 > 0:27:07They crossed the Kent coast and then joined the bombers over the Channel.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11They went over the French coast at Berck, near Calais.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16They then turned north and hit very heavy flak.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Two of the planes were hit
0:27:18 > 0:27:23and seven of the airmen were reported to have bailed out.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31Flak is just a shell that explodes at a certain height.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33And they used to get our height, absolutely.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37The bomber crews had to just stay in position.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40They had to take anything that was going.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42I admired them immensely.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46We were defending this country against the King's enemies.
0:27:46 > 0:27:52And we knew anybody who thought at all would know that the effort
0:27:52 > 0:27:55that was being put in by the Germans and the Luftwaffe,
0:27:55 > 0:27:57they weren't doing it for fun.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00They weren't doing that for fun.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02And we had to stop 'em.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04That was the important thing.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09Not whether...Jim shot down ten and Bill shot down one
0:28:09 > 0:28:11and poor old Sid didn't get any.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13It didn't matter who shot down what.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15It never worried me. It never worried me.
0:28:15 > 0:28:22But what was important was that these Germans were up to no good
0:28:22 > 0:28:24and they had to be stopped.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33The Spitfires were orbiting at 26,000 feet when a call came through
0:28:33 > 0:28:39saying that nine enemy aircraft were attacking the bombers below.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43The 222 Squadron, led by Wing Commander Compton,
0:28:43 > 0:28:49swooped down to attack the loose formation of Germany FW190.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00You find yourself on your own.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02I mean, if the wingman gets...
0:29:02 > 0:29:04has to break away to look after himself and the rest,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08you're on your own. It's up to you.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11This is a dramatic moment.
0:29:11 > 0:29:17In his MH434, our Spitfire, Lardner-Burke opened fire
0:29:17 > 0:29:21on a Focke that had been firing at Wing Commander Compton.
0:29:21 > 0:29:26He let rip with a two-second burst from 350 yards
0:29:26 > 0:29:29and hit its wing and tail.
0:29:29 > 0:29:35The Focke was hit and the MH434 turned sharply
0:29:35 > 0:29:36and dived out of the way.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42And it was just like a swarm of bees,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45everything going round and round and round.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49Don't stand around looking and thinking, "Where is everybody?"
0:29:49 > 0:29:51Before you do that, chuck it around.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Chuck it...
0:29:53 > 0:29:55I mean it, really, vicious.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59Not in any flying manual that an instructor will tell you to do.
0:30:03 > 0:30:08Lardner then turned his attention to a second plane,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11opening up his machine guns for four to five seconds.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15The Focke dived to avoid Lardner-Burke,
0:30:15 > 0:30:20but the RAF pilot followed him to just 2,000 feet
0:30:20 > 0:30:22and watched his crash near Calais.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32So MH434 had had a good start to its campaign
0:30:32 > 0:30:37and then headed home to its operational base at RAF Hornchurch.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51Hornchurch was a key RAF command aerodrome
0:30:51 > 0:30:54in both the First and Second World Wars.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59The local people were used to living with the dangers of an airbase.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02But it still seems very surprising that in 1937
0:31:02 > 0:31:08a school should be built so close to where the planes took off.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11And that's where we're going next.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17That school and its pupils are still keenly aware
0:31:17 > 0:31:20of their close link with the Second World War.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23- What do you think about the Spitfire?- It's fast.
0:31:23 > 0:31:24It's fast, yes.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27- Very manoeuvrable. - It's very manoeuvrable.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29What else have we got? Wait a moment.
0:31:29 > 0:31:30- It's cool.- It's what? - Very cool.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32- Very cool?- Yeah.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34- It's on our badge. - Where is it on the badge?
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Oh, right, there it is on the badge, yeah.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39- So is Spitfire your favourite plane? - ALL:- Yes.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42That's the right answer.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45'These children are almost as enthusiastic about the Spitfire
0:31:45 > 0:31:48'as I was when I was their age.'
0:31:48 > 0:31:51They're crazy about the old plane.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54They may remember it fondly, but the 900 or so kids
0:31:54 > 0:31:58that went to school here in 1943 lived with it daily,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00and the pilots were their heroes,
0:32:00 > 0:32:05all of which makes what happened on March 24th of that year so poignant.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Jim Ring was in class on that morning.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11He was just nine years old.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18Our teacher, Miss Cullen, was up at the blackboard
0:32:18 > 0:32:23and we heard this awful noise
0:32:23 > 0:32:26and it got louder, much louder.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31And we just yelled to the teacher, "Get down, Miss."
