Between October 5th to 11th 2015 Oxford Archaeology East, local community volunteers and members of Operation Nightingale excavated the remains of Spitfire Mk Ia X4593 ‘Kerala’ near Holme Fen in Cambridgeshire.
Join the Friends of Fishbourne Roman Palace for a fascinating talk on Saturday 22nd July concerning the story and discovery of this aircraft. This is the poignant story of the last flight of the aircraft and the pilot, a young man from Brighton.
Spitfire X4593 was built at Eastleigh, Hampshire, as a Mark 1A Spitfire with a Merlin III engine. The plane flew in the Battle of Britain and credited with destroying at least one German plane, believed to be a Heinkel 111. Its unusual name was the result of it being a presentation Spitfire which was paid for and named by the Madras Mail (English language daily evening paper, published 1868-1981) and was the first in a trio of Mark 1 Spitfires named by their readers. The plane was called ‘Kerala’ (after the SW Indian state) and allocated to 266 Squadron, a Rhodesian squadron based in Wittering. Spitfire X4593 crashed on the 22nd November 1940 whilst on a routine training flight killing the pilot, Pilot Officer Harold E Penketh.
Anthony Haskins, the project officer in charge of the excavation, graduated from York University in 2002 with a BSc in Archaeology and then in 2004 with an MSc in Zooarchaeology. He has worked for Oxford Archaeology since 2007. He has particular interests in the Late Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and aviation archaeology and has been involved with the excavation of P51D Mustang ‘Ellie May’ and Halifax Bomber LL587.
Outside of Oxford Archaeology, Anthony has taken part in several community excavations in the Chichester area. The last one was the People of the Heath community excavation project at Petersfield Heath.
Date: Saturday 22nd July
Time: 2.00pm
Age suitability: 16+
Cost: Members of Friends of Fishbourne Roman Palace – £5, Non-Members – £10.
Light refreshments included.
This event has been organised by Friends of Fishbourne Roman Palace. All profits to fund projects at Fishbourne Roman Palace
