How Spitfires were made in Birmingham
Many Spitfires were made at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham. Some memories from the shop floor.
The Last Spitfire (1945)
Full title reads: THE LAST SPITFIRE.
Cowley, Oxfordshire.
Various shots of the engineers replacing cowling over engine of Spitfire. Close up shot of a pilot entering cockpit. Close up shot of propellor of Spitfire revolving. Several shots of Spitfire taxiing and taking off.
Various shots of car building factory, showing spraying and assembling of doors. Several shots of Morris car engines on assembly line. Good picture of motor car tyres in a large stack. Adjusting wheels to cars on assembly line. Morris car leaving assembly line and approaching camera. Fleet of Morris cars leaving Morris works. Large number of cyclists on road.
(Mute & Track Negs.)
FILM ID:1163.25
A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT'S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES.
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British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website.
Supermarine Spitfire Production
British aircraft workers carry on sterling work, here seen turning out 'Spitfires'.
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1940's Weekend at Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens With Spitfire Flypast:
Castle Bromwich is approx 5 miles from Birmingham City Centre and near Jct 5 of the M6 Motorway. The hall itself is now an hotel but the adjacent gardens are managed by a trust and a fair number of green fingered volunteers. This 40's Weekend is now a well patronised annual event & includes a flypast of an aircraft from the RAF Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight based at Coningsby in Lincolnshire.... This year it was the ever popular Mk9 Spitfire. A bit difficult to video but I managed a better shot from home the next day in brighter weather.
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LES BULLOCK.SPITFIRE.Castle Bromwich.avi
This is taken from Sky News around 1994. My Dad,Les Bullock (now passed away) talking about his work on the Spitfire at the Castle Bromwich factory in 1943/44.
Spitfire returns to Castle Bromwich May 2018
BIRTHPLACE OF THE SPITFIRES
A memorial marking the association between Birmingham and the Royal Air Force is unveiled by Alex Henshaw, formerly chief test pilot at Castle Bromwich RAF Station. The memorial is a replica of the RAF bridge which used to stand above the Officers mess at 605 Squadron.
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Grandes Batailles Angleterre 1940 Episode 3 5
Castle Bromwich Heritage Festival - A Solihull Today Video Production
As part of the Image Fest series of events, Castle Bromwich Heritage Festival took place at Castle Bromwich Hall Hotel and Gardens. Featuring a number of themed zones including Tudor, Victorian and World War Two the festival showcased some interesting scenes and stories from the area through the ages.
It also incorporated St Mary and St Margaret Church and featured a beer festival as well as stall and games on the village green.
This video has been filmed for solihulltoday.co.uk by cmavideo.co.uk
Video from the Past [05] - Inside Story - The Spitfire (1987)
Castle Bromwich was the site of the largest single source of Spitfire production during the war. This programme revisits the plant and talks to some of the men and women responsible for this remarkable output. We hear from a record-breaking test pilot, several women who found themselves doing jobs they never dreamt of and pioneering engineers who had to learn quickly how to adapt this new design of aircraft for combat duty. Between them, they were responsible for more than half of the total number of Spitfires built during the war.
Among contributors are:
Brian Conway (Narrator)
Alf Burton
Edna Crickton
Alex Henshaw
Eric Holden
Katie Wright (Director & Producer)
Spitfire flypast at Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens 1940s event - 2018
RAF Spitfire flypast at Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens 1940s event, May 2018. This Mk 9 Spitfire is from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and is showing the new desert livery.
B.I.F. Castle Bromwich (1952)
Castle Bromwich, Birmingham
GV.s the exhibition. LS. & MS. Bridge. The 'Carlisle' grader. LS. The B.S.A. stand. LS. The B.S.A. Truck mover being demonstrated. (Mute. Orig. Neg.)
FILM ID:2597.16
A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT'S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES.
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British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website.
Birmingham Air Pageant (1927)
Item title reads: Birmingham air pageant
Air Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker, the Lord Major and huge crowds at greatest aerial display out-side London in the world.
Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, West Midlands
A number of biplanes are lined up on an airfield, the camera pans to show a long line of aeroplanes with crews standing beside them. C/U of Air Marshall and others chatting. Passengers are seen boarding a large aircraft. C/U of a man and a woman in the doorway at the side. The large aircraft taxis away and takes off.
Action shot of a mock battle which begins with a plane in the air, some way off with smoke pouring from it. Aircraft swoop low over the airfield. Planes fly high above. A mock castle is attacked with bombs, causing large explosions and clouds of smoke. The castle is hit and disappears in a clouds of smoke.
Note: Early days for people to try out passenger aircraft.
FILM ID:690.27
A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT'S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES.
FOR LICENSING ENQUIRIES VISIT
British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website.
Southampton (Eastleigh) Airport - 1939 - Major De Seversky of the USAAC evaluates the Spitfire
On 15th May 1938 Jeffrey Quill, the then chief test pilot, flew the first production Spitfire, K9787, from Eastleigh and then, on 4th August 1938, he delivered the first RAF Spitfire, K9789, to No.19 Fighter Squadron at Duxford. The Government felt that the Supermarine works at Woolston, Southampton would not be able to cope with the expected volume of demand for the new aircraft and they decided to set up a Shadow Factory for Spitfire production at Castle Bromwich near Birmingham, initially under the control of the Nuffield organisation and later transferred to the management of Vickers-Armstrong Ltd. Major De Seversky was America's best-known philosopher, prophet, and advocate for air power, even serving as an adviser to the Chief of Staff during the Second World War. In 1970 he was enshrined in the Aviation Hall of Fame for his achievements as a pilot, aeronautical engineer, inventor, industrialist, author, strategist, consultant, and scientific advances in aircraft design and aerospace technology.
Bradford Arms Castle Brom Birmingham
Virtual Tour on my Sammy S5 around the Bradford Arms Pub.
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries during and after the Second World War. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations, and was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft. It was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war. The Spitfire continues to be a popular aircraft, with approximately 55 Spitfires being airworthy, while many more are static exhibits in aviation museums all over the world.
The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works (which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928). In accordance with its role as an interceptor, Mitchell designed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing to have the thinnest possible cross-section; this thin wing enabled the Spitfire to have a higher top speed than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief designer, overseeing the development of the Spitfire through its multitude of variants.
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England - Capetown Record (1939)
Full titles read: ENGLAND TO CAPETOWN RECORD
L/S's of small aeroplane landing flown by Alex Henshaw who has broken the Cape record with a time of 1 day and 15 hours. L/S's of Henshaw being carried on the shoulders of two men passed cheering crowds. He holds aloft the King's Cup.
Note: This film was actually shot in 1938 when Henshaw won the King's Cup.
FILM ID:999.52
A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT'S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES.
FOR LICENSING ENQUIRIES VISIT
British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website.
Typhoon Jets Filmed Flying Over Beeston Nottingham, National Armed Forces Day Nottingham
A very short Video clip of 4 Typhoon Jets Filmed Flying Over Beeston Nottingham 29th June 2013, (Armed Forces Day) Flypast over Nottingham.
Castle Bromwich Remembrance Sunday 2016
Castle Bromwich Remembrance Sunday 2016, nice sunny day, lots of people attended. 165(Castle Bromwich) Squadron ATC in focus of the ceremony.
Lest we forget!..