The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Spitfire flies over with message for NHS staff
Second World War plane takes to skies of Tayside and Fife to pay tribute – while Capt Tom releases book to raise more funds
A Second World War Spitfire took to the skies over Tayside and Fife yesterday, bearing a message of thanks to the NHS workers on the frontline of the battle against Covid-19.
Emblazoned with the words ‘THANK U NHS’, the aircraft took off from Cumbernauld Airport in North Lanarkshire yesterday morning and flew over hospitals around Scotland.
Lynebank and Queen Margaret hospitals, Dunfermline; Perth Royal Infirmary and Murray Royal; Ninewells and the Royal Victoria in Dundee; and Stracathro Hospital near Brechin were all on its flightpath yesterday, the latest stage in a journey that will take it across the whole of the UK.
The Spitfire, based at Duxford Airfield near Cambridge, initially flew over its local area during the weekly clap for carers at the height of lockdown.
Pilot and owner John Romain said: “For the last of the claps, my son said why don’t we paint ‘Thank you NHS’ under the wing of the spitfire because it’s already this lovely blue colour – it was a photo reconnaissance Spitfire, it never carried guns, it just carried cameras, and the blue was part of its camouflage.
“So we wrote that under the wings, flew those routes and more and more people just loved seeing the aeroplane.
“We then decided to do some hospitals, that grew with the NHS saying would you do some more, so the final thing was we said we’ll cover the whole of the UK and we’re in the process of doing that.
“Within the next two weeks we will have covered the whole of the UK.
“The reaction is amazing, it’s pretty humbling, we see hundreds of people out waving, in fact some are even waving bedsheets, they’re waving flags, anything they can get hold of.”
People are being invited to help raise money for NHS Charities Together by suggesting the name of someone who has acted kindly during the pandemic to be hand-written on to the aircraft in return for a minimum donation of £10.
The Spitfire has space for 80,000 names.
Among those already on it is that of Sir Captain Tom Moore, who was knighted for his efforts raising funds for the NHS during the pandemic.
The Second World War veteran, who raised almost £33 million for the NHS by walking laps of his garden in Bedfordshire, has written a book about his life called Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day, which was released yesterday.
Proceeds will help support his new charity, the Captain Tom Foundation.
The 100-year-old said he “found it very interesting” to write the book and joked at the launch: “If you find it a bit difficult, when it comes to Christmas, give it to all the people you don’t really like and maybe they’ll never speak to you again.”
He said seeing his late wife Pamela, who died in 2006, in a care home inspired him to set up his new charity.
“One day she said ‘if you didn’t come and see me, I would be very lonely’,” he said.
“That struck a point in my heart, that was terrible really.”
Like the title of his book, he said the goal of the charity was to give people hope.
“I’ve always been an optimistic person. I’ve always looked ahead and if you have a poor time, it won’t last long,” he said. “You will get better, everything will get better.”
Captain Tom set out to raise £1,000 by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday in April and captured the hearts of the nation at the height of the lockdown.
His daughter, Hannah IngramMoore, said that what followed had been an “incredible experience”.
“We believe we’ve been given both a gift and a huge responsibility to do the right thing,” she said.
“Within the next two weeks we will have covered the whole of the UK. JOHN ROMAIN