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The Battle of Britain was a pivotal event in World War Two. For over three months the RAF defended our shores against the Luftwaffe in the summer and autumn of 1940. The heroic actions of the pilots 鈥� average age of just 20 鈥� is well documented and the aircraft they flew have become icons of aviation history, none more so than the Supermarine Spitfire. But all the efforts would have been in vain without those who kept those aeroplanes rolling off the production lines.

The Supermarine Spitfire was born in Southampton. A thoroughbred designed by RJ Mitchel, the first prototype took to the air from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport) in March 1936. The Air Ministry placed an order for 310 aircraft with the Supermarine Factory in Southampton;. When war broke out in 1939 that order became open ended and the factory soon became a prime target.

95 year old Margret White was a teenager working in the accounts department in the factory. She vividly remembers the day the bombers came in 1940:

鈥淵ou heard all this awful noise and I looked out the window and I literally saw bombs coming down past the window and luckily they missed it on the Tuesday; they came over on the Thursday and the shelter had a direct hit. Unfortunately a lot of the workforce lost their lives but I and one or two went into a deep cellar of a pub, it seemed like for hours and hours. You do offer up a prayer I must admit, you say 鈥減lease Jesus keep me safe鈥�.

The factory was almost completely destroyed but production of the Spitfire in Southampton continued. Garages, workshops, even laundrettes were requisitioned to produce parts.

Don Black, now 92, was 14 when the car workshop he worked at was turned over to build fuel tanks for the Spitfire.

鈥淭here was a great pride in what we were doing. A lot of the Battle of Britain was fought over the skies of Southampton so yes we felt very involved, very close to the whole thing.

I remember being sent on an errand to a tiny workshop that had room only for two cars. I delivered my paperwork to a man in the room upstairs who was making small parts for the Spitfire and placing them in a basket. He said 鈥楽orry I can鈥檛 stop, I鈥檓 the only person in Britain making these parts!鈥欌��

By the end of the war 8000 of a total of 20,000 Spitfires had been built in Southampton. Squadron Leader Alan Jones of the Solent Sky Museum has no doubt of the significance of the people who kept production going:

鈥淚t鈥檚 often asked of me, could we have won the war without Spitfire? The fact of the matter is, if we had not won the battle of Britain because the Spitfire was there, we would have been invaded, no question whatsoever. So yes we wouldn鈥檛 have won the war without the Spitfire. We had tremendously gallant and wonderful people flying them but the Spitfire wouldn鈥檛 have been there if it wasn鈥檛 for these people, the people of Southampton and Castle Bromwich and other places that actually made those aircraft in very, very difficult conditions. And many lost their lives.鈥�

See the whole story on Songs of Praise for Remembrance Sunday, 11th November 2018 at 1.45 on 大象传媒1

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