The Potteries Museum will be hosting a Celebration of the Spitfire and the Battle of Britain on Saturday September 18th 2010

Here at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent we’re celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Our centrepiece is a Spitfire on display that was handed over to the city in 1972. The craft now needs more conservation and we’ve launched a £50,000 public appeal to restore the craft to its original appearance and to display those fantastic design features for which the Spitfire is so famous. Another reason that makes it so special is that Stoke-on-Trent was the birthplace of its inventor, Reginald Mitchell.

The Battle of Britain took place in the summer of 1940 when the German Luftwaffe attempted to win air superiority over southern Britain and the English Channel by destroying the Royal Air Force and the British aircraft industry. Victory over the RAF was seen by the Germans as absolutely essential if they were eventually to mount an invasion of the British Isles.

The RAF’s high performance fighters were the Hawker Hurricane, the mainstay of its effort, and the famous Spitfire which was faster and more manoeuvrable.

The Luftwaffe lost a total of 1,733 aircraft from July to October and the RAF lost 915. In September the Germans switched to the night bombing of cities and by mid September, two days after the Luftwaffe’s worst losses, Hitler cancelled his plan for the invasion of Britain.

Why not soak up the history of this period by visiting Stoke-on-Trent’s famous Spitfire free of charge at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery and keep a date in your diary for Saturday September 18th 2010. There’s a free commemorative event at the museum including a fly past and display of American World War 2 vehicles. If you would like to donate to the Spitfire appeal visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/spitfire