(Image: Tony Smith; Spitfire P9374 restored)
A rare Supermarine Spitfire is poised to go under the hammer later this summer in a landmark sale which could see the iconic British fighter plane sell for as much as £2.5 million ($3.7 million).
The fully restored Spitfire Mk.Ia, serial number P9374, was flown by Peter Cazenove of RAF Fighter Command in an air battle over Dunkirk when it was shot down by a Dornier Do 17 bomber on May 24, 1940.
(Image: Tony Smith; Spitfire P9374 at Duxford’s ‘Flying Legends 2014′)
Flying Officer Cazenove reportedly radioed in to say “tell mother I’ll be home for tea” before belly-landing his aircraft on Calais beach. On the run, the Old Etonian soon rendezvoused with British troops at Calais but was later captured by German forces and became a prisoner of war.
Spitfire P9374, meanwhile, was abandoned to the elements. Consumed by the tides and sands, the downed aircraft remained on the beach at Calais for the next 40 years.
(Image: Mark One Partners; German soldiers sit on the wreck of P9374)
But in September 1980 the ex-92 Squadron machine, which had been based at RAF Hornchurch, was rediscovered when strong tides forced it back to the surface.
Badly corroded and looted by souvenir hunters, the barnacled wreck of P9374 was salvaged and returned to the UK. There it underwent a full restoration, carried out by 12 engineers over a period of three years.
(Image: Tony Smith; Spitfire P9374 flies again)
Finally, in September 2011, with Pilot and Chief Engineer of the Aircraft Restoration Company, John Romain, at the controls, the Spitfire once again reached for the skies for the first time since that fateful day in 1940.
Thomas Kaplan, an American philanthropist and art collector who owns and funded the restoration of Spitfire P9374, is now selling the historic aircraft in honour of “the Few” Allied airmen who fought off the threat of German invasion during the Battle of Britain.
(Image: Tony Smith; P9374 (top) with two other early Spitfire Mk.Ia fighters)
Mr Kaplan said in a statement: “When my great childhood friend, Simon Marsh, and I embarked upon this project, it was to pay homage to those who Churchill called “the Few”, the pilots who were all that stood between Hitler’s darkness and what was left of civilisation.
“The upcoming events of July 9th are, more than anything else, concrete gestures of gratitude and remembrance for those who prevailed in one of the most pivotal battles in modern history.”
The businessman has also donated his other Spitfire Mk.Ia – N3200, which was shot down during the evacuation of Dunkirk on May 26, 1940, with Sqn Ldr Geoffrey Stevenson at the controls – to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.
(Image: Mark One Partners; German troops pose with Spitfire N3200 at Dunkirk)
The ex-19 Squadron aircraft, which is pictured above as a wreck on the beaches of Dunkirk, flew again at Duxford on March 26, 2014 following an extensive restoration.
All proceeds from the sale of Spitfire P9374, set to be auctioned by Christie’s on July 9, will go to the RAF Benevolent Fund and wildlife charity Panthera.
(Hat tip – Telegraph)
Related – 12 Abandoned, Wrecked & Recovered Aircraft of World War Two
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