History of Aviation in the Solent Area - 5

September 1940 could perhaps be described as this country's darkest hour, when in two daylight raids by the Luftwaffe the Woolston works was destroyed killing 110 people. There was now no Spitfire production at Woolston and production at the large Castle Bromwich shadow factory not yet underway, the situation was extremely grim. Lord Beaverbrook the Minister for Aircraft Procurement came to Southampton and insisted that the Spitfire must be produced locally in any location where aircraft could be built. In a very short time laundries, bus stations, garages etc. were requisitioned and within a few weeks the aircraft was back in production all over Southampton. By the end of the War 8,000 Spitfires had been built in this way, having been built in pieces and taken to airfields for assembly and test flying. At this time the Spitfire possibly touched the lives of almost every family in Southampton. The difficulties in building the Spitfire in this way cannot be underestimated when one considers the fact that this was done during the height of the Blitz and very often by unskilled labour. A large part of the workforce were women and young men, as most eligible men were out fighting for their country. The Spitfire was to remain in production throughout the entire War and eventually over 22,000 of the aircraft were built, A testament to Mitchell's original design was the fact that the aircraft went through 24 different marks, doubled its weight and engine power yet its performance kept pace throughout the war with German fighter aircraft development.

The Blitz on Southampton was devastating and the town was hit time and time again not only because of its aircraft industry but because of its docks and its many other strategic targets. It is an irony that the maps the German pilots used to navigate and accurately attacked the target were originally produced at the Ordnance Survey in Southampton, later to be overprinted by the German authorities. The German authorities also overprinted invasion maps, maps which are so detailed as to include strategic positions such as hospitals, bridges, airfields and factories. These maps were produced from original Ordnance Survey maps indicating how confident the German authorities were of invading this country.
Immediately post war there was an enormous surplus of expertise and capacity in the aircraft industry locally. Supermarine turned their attentions to the development of the Seafire a derivative of the Spitfire. Joe Smith the Chief Designer who had taken over from Mitchell before the outbreak of the war and who had seen the development of the Spitfire through all its different marks went on to create his first post war jet fighter the Attacker which entered service with the Royal Navy. The Attacker led to the Swift which set a World Speed Record, and was the first swept wing fighter to enter service with the Royal Air Force. His last aircraft, the Scimitar, went on to serve with the Fleet Air Arm and became the first British jet fighter to carry nuclear weapons. It was also the last aircraft to carry the famous Supermarine name and the last complete military aircraft to be built in the area.

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