Stratford resident, Dr Richard Freer-Hewish, takes special Spitfire flight for his 80th birthday

LAST Friday (11th October) a very special Spitfire could be spotted against a clear blue Stratford sky making a couple of swooping turns before returning to its Oxford Airport base.

On board was passenger and Stratford resident, Dr Richard Freer-Hewish, who had planned the extra special flight over his home and local golf course to celebrate his 80th birthday.

This Spitfire was commissioned in 1944, the same year as Richard was born, and the flight was the grand finale of his birthday celebrations.

The ‘Grace’ Spitfire, ML407, based at Sywell and Oxford airports was not only the same age as Richard but of special significance in that it had 320 combat hours in 176 operational sorties in WW2 and was accredited with shooting down the first enemy plane on D-Day. Also, it was built nearby at Castle Bromwich.

This single-seater Spitfire was later converted into a two-seater trainer for the Irish Air Corps and meticulously restored by the Grace family in the 1980s.

“It was a euphoric feeling,” said Richard of the flight experience. “My work as a civil engineer has led me around the world, and I have fond memories of flying in small single engine planes when shuttling back and forth managing remote road construction sites in the Western Australian bush – although that was 50 years ago.

“It is a credit to the Grace family, and Warbird, the company that have kept this icon of the 20th century alive today, lest we forget.”

Richard, who is originally from Wales, has been married to Angela for 55 years, and they have lived in Stratford since 1992.

The Spitfire experience is not the only thing that the couple have done to celebrate Richard’s milestone birthday.

“I wanted to treat and celebrate different groups of people that have made up the jigsaw of my life,” said Richard. “So I took golfers to Nailcote Hall for the day, went for a ride with cycling friends and took them out to lunch, and went to the Albert Hall with friends for the Proms. It was two weeks of activities.”

Richard’s birthday was actually on 7th September, but the Spitfire flight was delayed due to bad weather.

Richard has recently stepped down from the Stratford Transport Group Committee where he “tried to knock some sense into getting a strategic plan for transport in Stratford”.

He added: “My flight on the Spitfire was unforgettable, and I could look down on the poor souls stuck on the Birmingham Road!”