BM597/G-MKVB Supermarine Spitfire Vb
of the Historic Aircraft Collection
Related Notes & Links
Photographed in the classic Spitfire at Rest pose, in September 2005 this Aircraft became the first Spitfire to return to the Mediterranean island of Malta since the filming of Malta
Story in 1952.
It flew to Mediterranean island of Malta together with Hurricane "Z5140" as part of the Merlins Over Malta project and depicted one of the Spitfires that was ferried to Malta onboard the the American carrier USS Wasp
to help defend the Island which was effectively under siege from air attacks.
601 & 603 Squadrons arrived on the 20th of April 1942, after a request from Winston Churchill to US
President Roosevelt, the USS Wasp was made available, and together with HMS Eagle, delivering 46 and
13 more Spitfires respectively.
Day after day outnumbered but dogged fighters climbed from their heavily
bombed bases into the skies to defend "the most bombed patch of land in the world".
By the end of the siege 30,037 buildings were destroyed or damaged
Historic Aircraft Collection - Web Site
Merlins Over Malta Project - Web Site
Supermarine Spitfire - Wikipedia Entry
The Spitfire Site
