Wednesday 16 September 2020

Spitfire bird

 “… The nearest thing to having wings and flying yourself,” said Joy.  “Gorgeous!” was the word Mary used.  I never thought I’d be writing about it here,  but having found myself unexpectedly drawn in by a BBC Four programme on Monday night, I too found myself  enamoured with a tiny single-seater fighter ‘plane, the wonderfully named Spitfire.  I was also enthralled by its pilots.


Joy Lofthouse and Mary Ellis, who both died in the last few years aged 94 and 101 respectively, were among a particularly unusual group of women who piloted ‘planes during WWII as part of the 'Air Transport Auxiliary'.   Bearing in mind that this was at a time when it was thought odd that women would even want to fly a ‘plane, you realise just how special a job this must have been and how much it defied convention.  These ‘Attagirls’, as they were known, flew thousands of warplanes, usually delivering them from factories to RAF air bases, solo and without compass or radio help, navigating only with maps and following railway lines or rivers.  Although not involved in combat, they still faced danger daily from enemy attack or collision with the huge barrage balloons that were deployed as anti-aircraft obstacles.

And as for the male fighter pilots – I find it hard to imagine just how they handled it, many of them aged just 18 or 19, cooped up in a cockpit so small that they had to get into it sideways, tasked with intercepting, outwitting and shooting down enemy aircraft.  There they were, alone in a lightweight metal killing machine that could reach a speed of nearly 400mph - feeling the fear, knowing it was “them or us” – as anyone in a direct conflict situation surely must.  Several of these surviving pilots appeared in the programme and, in voices weakened by the intervening decades, solemnly expressed their hatred of war.  But their love of the Spitfire was indisputable.


As with classic cars, especially the small, sleek, sportier ones, I think there's something about the Spitfire which is aesthetically pleasing.  I like its scale and simplicity. Seeing them in flight is like watching swifts; graceful, wheeling, fast, intrepid.  Maybe my love of birds and the excitement I feel when I witness their aerobatic displays is linked, I don’t know.  Whatever, although aeroplanes aren’t exactly my thing, I can absolutely understand the appeal of this diminutive yet high performance model.

Mary Ellis was particularly fond of the Spitfire and one day, on delivering a new one from the factory, she signed her name on it.  The airplane in question was never used in combat and survives today - along with her youthful signature.  On being asked, just before her 100th birthday, why she'd done that, she said with a gleam in her eye that it had really just been a romantic thing; she’d hoped that perhaps a dashing young airman would see it and get in touch.  At that moment I think I knew just how Mary felt.

Public Service Broadcasting: Spitfire


The BBC Four programme 'Spitfire' is currently available on iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0008rmy/spitfire


15 comments:

  1. I love the line about her signing the plane. It reminded me of Betty's mirror.

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    1. Oh. yes, that is lovely - and so much more romantic than all the public toilet doors!

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  2. Terrific post, C, and a terrific track to end on.

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    1. Ah glad you enjoyed it, thank you Martin - and I had the track going through my head the second the programme started.

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  3. Sounds like it's definitely worth a watch... and I knew what your closing tune would be as soon as I saw the post title.

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    1. If you get chance to watch it I hope you'll find it as enjoyable and interesting as I did. Yes, the title and song choice seemed obvious to me!

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  4. What remarkable people they were.

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    1. They were indeed, and what gets me in particular is how responsible and mature they had to be at such a young age.

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  5. What a lovely piece of writing from you. Your love of birds would definitely translate to a joy in watching the spitfire in action. And, what a great video clip by a group I had never heard of but what an excellent job they did of using old footage and adding the background music - I'm transfixed.

    I missed something wonderful on Thursday actually - A spitfire flew across our town on Thursday, more specifically our two hospitals as thanks to the NHS for their work this year. Mr WIAA was out on his bike so saw it but I had totally forgotten about it so missed it. Think they're doing the same around other parts of the country so keep a look out. Will send you a picture.

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    1. Ah thanks - and indeed the more I watch footage of Spitfires in the air the more I feel something - must indeed be a bird thing! Great that you liked the PSB track too - check out more if you like the mixture of an existing narrative overlaid with a hypnotic rhythm and a good tune (e.g. 'Go')

      That must have been something to see on Thursday, shame you missed it but great that you have pics. I'll look (listen!) out for one too, not that we're near any hospitals but we do get all sorts flying over here as it's en route to Lakenheath and Mildenhall airbases. Occasionally we get a free air show, I think pilots like to practise over the fields!

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    2. PSB are a great band and 'Go' in particular is absolutely fantastic.

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  6. Tangent alert!- It struck me recently that my ten ‘desert island discs ‘ would include a number of bird songs . Three little birds, Albatross, Lark Asending just to name three. Albatross May even be my top pick. Why is it that flight and bird life inspire such creativity? Off for a surf now. Keep the goodness coming C. Ben

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    1. It all links beautifully! Birds do seem to feature in a lot of songs, I guess it helps that they sing too ;-) But, yes, something about flight and birds definitely inspires creativity. I appreciate Lark Ascending ever more these days on hearing larks for real every Summer.
      Perhaps the bird/flight inspiration is symbolic of freedom? Water/waves/the sea may be similar - hope you enjoyed the surf!

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  7. That first shot of the Spitfire is absolutely stunning. Simple, sleek and beautiful. Sounds like quite a television program(me) too.

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    1. It is beautiful, isn't it? Simplicity is key.

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