Spitfires? We made a Few of our own . . .

DURING the Spitfire Summer of 1940, my brother and I would watch dogfights over Croydon, Surrey, where the local aerodrome was the base of a squadron of these planes. Later in the war, as a 14-year-old schoolboy, I had the opportunity of making my own model Spitfire in the school metalwork room, manufactured out of a penny coin. Such models were popular at the time and were known as Spitfire Pennies. With a clip added to the back, they made excellent lapel badges. The practice was frowned upon because it entailed the defacing of a coin of the realm, but such was the regard with which the Spitfire was held that this criticism was brushed aside. Now, as an old man, whenever I see that beautiful plane in a flying display, I am transported back with some emotion to past times.

Dr Bryan Hart, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.