When you'll be able to see Spitfire fly over Ilkeston this weekend

Ben Lyons & Joseph Ash

3 May 2024 at 8:52 am·2-min read

Spitfire (front) flying alongside a Hurricane from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, over RAF Conningsby. Both historic planes will fly over Maurice Lea Memorial Park, in Church Gresley, near Swadlincote, this weekend. -Credit:SAC Neil Chapman/MoD Crown Copyright/PA Wire

People will have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Royal Air Force's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight when a Spitfire takes to the skies this weekend. Operating from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, the flight operates six Spitfires, two Hurricanes, a Lancaster, a C47 Dakota, and two Chipmunk aircraft.

These aircraft can be regularly seen in the skies over the UK from May to September each year. They are often flown to celebrate and commemorate public and military events.

But on Bank Holiday Monday, May 6, to celebrate Britain's oldest Second World War veteran who happens to reside on the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire border, two Spitfires will fly over Ilkeston.

Join us on WhatsApp to get the latest news straight to your phone

Ex-Desert Rat Donald Rose is 109 and lives in Canal Vue care home on Awsworth Road. To honour the veteran two of the iconic warplanes will be in local airspace at around 1.45pm on May 6, as part of a larger wartime-themed celebration in the town.

Donald is the world’s fourth-oldest surviving Second World War veteran. He was born in 1914 and served on the frontline with the 7th Armoured Division after joining the Queen’s Royal Regiment. He saw action in North Africa, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany – later training as a sniper.

Photo of Donald Rose as a young soldier — Donald Rose as a young soldier -Credit:Donald Rose / Erewash BC

The dad of one, whose wife died in 2001, was repeatedly decorated, including being given France’s highest award – the Legion D'Honneur. But his son David Rose, 74 – a retired NHS hospital technician living in West Hallam – said: “He didn’t want the medals, he wanted no fuss and he just got on with it.”

Donald has said when quizzed in the past about his longevity: “Everyone asks this – there’s no secret.”

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) was inaugurated on 11 July 1957 at RAF Biggin Hill. It was initially called the RAF Historic Aircraft Flight and consisted of three PR Mk XIX Spitfires and the RAF’s last airworthy Hurricane, LF363. It was then renamed to be the Battle of Britain Flight before a final renaming in 1969 to what it is known as today, BBMF.

