Presentation Spitfire

When travelling in our Piper Comanche airplane we so often come across intriguing back stories involving aviation. The Bazflyers spent today in Bundaberg, the rum capital of Australia and it was here we discovered an interesting aviation story with a New Zealand connection.

Besides being famous for 125 years of distilling Bundaberg Rum the town enthusiastically celebrates its very own WW1 aviation hero, Bert Hinkler. It followed then that with the outbreak of WW2 the good folk of Bundaberg decided to assist Britain by donating a Spitfire in memory of the late Squadron Leader Bert Hinkler. Named the City of Bundaberg the presentation Spitfire costing $5000 took to the air in July 1941 and first entered service with 308 (Polish) Squadron RAF based from Northold north of London. A month later it was credited with downing a Messerschmitt 109 in air combat over France.

Spitfire P8576 went on to serve with 65, 616 and 504 Squadrons, however most unfortunately the aircraft was lost while on patrol over the Irish Sea on 4 February 1942 due to a glycol cooling leak and subsequent seizure of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine.

The pilot was Flying Officer Edward Cannon of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Cannon managed to bail out of the crippled Spitfire only to die of exposure. His body, still in the dinghy, was found the next day washed up on the Scottish Coast.

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