Spitfire on a 20-Feet Stick Honors Unskilled Young Civilians Who Made War Planes

Unlike Germany and other countries, the UK was spared the horror of having to send children to the front, and in some respects managed to completely steer them clear of the war effort. The country did have to use a lot of young civilian boys and girls though, in production roles, to fill the gap left by all the men shipped overseas.

Like elsewhere, a large number of Brits were sent to work in various factories across the island. Most of them were unskilled and unqualified for the tasks they were sent to perform, and a very great deal of them were very young.

The same happened in Salisbury, where a secret Supermarine Spitfire factory was located. An unknown number of such workers were involved there in making some 2,000 Spitfires over the course of the war, about 10 percent of the total fighters of this kind that were produced by the UK.

In a bid to honor those workers, a large monument of sorts was erected this week in Salisbury. It’s a 30-feet (9 meters) high replica of the airplane (so high because it’s propped on top of a 20-feet/6 meters pole), made of fiberglass over a steel shell.

Fittingly, the plane is located in front of former Spitfire factory, now the place of residence for Burlen Fuel Systems.

During the Second World War, the Spitfire and its brethren the Hurricane were instrumental in defending the UK from the German air attacks.

The single seater was capable of reaching, thanks to Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, speeds of 370 mph (600 kph), had a range of 479 miles (771 km), and came equipped with machine guns and cannons.

Some 20,000 of them were made and deployed mostly with the Royal Air Force (RAF).