0:32:31 > 0:32:32And we all dived under our desks.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37The sound Jim could hear was a Spitfire
0:32:37 > 0:32:39heading straight for his classroom.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41The pilot, an American volunteer,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44knew his Merlin engine was in trouble soon after he took off
0:32:44 > 0:32:48less than 500 yards from the school.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51Official documents record that his engine failed
0:32:51 > 0:32:55at just over 200 feet and that his plane went into a spin.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Those who were at the school vividly remember the scene.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06So he tried to bank and turn towards this school
0:33:06 > 0:33:09in an effort to get back to the airfield.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13There were children in the playing field where he crashed
0:33:13 > 0:33:17and they remember him signalling desperately to get out of the way.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21He was so low and he realised he was going to hit the school
0:33:21 > 0:33:26so he put the nose down on the Spitfire, which came down here.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29So he deliberately crashed his Spitfire right here
0:33:29 > 0:33:33in order to avoid going right into the school
0:33:33 > 0:33:36- and killing lots of people. - That's right.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39- And then what happened? - Well, it bounced up
0:33:39 > 0:33:43and the wing struck the school wall there where the plaque is.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48The pilot was killed on impact.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50His name was Raymond Sanders Draper
0:33:50 > 0:33:52and that's now the name of this school.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Jim and his fellow classmates
0:33:55 > 0:33:59helped to have it renamed in his honour in 1973.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04'The schoolboys from that tragic day remember Sanders Draper
0:34:04 > 0:34:07'every year with a memorial service.'
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Yes, hello.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11'Jim has arranged for me to meet some of them.'
0:34:11 > 0:34:12Hello.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15- How do you do, John? - Right. Well, here we are assembled
0:34:15 > 0:34:18and that is the grave stone, isn't it?
0:34:18 > 0:34:20RS Draper.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23What are your memories of that terrible day?
0:34:23 > 0:34:26One of shock, actually.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30Of hearing the tremendous bang as the craft came down.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Although we were told it was a Spitfire,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36I went home thinking it was the Luftwaffe.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39- Really?- I really did, yes.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41- You thought it was an attack?- Yes.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44- What are your thoughts now about this brave man? - I think about him a lot.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46- Really?- I really do, yes, I do.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48It's quite moving.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50- It brings it back. - It does, it's quite moving.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54If it hadn't have been for this man, none of our children
0:34:54 > 0:34:58would have been born and their children wouldn't have been born.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00It would have had such ramifications.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03You can't express it in the same way as you can feel it.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08- Our young days were taken up with the Spitfire.- Yeah.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11You looked out of the school and you would see them taking off,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14circling round, landing, you'd count them back in.
0:35:14 > 0:35:19So all of you feel that you do really owe your lives to this man?
0:35:19 > 0:35:21100%, yes. Without a shadow of a doubt.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25If it had been a few feet higher, he would have gone through the window.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27He would have smashed through the school.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30So that's why you keep remembering?
0:35:30 > 0:35:31Oh, it is. Yes.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36I think also what is sort of striking for you at your age,
0:35:36 > 0:35:38- is that this man was 29 when he died.- Yes.- Yes.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41- That's quite something, isn't it? - Yes.- A young man.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43- A young man. - Whole life in front of him.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45Gave his life away.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49- Well, not for nothing, for us. For us.- Yes.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01'That's the true spirit of the Spitfire, isn't it?
0:36:01 > 0:36:04'Young men and women doing remarkably brave things
0:36:04 > 0:36:08'for people they didn't know and perhaps would never meet.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18'Jim and his fellow classmates certainly haven't forgotten.'
