Spitfire Buried On Beach Up For Auction

A Royal Air Force Spitfire that spent 40 years buried on a French beach before being returned to flying condition is being sold at auction.

The Spitfire Mk.1A, known as P9374, was being piloted by Flying Officer Peter Cazenove on 24 May 1940, who attacked some German Dornier Do 17 bombers while on patrol between Calais and Dunkirk during the Battle of France.

The aircraft is believed to have taken hits from one of the Luftwaffe gunners, probably disabling the Merlin engine, and Mr Cazenove was forced to land the plane on a beach near Calais.

The Spitfire, after initially being photographed by triumphant German soldiers, was covered up by the shifting sands.

Forty years later, those same shifting sands exposed the aircraft again, and it was recovered.

In October 2000 it was purchased from a French aircraft enthusiast and taken back to Britain, where the Aircraft Restoration Company at the Imperial War Museum Duxford began the long process to get it back in the air.

It was restored to its original condition and took its first flight on 30 August 2011.

P9374, which left the factory on 2 March 1940, is the earliest Spitfire flying anywhere in the world.

The Imperial War Museum said: "One of the most instantly recognisable silhouettes in the air, the Spitfire is not just a thing of beauty, but a phenomenal aircraft that helped to save Britain in 1940 and contribute significantly to winning the Second World War in the air."

The aircraft will be flying in the VE Day Anniversary Air Show at Duxford in Cambridgeshire on 23 and 24 May.

It is then being sold by auction house Christie's on 9 July to benefit the RAF Benevolent Fund and wildlife charity Panthera.