The Telegraph
Palestinian student ‘full of joy’ after Oct 7 attack upset she faces deportation
A Palestinian student who said she was “full of pride” after Hamas launched its attack on Israel faces deportation.
HuffPost UK
'Why Do You Hate Pensioners?': Rishi Sunak Suffers Brutal Loose Women Grilling
The prime minister was taken to task live on ITV.
The Telegraph
Watch: British Army leaves US troops trailing in river crossing race
The 156-metre stretch across the Drawa River in western Poland would normally be a perilous scenario for approaching armies.
The Telegraph
I’m bored of educating ignorant Argentinians about Britain’s right to the Falklands
It’s now 42 years since Argentina embarked on its doomed attempt to take the Falkland Islands by force and to subjugate the Britons who had lived there for so long. Having been humiliated and kicked out by the British Task Force a mere 70 days later, you might have thought Argentina had learned its lesson: that the Falkland Islanders will fight to the last man and woman to defend their homeland, and Britain will always support them.
The Telegraph
BBC apologises after repeatedly suggesting Tel Aviv is capital of Israel
The BBC has apologised after one of its senior presenters suggested Tel Aviv was Israel’s capital, contradicting its own guidelines.
The Telegraph
The radical new Dutch government is the canary in the EU coal mine
It will scrap many of the net zero policies. It will cut taxes for business. It will put limits on net migration, it will switch to nuclear power, and it will make sure farming receives the support it needs.
CNN
The phone call that may upend the Trump NY hush money case
Gene Rossi and Leslie Ellis join The Lead
The Daily Beast
Reporter Puts Trump on the Spot Over His 2020 Vow on Minnesota
KSTPIn an interview with a St. Paul, Minnesota reporter that aired a few days before his scheduled appearance Friday at the state GOP Lincoln Day fundraising dinner, former President Donald Trump denied saying that he wouldn’t return to the Midwest state if he lost it in 2020—but the local ABC affiliate brought the receipts to prove otherwise.KSTP reporter Tom Hauser spoke with Trump over a video call conducted Tuesday before the indicted ex-president went to court to hear testimony from his for
The Telegraph
Admitting Gazan refugees would be proof that Britain has a death wish
It was only a matter of time before the call came. Now Labour MPs, including Sam Tarry and Jess Phillips, are agitating for Britain to take in Palestinians fleeing Gaza.
The Telegraph
Keir Starmer’s plan for government is vanishing before the voters’ eyes
The strange thing about Keir Starmer’s policy ideas is that they tend to evaporate as the years go on. He ran for Labour leader with clear, radical pledges: to abolish the House of Lords, waive all university tuition fees and more. Over time, such promises were downgraded then, dropped altogether. On Thursday, it seemed his policy vanishing act was complete. Amid great fanfare in an Essex film studio, the Shadow Cabinet gathered to reveal the latest strategy: to promise, in effect, almost nothin
The Daily Beast
MAGA Rep’s Insane Biden Claim Is Too Much Even for Maria Bartiromo
Fox Business NetworkRep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) made a bizarre claim Thursday, insisting that he has “evidence” to support his allegation that President Joe Biden was “jacked up on something” during the State of the Union address. He even offered to show his so-called proof to Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo “offline.”The MAGA congressman’s wild accusation seemed to go too far for the pro-Trump conspiracy-loving Bartiromo, who once relied on “wackadoodle” claims made by a woman who thinks
CNN
Opinion: Stormy Daniels testified about something billions of humans do. Why was she demeaned for it?
The media decided to erroneously describe a grown woman openly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with a grown man as obscene, writes Danielle Campoamor.
The Independent
British decline linked to Brexit, weak leadership and poor finances in damning report
A damning report has shown that the UK has dropped out of the top 10 countries for good governance under Rishi Sunak’s leadership
The Telegraph
Britain would pay a high price under Labour
At a rally in Essex on Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer set out his six pledges to the British public ahead of an election that could return a Labour government. Now we have found out just how much one could cost. Based on Treasury costings of 50 Labour policies, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt warned that a Starmer administration would plunge Britain’s finances into a £38 billion black hole, suggesting that Sir Keir would need to raise taxes to fill the gap.
Yorkshire Live
DWP PIP claimants given five-week warning over planned payment changes
The Department for Work and Pensions is looking at changes to Personal Independence Payments
The Telegraph
Dutch far-Right government set for immigration showdown with EU
Geert Wilders said that he would implement the Netherlands’ “strictest-ever” migration policy, as the new Dutch government pledged to quit EU asylum rules, on Thursday.
The Daily Beast
House Oversight Committee Hearing Goes Totally Off the Rails Thanks to MTG
TwitterA House Oversight Committee hearing that was supposed to cover contempt proceedings for Attorney General Merrick Garland devolved into chaos and name-calling after repeated interruptions from a certain far-right representative from Georgia.Thursday night’s meeting was originally intended to advance a measure to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to hand over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. But it quickly fell off the rails, with Marjorie Taylor
Birmingham Live
WASPI women could get compensation package this summer as date put forward
The Department for Work and Pensions has been urged to present a compensation package for WASPI women before the summer recess.
HuffPost
Majorie Taylor Greene Insults Jasmine Crockett, Sends Oversight Committee Hearing Into Chaos
Even by recent standards, Thursday's meeting of the House Oversight Committee was a shocking train wreck.
Business Insider
Putin is putting his bromance with Xi on full display — but China has reason to be wary
China's leader is facing growing pressure over his support for Russia's isolated president.

Latest stories