0:36:23 > 0:36:27Our plane, MH434, was delivered to RAF Hornchurch
0:36:27 > 0:36:31just a few months after the accident at the school.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33It wasn't a special Spitfire then.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36There wouldn't have been a fanfare,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40just another small moment in the old aerodrome's history.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44RAF Hornchurch is now a nature reserve,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46only a few signs of its past.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50I came here in the 1960s as an RAF Cadet
0:36:50 > 0:36:52anxious to get a flying scholarship,
0:36:52 > 0:36:55and that's how I learned how to fly.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58But when I was here, this was full of the buildings
0:36:58 > 0:37:00and the runways of the war.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09Like many aerodromes around London, air raids were common,
0:37:09 > 0:37:13especially in the late summer of 1940.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16A teleprinter operator, Joy Caldwell,
0:37:16 > 0:37:21was just 19 when she reported for duty here at RAF Hornchurch.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24In total in that three months of the Battle Of Britain
0:37:24 > 0:37:28we had 20 air raids on Hornchurch Airfield.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32One night we had a landmine came down.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37They came down in parachutes as you probably know,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40and it was caught onto the side of the hangar,
0:37:40 > 0:37:44number three hangar, which was our nearest. That hung there
0:37:44 > 0:37:47all night, and we knew that if it touched the ground
0:37:47 > 0:37:50or if the wind got up that it would blow us to bits,
0:37:50 > 0:37:53but we couldn't do anything about it, we just had to carry on.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57About four in the morning the bomb disposal people came in
0:37:57 > 0:38:00and they defused it.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04They had a cup of tea with us and they went over to Elm Park
0:38:04 > 0:38:07where another one had come down,
0:38:07 > 0:38:09and unfortunately they blew themselves,
0:38:09 > 0:38:11all of them were killed in that one.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15Which, I mean, five minutes they were drinking tea with me,
0:38:15 > 0:38:17the next minute they weren't there.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20And you say you mourn, you don't mourn.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24You see tragedy, yes, but you can't mourn.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28It was another disaster or another thing that had happened
0:38:28 > 0:38:30and you didn't talk about it,
0:38:30 > 0:38:33you just lit another cigarette and got on with it.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35The Battle of Britain marked
0:38:35 > 0:38:39Hitler's first significant defeat in the Second World War.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42But victory came at a terrible cost.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46Over 500 RAF pilots were lost
0:38:46 > 0:38:52and tens of thousands of civilians were killed or injured.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55They always say you never hear the one that comes down and I didn't.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00And it was pretty painful.
0:39:00 > 0:39:05I was going into Ops and it blew me between the sandbags
0:39:05 > 0:39:10over the counter onto a wireless set and it didn't half hurt.
0:39:10 > 0:39:16I reported sick for the first time, the only time I reported sick,
0:39:16 > 0:39:21and the MO said, "Oh, I've got plenty of dead round here.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24"Just lean against the radiator for 48 hours
0:39:24 > 0:39:27"and then you're back on duty."
0:39:27 > 0:39:31And what they didn't know was that I'd fractured my back.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36I am not special. I'm just a person.
0:39:36 > 0:39:41I was put in a situation that any of you could have done
0:39:41 > 0:39:46or would do to protect your freedom and your home.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51You would have done the same. Any of you would have done the same.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Joy was working at Hornchurch on September 8th, 1943
0:39:58 > 0:40:03when her colleague, Flight Lieutenant Pat Lardner-Burke,
0:40:03 > 0:40:08climbed into his Spitfire on the first of his three flights that day.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11It was 0845 hours and MH434
0:40:11 > 0:40:15was part of a larger wing that were acting as high cover
0:40:15 > 0:40:18for 72 Allied Marauders
0:40:18 > 0:40:21as they headed for targets in Lille.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25They were attacked by ten to twelve Focke-Wulf 190s,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28but the wing continued its escort.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31They lost one of their Spitfires,
0:40:31 > 0:40:33but Lardner-Burke got his plane home safely.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39The excitement was enormous, enormous.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42And, I mean, I always found that when I came back,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45although it might be cold, I was still sweating.
