Supermarine Spitfire Mk1

One of the best-known British aircraft of World War II, the Spitfire captured the imagination of the public during the Battle of Britain and retains a special place in people's hearts.

Designed in 1936, early Spitfires were equipped with eight .303 inch Browning machine guns, and the awesome Rolls Royce Merlin engine. Numerous Spitfire variants, from fighters to photo-reconaissance aircraft were produced until the end of the war, and almost 1,600 were Mk1s.

This one was operated by the Fleet Air Arm until 1944 when it was ordered to be preserved, and is the oldest surviving Spitfire in the world. It was built in 1939 and after minor combat experience and some damage in accidents was transferred to a unit training Spitfire pilots in Hawarden, North Wales. It then spent much of the rest of its life in storage.

Spitfires flew from several of Shropshire's airbases during World War II. Their pilots were trained at the airfields at Rednal, near Oswestry, and Montford Bridge, near Shrewsbury between 1942-45, and the aircraft also flew from Tern Hill, near Market Drayton, and Atcham.