IWM Duxford

Spitfire mkIa N3200 was built at the Supermarine factory at Southampton, it made its first flight on 29th November 1939 and after storage, was delivered to 19 Squadron at Duxford on 19th April 1940. When flying from RAF Hornchurch in the hands of Sqn. Ldr. G D Stephenson, on its very first operational sortie during Operation Dynamo, it was shot down and made a wheels up landing on the beach near Sangatte, France on 25th May 1940. Covered by the sea and sand, the wreck was forgotten until discovered and recovered in 1986. Following the recovery of the aircraft’s remains, N3200 was acquired in 2000 by Dr Thomas Kaplan and Simon Marsh. Dedicated to the restoration of this historic aircraft, they commissioned Historic Flying Limited to undertake the intensive work required to return the Spitfire to its former glory. After much work, this unique aircraft was restored to flying condition and returned to the air in 2014. In 2015 it was generously donated to IWM and the nation by Dr Kaplan and his family. This airframe features in the film Dunkirk and depicts its actual wartime fate. G-CFGJ

Duxford was the location for the airfield in the 1968 film The Battle of Britain and during one German attack a hangar was hit and exploded. The open space here is where that hangar stood. There are plans to build another hangar here.

I believe this is a replica Spitfire sitting on the corner of the footprint of the hangar destroyed in the 1968 film The Battle of Britain.