0:40:45 > 0:40:46You've got to love it
0:40:46 > 0:40:50because you went into combat daily with it, together.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52You and that aeroplane.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55My Spitfire and me.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04At 13.45 Lardner and his plane were back in the sky again,
0:41:04 > 0:41:11this time providing cover for 12 Venturas on their way to Abbeville.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14They flew over France at just 2,000 feet
0:41:14 > 0:41:17climbing to a height of 22,000.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21Soon they came across 12 Fockes.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26It looked like they hadn't been spotted and dived to attack.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31He would have to be very sharp.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35This was all happening in short seconds
0:41:35 > 0:41:39with lots of your colleagues around you in formation,
0:41:39 > 0:41:43all joining together to do something.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47You are worrying about the guys that you're flying with,
0:41:47 > 0:41:49the operation that you're on,
0:41:49 > 0:41:51whether you're going to do the right thing,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53whether you're going to make a mistake,
0:41:53 > 0:41:57whether you're going to come home with the same number of people.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59Another three or four minutes
0:41:59 > 0:42:02and it had all disappeared and you're by yourself.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11The Focke-Wulf 190s broke formation
0:42:11 > 0:42:17and 222 Squadron only managed to hit one of the enemy aircraft.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21Lardner-Burke was back in Hornchurch just after three o'clock.
0:42:21 > 0:42:26You watched the Spitfires being refuelled, rearmed,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29bullet holes patched, everybody working like mad.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32And then the phone would go and you'd think,
0:42:32 > 0:42:33"God this is a quick one,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36"we've only been on the deck an hour and a half, two hours,"
0:42:36 > 0:42:38and off you'd go again.
0:42:38 > 0:42:44You would be exhausted, but you had a certain sort of
0:42:44 > 0:42:48feeling of unity with the others in your squadron.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53They were an amazing bunch of guys. You should have met them.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59Just before six in the evening, 222 Squadron
0:42:59 > 0:43:03spotted 12 Messerschmitt 109s.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06Lardner-Burke and another 222 pilot opened fire
0:43:06 > 0:43:09and black smoke was seen bellowing from the plane.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Lardner-Burke broke to the left,
0:43:12 > 0:43:14allowing the other pilot to fire for 14 seconds.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21The Messerschmitt ploughed into the ground at 500 miles an hour.
0:43:27 > 0:43:32From up here Britain looks so peaceful.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35It's hard to believe that 70 years ago
0:43:35 > 0:43:38we would have been flying through a battlefield.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45But there's still plenty of evidence of Britain's flying past,
0:43:45 > 0:43:47if you know where to look.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50We can see Biggin Hill down there, can't we?
0:43:50 > 0:43:55Yeah, the main runway you can see running across from left to right.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58And that was such an important airfield
0:43:58 > 0:44:01- during the Battle of Britain, wasn't it?- Absolutely.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04Biggin Hill's closeness to London
0:44:04 > 0:44:08made it a prime target for the Luftwaffe.
0:44:08 > 0:44:09RAF squadrons based here
0:44:09 > 0:44:13claim to have destroyed more than 1,000 enemy aircraft,
0:44:13 > 0:44:17losing several hundred pilots in the process.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23Ground crew suffered too, with many people being killed
0:44:23 > 0:44:27in a dozen separate attacks spread over six months.
0:44:31 > 0:44:32I suppose what's striking,
0:44:32 > 0:44:35always when you're up in the air watching the Spitfire pilots,
0:44:35 > 0:44:39you think how lonely they must have been
0:44:39 > 0:44:43and how difficult it must have been controlling these small planes,
0:44:43 > 0:44:45all right, fighting for your country,
0:44:45 > 0:44:47but at extraordinary personal risk
0:44:47 > 0:44:51when you would know that many of your friends would have been killed on these missions.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55So coming home, as we are now, flying down,
0:44:55 > 0:44:59this must have been a terrific sense of relief
0:44:59 > 0:45:01that we are back on the ground.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Back on terra firma.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13But sometimes it's easy to forget
0:45:13 > 0:45:16that for every Spitfire pilot in the air,
0:45:16 > 0:45:18there was always someone on the ground
0:45:18 > 0:45:22anxiously waiting to see if they would come home.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Flight Lieutenant Pat Lardner-Burke's son, Martin,
0:45:27 > 0:45:29has found some letters from his mother
0:45:29 > 0:45:33that reveal the extraordinary demands made,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36not just on the pilots but also on their families.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41We'd actually only just unearthed these very recently,
0:45:41 > 0:45:43a couple of days ago.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46Credit to my mother here. I mean, she's a wonderful hoarder.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49"On Sunday afternoon I went down to Hornchurch,
0:45:49 > 0:45:52"Sundays being the day when females are allowed onto the premises."
0:45:52 > 0:45:55"Pat is expected to have the afternoon off,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58"though when I arrived he was away on an unexpected sweep,
0:45:58 > 0:46:00"so the adjutant met me with the squadron car.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04"Pat arrived back at about four and we then had tea and sat on the lawn."
