by Stuart A Clewlow and published by Stuart Clewlow.
A5, soft back, many black and white photos.
No ISBN
This is the story of Spitfire IIb P8593 which was financed by a Spitfire Fund based on Chorley and the surrounding district when a total of £6,158 14s 1d was collected. The aircraft was taken on charge at No 12 MU, Kirkbride on 1 June 1941 and delivered to 222 (Natal) Sqn on 6 August at Winfield being used for sweeps and bomber escorts, moving with the Squadron to Drem on 21 August at which point is was transferred to 64 Squadron at Turnhouse moving to Drem in October. 611 Sqn moved into Drem from Hornchurch on 12 November and exchanged its Mk. Vb's for the Mk.II's of 64 Sqn. The aircraft served with 611 at Drem undertaking convoy patrols and the occasional scramble moving across to No 54 Sqn at Castletown on 13 February 1942. From here it saw considerable service until a forced landing on 25 June 1944 damaged it sufficiently to write it off.
Stewart has researched into great detail how the fund was set up, how much money flowed into it over the months starting in Aug 1940 and a cheque for £6,000 was sent to Lord Beaverbrook during Christmas week 1940 with the remaining money raised shortly afterwards. The book explains how the money was collected, why it was necessary, the concept of a Spitfire costing approximately £6,000 to build. He goes on to give a full description of the operational history of P8593 from beginning to end giving as much information as he could gather on the pilots who flew it. The book then describes local history about local bombing, air raid precautions and protection and the effect of the war on the local area and the efforts made by the local population to support our servicemen and women and the war effort. Stuart has put a huge amount of effort into research and background and covers the subject very comprehensively.
The book retails at £9.95 plus postage and packing and enquiries should be made to:
Stuart A Clewlow
18 Empress Way
Euxton
Chorley
PR6 9QB
Phone: 07840922382
e-mail:
