Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX MH434 was built at Castle Bromwich in 1943 and air-tested by Alex Henshaw in August of that year. Within days she was with No. 222 (Natal) Squadron at Hornchurch, where her main pilot was a South African, Flt Lt Henry “Pat” Lardner-Burke.
On 27 August 1943, flying high escort cover for USAAF B-17 bombers over France in the St Omer area, Lardner-Burke shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in MH434 and damaged a second. He went on to claim three and a half victories in her. After a spell with 350 Squadron at Hornchurch she returned to 222 Squadron, and was stood down in March 1945 after more than 80 operational sorties.
Her second and third lives followed the war. She served with the Royal Netherlands Air Force and later the Belgian Air Force, returned to Britain, and in 1967 was bought for the film Battle of Britain, flying mock combats for the cameras through the summer of 1968. In April 1983 she was sold at auction to Ray Hanna and became one of the founding aircraft of the Old Flying Machine Company, which still operates her from Duxford in the colours of 222 Squadron. She is regarded as one of the most original Spitfires flying.
I photographed her in the hangar at IWM Duxford, where the sunlight picked out her lines.
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