0:46:04 > 0:46:08"At six o'clock they went off on another sweep."
0:46:08 > 0:46:12"I managed to get down to the aerodrome and then watched all 26 Spitfires take off."
0:46:12 > 0:46:13"It was a marvellous sight."
0:46:13 > 0:46:18And 26 Spitfires took off, and, er...
0:46:19 > 0:46:23..you know, she just sat on the lawn. HIS VOICE BREAKS
0:46:23 > 0:46:25Yeah.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28And these guys would, you know, the wives and the girlfriends
0:46:28 > 0:46:32would just sit there and hope that 26 got counted back again.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37"They were away for one-and-a-half hours,
0:46:37 > 0:46:39"and then we watched them all come back again."
0:46:42 > 0:46:44But they had to just wait.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46Well, you imagine having a tea party,
0:46:46 > 0:46:50and suddenly all the partners take off,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53- and you just don't know if they're coming back, do you?- No.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57Do you feel you know him? Do you feel closer to him now?
0:46:57 > 0:47:00I actually do, yes, yes.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03Yeah. And your feelings about him?
0:47:05 > 0:47:08Well, he's still my father.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10We knew him when we were young.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13I mean it's a bit tricky, I can't... That's not one I can really answer
0:47:13 > 0:47:18because, you know, my feelings are for my father.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20- But pride? - Oh, there is pride, yes.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23- A lot of pride.- Yes.
0:47:28 > 0:47:33Flight Lieutenant Pat Lardner-Burke recorded his last flight with MH434
0:47:33 > 0:47:36in October of 1943.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38They'd been together on nearly 60 sorties
0:47:38 > 0:47:42and claimed two-and-a-half kills -
0:47:42 > 0:47:44two Focke-Wulf 190s and a Messerschmitt 109
0:47:44 > 0:47:48he had shot down with his 222 colleague.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56D-Day now loomed large on the horizon.
0:47:56 > 0:48:01It was the ultimate call to arms, a vital part of the Spitfire story.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05Unfortunately, we lose track of our plane
0:48:05 > 0:48:08three months before the Normandy landings.
0:48:08 > 0:48:14These photos of MH434 were taken then at Hornchurch.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19Flight Lieutenant Lardner-Burke was put in charge of 1 Squadron,
0:48:19 > 0:48:22and he played an active role on D-Day.
0:48:22 > 0:48:27Sadly, the D-Day generation are disappearing,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30but there are still a few special people who remember
0:48:30 > 0:48:35one of the most extraordinary days in our history.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40When we flew on the morning of June 6th, the Solent was empty,
0:48:40 > 0:48:43all the mechanised vehicles had gone,
0:48:43 > 0:48:46and one thought about those boys on the beaches,
0:48:46 > 0:48:49although we didn't know how bad it was going to be.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51We took off at four something,
0:48:51 > 0:48:55and we were over the beaches at 5.20 for the dawn.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59And we looked down and saw this colossal armada.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02I mean, everybody's described it better than I can.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10I do believe that in World War II,
0:49:10 > 0:49:14a Spitfire pilot's role was an extremely important one,
0:49:14 > 0:49:19and obviously the landings in D-Day and the need for protection
0:49:19 > 0:49:25to our thousands of ships and the men who went across
0:49:25 > 0:49:28was a vital protective element.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34The sea was just littered with ships.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36The Navy were there
0:49:36 > 0:49:39with several of the captured French battleships as well,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42and they were all firing up into the air, mainly at us.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47I think they'd been warned there was going to be a huge invasion,
0:49:47 > 0:49:52probably of 109s, which look a little bit like a Spitfire,
0:49:52 > 0:49:55and everybody was a bit trigger-happy, I suppose.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57We didn't... We didn't grumble about it.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00It was a natural thing, I suppose, to happen.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02At least they were firing at somebody.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16The Spitfire story has so many elements.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18Sacrifice.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21Bravery.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24Even glamour.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27The British people loved the Spitfire.
0:50:27 > 0:50:31It's a romance of a kind.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35But I don't think any Spitfire love story can beat this one.
0:50:35 > 0:50:41Engineer Joe and truck driver Betty, or Butch to her friends,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45met working on Spitfires during the war.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47If there's three things in this story,
0:50:47 > 0:50:49it's Betty, Joe and the Spitfire.
