This is a large aluminium airframe section that still retains near all of its original green camouflage paintwork that is lovely and clear to see and has not discoloured much at all from being buried. The part has ripped and bent by the impact of the crash, it is in very solid condition and has been carefully cleaned and retains most of its original colours and a nice size section at 8 inches long by 3 inches wide. The part is from from RAF Spitfire R6713 which was shot down by German Messerschmitt 109. The spitfire crashed at Westbere near Canterbury in Kent on the 18th August 1940.This was the hardest day of the Battle of Britain..The part comes with 2xA5 laminated information cards with pilots picture.
The pilot was Polish officer Franiszek Gruszka he took off in Spitfire R6713 to intercept a German bomber formation. He was seen dogfighting over Canterbury and Manston and chasing a fleeing German fighter. He never returned to Hornchurch airfield. There were no reports regarding his fate, and his comrades assumed that he was—at best—a prisoner. He had been shot down and killed aged 30. He remained missing for 35 years until in the spring of 1975 a World War II aviation archaeology group found the remnants of his spitfire and its pilot, identification of his remains was made in marshes between Preston Village and Stodmarsh in East Sussex.
This is a large aluminium airframe section that still retains near all of its original green camouflage paintwork that is lovely and clear to see and has not discoloured much at all from being buried. The part has ripped and bent by the impact of the crash, it is in very solid condition and has been carefully cleaned and retains most of its original colours and a nice size section at 8 inches long by 3 inches wide. The part is from from RAF Spitfire R6713 which was shot down by German Messerschmitt 109. The spitfire crashed at Westbere near Canterbury in Kent on the 18th August 1940.This was the hardest day of the Battle of Britain..The part comes with 2xA5 laminated information cards with pilots picture.
The pilot was Polish officer Franiszek Gruszka he took off in Spitfire R6713 to intercept a German bomber formation. He was seen dogfighting over Canterbury and Manston and chasing a fleeing German fighter. He never returned to Hornchurch airfield. There were no reports regarding his fate, and his comrades assumed that he was—at best—a prisoner. He had been shot down and killed aged 30. He remained missing for 35 years until in the spring of 1975 a World War II aviation archaeology group found the remnants of his spitfire and its pilot, identification of his remains was made in marshes between Preston Village and Stodmarsh in East Sussex.
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