I owe my life to the Spitfire (From Daily Echo)

I owe my life to the Spitfire

10:00am Sunday 14th October 2007 in

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EVERY year their numbers dwindle, but one of Southampton's remaining Spitfire pilots says it is time the younger generations finally recognise the city's finest hour.

Born and bred in Southampton, George Bromley says he - and others - owe their lives to the Spitfire and that is why he is supporting the Daily Echo campaign for a fitting tribute to the great fighter aircraft.

"It was a wonderful aircraft to fly, it's a fabulous aircraft I've got nothing but admiration for it and I suppose I can say I owe my life to it," the 84-year-old said.

"I hope the town gets behind the memorial, it was where the Spitfire was designed and built. If it hadn't have been for R.J. Mitchell and his Spitfire then I think the war could have been a different story."

As a teenage boy, Mr Bromley witnessed first hand the devastation caused by the 1940 German bombing raids of the Woolston and Itchen factory works where the Spitfire was built.

Mr Bromley, of Upton Crescent, Nursling, gained his wings in December 1943 at the age of 20 and joined the 32 Squadron in Italy as part of the Balkan Air Force.

Over the next two years, he carried out strafing and bombing attacks in Northern Greece and over the former Yugoslavia.

It was an era in which life expectancy for those brave young men was low.

"I was just lucky," said the great-grandfather. "Once, I was declared unfit for duty before a mission and not one of the Spitfires which flew on it came back.

"Each time we landed in one piece, we used to say to ourselves we'd been lucky. We knew life could be short, but we had a job to do and we just had to keep our spirits up - especially if we lost a friend.

"If you let it get you down, you'd come a cropper."

Mr Bromley says a memorial to the Spitfire and to all those who flew it or were involved in its production is long overdue.

"I think it would a great thing. It's not only a tribute to the Spitfire - it's a tribute to the city," he said.

The acting chairman of the Spitfire Society of Southampton said pilots who desperately wanted a memorial in Southampton had since died, but he was delighted the Daily Echo had revived the campaign.

"Anybody who has any association with the Spitfire, whether they are pilots or ground crew, they are all for it," he said.

"The problem we've got is that it would mean a great deal to the older generation, but the younger generation don't know too much about it and I don't think they know an awful lot about the war.

"It's not glorifying the war, it's just recognising a part of the history of the town."