0:50:49 > 0:50:55Their love story began in a hangar at Biggin Hill in 1943.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00Joe was standing on the wing of the plane.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02- A plane like this?- Yes.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06- And of course they were all cheeky. - Were they?- Oh, yes!
0:51:06 > 0:51:10I looked at her and I thought, "Mm, I wonder."
0:51:10 > 0:51:13- You wonder what?- "She's the best-looking lot in that bunch,
0:51:13 > 0:51:15- "I wonder if I've got a chance with her."- Right.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17And I obviously had,
0:51:17 > 0:51:21cos I think she said something like it, but a lot ruder.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23Did you really? Can you remember that, Betty?
0:51:23 > 0:51:25I think it was a bit saucy.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28No, go on, you can tell us now. We're ready for it.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31- And if you don't, I will. - You say it.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35- She says, "I'm having some of that." - Did you really?!
0:51:35 > 0:51:38Goodness me! I mean, this is shocking, isn't it?
0:51:38 > 0:51:41She was only 22, you know, we were both 22 then.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44So before you knew where you were, you were going to dances together.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47- Yes, well we were both mad on dancing.- Right.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49- Absolutely mad on dancing. - Like you.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Joe and Betty's friendship blossomed
0:51:51 > 0:51:54in the dance halls in and around London.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57A night of dancing the foxtrot, the waltz and the rumba
0:51:57 > 0:52:00provided them and other servicemen and women
0:52:00 > 0:52:03with a brief respite from the realities of the war.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05But as Joe and Betty grew closer,
0:52:05 > 0:52:09there was one reality they could not escape from.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14We had feelings for each other, but Betty had informed me,
0:52:14 > 0:52:16she says, "Look, I am engaged."
0:52:16 > 0:52:18Now, Bet was engaged to
0:52:18 > 0:52:22- a sergeant engine fitter in the RAF in the Middle East.- Right.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25After that, as far as I was concerned, there was no romance.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27There wasn't going to be any romance.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29I wasn't going to query that bloke's pitch
0:52:29 > 0:52:33when I'd drawn the good straw languishing at home
0:52:33 > 0:52:34and he was out in the desert.
0:52:34 > 0:52:39So you then felt, Betty, that you'd made a promise to your fiance.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43My fiance arrived in England and I had to come and tell Joe that...
0:52:44 > 0:52:49..that he had come home and this would have to be the end of it, you see.
0:52:51 > 0:52:58And my old life was returning and I had...had to forget Joe.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01But I was very, very upset, in tears.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04I asked her to marry me.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06I'd got it out, that's what I wanted to do.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08I wanted to hear myself ask her.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10Because you knew that you were...
0:53:10 > 0:53:13Because I knew that she wouldn't say yes.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15Not that I didn't want her to say yes,
0:53:15 > 0:53:19I would have loved her to have said yes, but she couldn't.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23It was a very hard thing to say no to Joe, really.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27It was... It's something I can't answer, really.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29Well, I'm not even going to try and help you here, love,
0:53:29 > 0:53:31because I can't.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33- I know the dilemma you must have been in.- Yes.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36I wasn't. I was footloose and fancy-free,
0:53:36 > 0:53:38so I couldn't put myself in your place,
0:53:38 > 0:53:41and I knew that if I asked you and expected an answer
0:53:41 > 0:53:44I'd be hurting you, causing you more problems.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46So I didn't push it.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49Joe and Betty had their last dance together
0:53:49 > 0:53:52in the Worthing Town Hall in 1944.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55Joe tells me it was a slow foxtrot.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57Betty married her fiance,
0:53:57 > 0:54:01and Joe also settled down and started a family.
0:54:01 > 0:54:06In 2004, now both widowed, Betty was watching the telly
0:54:06 > 0:54:12when there on the screen she recognised an old friend talking about his beloved Spitfire.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14Soon afterwards,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18they spoke to each other for the first time in 60 years.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22Once again, some of that old Spitfire magic
0:54:22 > 0:54:25had brought Joe and Betty together.
0:54:25 > 0:54:26I knew that we must meet.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30We must see each other again to see if there was owt still alight.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34And she met me at Chichester station,
0:54:34 > 0:54:35and, to me, she looked like
0:54:35 > 0:54:37the same lass I'd said cheerio to 60 years ago.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39- Really?- Yes.
