Spitfire Production

On Tuesday 15th September 2015 the Salisbury Spitfire Production plaque on 141 Castle Street was unveiled by Norman Parker, an 89 year old engineer who worked on the Spitfire production at High Post. This, perhaps the most celebrated of Salisbury Civic Society’s blue plaques, recognises the incredible effort the citizens of Salisbury put into manufacturing Spitfire aircraft during WWII. The building was on the site of one of the three requisitioned Salisbury garages used for manufacturing almost 2000 Spitfire aircraft from 1941 until 1947. The machining of Spitfire parts in the film ‘First of the Few’ was carried out in this former Wilts & Dorset bus engine garage. Two Spitfire assembly sheds were constructed on Hudson’s field. Final assembly and maiden flights were from Highpost and Chattis Hill airfields. The story of the Salisbury Spitfires is one of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Many of those recruited to the scheme had probably never touched an aeroplane before. Yet after what must have been the barest minimum of training, they were building fighters faster than they could be flown away. The 2016 film “Secret Spitfires” has celebrated their achievements.