{"id":4202,"date":"2018-01-27T19:49:11","date_gmt":"2018-01-27T18:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4202"},"modified":"2018-01-27T19:49:11","modified_gmt":"2018-01-27T18:49:11","slug":"a-great-little-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4202","title":{"rendered":"A GREAT LITTLE PLANE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAs the Royal Air Force celebrates its Centenary a series of tributes have appeared, saluting the planes which made the service great– the Lancaster, the Hurricane and the renowned Spitfire which was named the single greatest weapon of the Second World War, claimed by those who flew her to be the perfect flying machine<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe Spitfire captured the imagination of the public and all over Britain villages, towns and businesses would set up a “ Spitfire Fund” to raise the nominal £5,000 to buy a plane in their name. One such village was our local Michaelston-le-Pit. Norman Merrett, a Spitfire pilot from the village, had gone down with his plane in 1940. His father wrote these words to Lord Beaverbrook, Minister for Aircraft Production, “These tragic circumstances have served only to strengthen the resolve of this small community. I want you to accept the enclosed cheque for £5,000 from the village of Michaelston-le-Pit”.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

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As the Royal Air Force celebrates its Centenary a series of tributes have appeared, saluting the planes which made the service great– the Lancaster, the Hurricane and the renowned Spitfire which was named the single greatest weapon of the Second World War, claimed by those who flew her to be the perfect flying machine The Spitfire captured the imagination of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[24,228],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-15M","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14588,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14588","url_meta":{"origin":4202,"position":0},"title":"When September And The Humble Split Pea Saved Britain","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th September 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"WHEN SEPTEMBER AND THE HUMBLE SPLIT PEA SAVED BRITAIN \u00a0 September 1940 is arguably the most significant month in British history; when the tide turned in the Battle of Britain and Hitler\u2019s plans to invade Britain during the Second World War were thwarted. The RAF victory over the Luftwaffe was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Readers Articles of Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Readers Articles of Interest","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=228"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Picture1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15495,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15495","url_meta":{"origin":4202,"position":1},"title":"Tucker\u2019s Ve80 Wartime Plant Sale","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th May 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"TUCKER\u2019S VE80 WARTIME PLANT SALE On Saturday 10th May we held the Tucker\u2019s VE80 plant sale in and around the Church Hall. Whenever we hold a sale there is always a worry that attendance will be low or the weather won\u2019t be good. We are always well supported by our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/VE4-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3845,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3845","url_meta":{"origin":4202,"position":2},"title":"DEVELOPMENT OF CARDIFF AIRPORT","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The history of the airport extends back to the1942 when the Air Ministry requisitioned land for training Spitfire pilots. After WW2 the airfield was abandoned. The man who decided Rhoose could be the site of a new airport was David Rees-Williams (later Lord Ogmore). In1945 Rees-Williams became an MP;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=127"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7734,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7734","url_meta":{"origin":4202,"position":3},"title":"Covid 19 Repatriaton Saga","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th June 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"THE FIRST....HOPEFULLY THE LAST I\u2019ve never been repatriated before but then I\u2019ve never been in the middle of a pandemic before. COVID 19 was already in Britain before I left. Going abroad didn\u2019t seem like a good idea but as the holiday company hadn't cancelled, I went. 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