Posted on Facebook by Alan Matlock – 23rd December 2022
Sending SEASON’S GREETINGS to all our supporters…
2022 has seen the first 3 Spitfire Makers plaques erected and 3 more are now with the manufacturers for placement early in 2023. In addition we are working to gain permission for several more that sponsors have already donated funding for.
There are over 30 sites within Southampton alone that we would like to commemorate with a plaque.
Chair Alan Matlock presented 26 (all different!) versions of his “Building Spitfires Without a Factory” talk to Heritage and Social Groups across the South from the Royal Aeronautical Society on the Isle of Wight to the Fighter Command Museum at Bentley Priory. There are already bookings for 15 in 2023.
Over the last few months we have been delighted to hear of several Spitfire Makers, well into their nineties and one aged 105, who we have had the privilege of meeting and listening to their first hand recollections of the part they played in putting the Spitfire into the hands of the pilots. We have included them in our posts and will add more of their inspiring stories.
Owner of original image unknown: additions by Alan Matlock Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust
The design is a compilation of a vintage photo of Shirley Parish Church and an IWM tea towel design with an added red nose for Santa’s Spitfire! The Parish Hall, just out of shot and possibly yet to be built when this photo was taken, was requisitioned by subcontractor Auto Metalcraft for making Spitfire jettison fuel tanks and air filters and where we placed our first plaque. Both sites feature on the Shirley Spitfire Trail map we produced last year.
Please get in touch if you can tell us about any of the Spitfire production sites in Southampton or beyond and let us know if a group would like a tailored talk or are interested in sponsoring one of our plaques.
HAPPY 2023!
The Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust 