Restored Spitfire goes on show outside Cabinet War Rooms ahead of its charity sale at Christie's
This article originally appeared on Culture24.
A Spitfire has gone on show outside the Cabinet War Rooms ahead of its charity auction at Christie's next week
Spitfire P9374 outside the Cabinet War Rooms© Christies London Supermarine SpitfireThe fully restored Vickers Supermarine Spitfire P9374/G-MK1A is due to be sold on July 9, as part of Christie’s The Exceptional Sale, to raise funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund and leading wildlife conservation charity, Panthera.
Christie’s has estimated the plane is worth between £1,500,000 and £2,500,000 and is inviting the public to view it outside the Churchill War Rooms as part of a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain.
There are only two remaining Mk.1 models restored to their original specifications and still flying, the P9374 and N3200, both of which belong to Thomas Kaplan, an American entrepreneur and philanthropist.
As part of a generous double gift Mr Kaplan is giving both away, with the P9374 being sold to raise funds for charity and the N3200 being donated to the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.
Spitfire P9374 in flight© 2011 John Dibbs“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 RAF Benevolent Fund represents a way to honour that breed who gave so much for Britain when its existence was imperiled.”
Wreckage of Spitfire P9374 emerged from the sands of Calais beach in September 1980, 40 years after being shot down during the air battle of Dunkirk on May 24 1940.
Flying Officer Peter Cazenove was flying the aircraft when it was attacked and hit by what is thought to have been a single bullet fired from a Dornier 17-Z bomber.
Before executing his belly-landing on Calais beach Cazenove is aid to have radioed that he was fine and said: “Tell mother I’ll be home for tea.”
He was, however, captured as a Prisoner of War soon after, later becoming a veteran of the ‘Great Escape’, whilst Spitfire P9374 was consumed by successive tides and sunk deeper into the sands of Calais beach.
Originally built at the Vickers Armstrong factory in Woolston, Spitfire P9374 was installed with a Merlin III engine built by Rolls-Royce in Derby in 1939 and was delivered to 92 Squadron at RAF Croydon in March 1940.
Nazi soldiers pose with Peter Cazanove's Spitfire on Calais Beach during World War Two..© Peter R Arnold CollectionAfter being recovered P9374 first went to the Musée d’l’Air at Le Bourget in Paris, and then on to other collections, until the parts eventually ended up with the Aircraft Restoration Company/Historic Flying Ltd, Duxford.
Twelve highly skilled engineers spent three years carrying out the restoration and the completed aircraft successfully returned to the skies for the first time since the Second World War on 1st September 2011.
Ahead of its sale at Christie’s on July 9 Robert Copley, the Deputy Chairman of auctioneers in the UK, said his company was “proud to be entrusted with the sale” and that the plane was “a truly iconic aircraft” that symbolised “the bravery ‘of the few’ in the Battle of Britain.”
- The RAF Benevolent Fund is the RAF’s leading welfare charity, providing financial, practical and emotional support to serving and former members of the RAF and their families. For more information visit www.rafbf.org
- Panthera is a wildlife charity devoted to the conservation of wild cats and their ecosystems. For more information visit www.panthera.org
- Vickers Supermarine Spitfire P9374/G-MK1A will be on display at Churchill War Rooms, Clive Steps, King Charles Street, London July 4-9.
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