0:54:39 > 0:54:40What did you think about him?
0:54:40 > 0:54:42Well, he had the same voice, a little grey.
0:54:42 > 0:54:47BETTY LAUGHS But just the same old Joe.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50We went about like we used to when we were 22.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54We'd even hold bloody hands. People used to look at us going out, you know.
0:54:54 > 0:54:59But it's...it's very hard to explain, John, very hard.
0:54:59 > 0:55:00Yes, yeah.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03- It was there, wasn't it, love? It still is.- Oh, yes.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06I think, really, we get on better in a way
0:55:06 > 0:55:10because we have more time together,
0:55:10 > 0:55:17rather than just under a bloody Spitfire wing or in a dispersal hut
0:55:17 > 0:55:22or, er...in some snoggy little dance hall somewhere.
0:55:22 > 0:55:23We're our own people now.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25We're living it that way,
0:55:25 > 0:55:28the way we would have done had we got married in the times we met.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31These last seven years have been wonderful.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33- And you love each other. - Of course we do.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36There's that many ways of defining love, I don't know.
0:55:36 > 0:55:41- But if it means do you want to be together all the time, yes, we do.- Yes.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45Well, for me that is the greatest love story ever told,
0:55:45 > 0:55:47the final scene in our Spitfire story.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53But surely endings don't always have to be cut and dried.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56We've left some loose ends.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58What about our plane, MH434?
0:55:58 > 0:56:03You might have thought its fighting days were over when World War II ended,
0:56:03 > 0:56:07but they weren't. It flew for the Royal Dutch Air Force,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10crash landing in the Dutch East Indies in 1947,
0:56:10 > 0:56:13and then moved to the Belgian Air Force
0:56:13 > 0:56:17before returning to Britain in the 1950s.
0:56:21 > 0:56:26The Spitfire. It's 75 years since the first one flew,
0:56:26 > 0:56:28and they're now more beautiful than ever.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32The pilots who fly them say there's nothing better.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36But we can't just leave it like that.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40It's time for former Cadet Sergeant Sergeant to have a go.
0:56:40 > 0:56:46And here's my new best friend, a Spitfire with room for two.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51Oh, this is the moment. This is the moment!
0:56:51 > 0:56:53And we're taking off. Wow!
0:56:53 > 0:56:56MUSIC: "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire
0:57:01 > 0:57:03It was the greatest thrill of my life.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06Wow. Look at that. Look at that!
0:57:06 > 0:57:11So easy to manoeuvre that it must have been
0:57:11 > 0:57:13the very nearest thing to having wings oneself.
0:57:13 > 0:57:18I'm flying it. I'm actually flying a Spitfire.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21Special, superb, splendid...
0:57:21 > 0:57:22I've been given control
0:57:22 > 0:57:26of the greatest plane that's ever been made.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30You more or less put it on and you were flying.
0:57:30 > 0:57:31Richard, what do I do now?
0:57:31 > 0:57:34Move to your left, John, moving off to the left.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37- OK, you have control. - I have control.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39- You have control. - OK.- Thank you.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42Once you've got a Spitfire right, you could do anything with it.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46Oh, goodness me, we're going low now, right over the airfield.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52We felt we had the best aeroplanes in the world.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56What a climb, and you can feel the climb, over we go.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58Oh, gosh! A victory roll!
0:57:58 > 0:58:02You can't expect chaps to fly and fight in a Spitfire
0:58:02 > 0:58:04and then forget about it.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06It's imprinted on your mind for ever.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09Yeah. We've done it.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12That was a victory roll.
0:58:12 > 0:58:17Ah! It's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22When I started on this programme,
0:58:22 > 0:58:24I thought it would be interesting and fun.
0:58:24 > 0:58:29What I didn't expect was to get so emotionally involved.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31It's churned me up.
0:58:31 > 0:58:33It's turned me upside down.
0:58:33 > 0:58:35This Spitfire...
0:58:35 > 0:58:37what a story!
0:58:41 > 0:58:43Whoo!
0:58:43 > 0:58:48Happy birthday, Spitfire. Many happy returns.
0:59:02 > 0:59:04Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:04 > 0:59:07E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk