Spitfire: From the Ashes

Available for over a year

Historian Victoria Taylor looks back at the Spitfire, and the men and women who built it, against all odds. In September 1940, in two factories in Southampton, one of the most iconic planes of the Second World War was being painstakingly assembled, piece by piece. This sleek and beautiful fighter, with record breaking top speeds and a deadly reputation for precision, was to be Britain’s most notorious weapon against the Nazi air invasion. But, the factory making them was about to be destroyed by devastating German bombing raids. How could the Battle of Britain be fought without the Spitfire? With the factory a smoking ruin, a plan was hatched to keep the planes coming, against some pretty extraordinary odds. Reconstructed from letters, autobiographies, oral histories and contemporary interviews, historian Victoria Taylor pieces it all together. This isn’t the usual story, about the plane that saved Britain. This is a story about the ordinary men and women, in church-halls, bus depots, laundries and garages, who saved the Spitfire. Historical Advisor: David Key Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight for BBC Audio. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2020.