Spitfire pin

The beautiful, yet deadly, spitfire

There's no doubt about it, the spitfire is a war hero in itself, a formidable defender in the Battle of Britain that was the favourite of RAF aces like Douglas Bader. The mighty spitfire became a symbol of British spirit and doggedness. It is the stuff of legend.

The first spitfire flew on March 5, 1936, and it was used in secondary roles into the 1950s. Over 20,000 were built, more than any other British aircraft. Sadly, its designer, R. J. Mitchell, died in 1937 and did not live to see how important his design was to be. The elliptical wing of the spitfire allowed it greater speed than the Hawker Hurricane, and it was known for its maneuverability and responsiveness. Several variations of the spitfire were built, powered initially by Merlin and later Griffon engines, both from Rolls-Royce.

The fighter continues to be immortalized in artwork of all sorts. According to Wikipedia, trench art is "any decorative item made by soldiers, prisoners of war, or civilians, where the manufacture is directly linked to armed conflict or its consequences." It seems a crude term, especially for pieces made by fine aircraft machinists like Murray Fraser.

The "sweetheart brooch," a sub-category of trench art, was worn by wives, girlfriends, and also mothers and sisters, etc. to show that they had a family member serving in the forces. Dad made a sweetheart brooch for Hazel Stevens.

Cpl. Murray Fraser made this spitfire pin for his sweetheart, Hazel Stevens.

L-R: top and bottom of the spitfire pin.

Dad machined Mom's pin from a half-crown, which until 1946 had a silver content of 50%. At 1.25" in diameter, the coin is larger than our 1" loonie and twice as heavy at 14.1 grams. The half-crown was equivalent to two and a half shillings (30 pennies), or one-eighth of a pound. They were minted until 1970 when decimalization came into effect.

A 1945 half-crown

Dad once said that he made another spitfire pin out of a copper penny, but none of us has ever seen it. Copper would have been softer and easier to work with. Perhaps it is lost, or went to his mom or sister. (Molly Neil doesn't mention such a gift in the few letters we have from her.)

And, lest you think that Dad was original in designing this pin from a coin, I hesitate to tell you that this seems to have been a common practice in the RAF. I have come across similar spitfire sweetheart brooches online, especially the UK eBay site. Here are a few examples:

Spitfire earrings (top) and brooch, made from New Zealand three-pence coins.

The two illustrations above are from http://www.spitfiretrenchart.co.nz. Those wings seem to be out of proportion, and saw marks are clearly visible, but it's interesting that these are in current production. The fellow who creates and sells these explains that:

My late grandfather James Fisher taught me how to shape a 3d or three-pence coin into the shape of a spitfire fighter aircraft. Jim, then a 15-year old in war-torn England, fashioned these brooches from English three-pence coins during tea breaks from making real spitfires for the RAF in a factory near his home in Swindon. He used the three-pence coin because of its high silver content, while I use New Zealand three-pence coins for the same reason. My grandfather met my grandmother in the spitfire factory, where she too was employed during World War II.

Another example found on the UK eBay website, is an authentic wartime piece of trench art made from a penny. At the time of writing, it is listed at £10.

This pin was posted on eBay UK for 10 pounds.

Another copper version, still not as nice as Dad's and half the price of the one above, was also found on eBay UK:

Another vintage sweetheart pin from eBay UK

Here's an example of an Australian "penny spitfire". That's a mighty large tail:

An Australian "penny spitfire"

These show up regularly on antiques websites, too. Add these to our squadron:

Hmm, not copper. Might this be another half-crown version?

Odd proportions, but the first I've seen with a propeller. (c) cjbalm.com

One website illustrates how to create these. Steve, a British machinist, noted that he hadn't made one of these in forty years, but wanted to show how it's done.

Step 1. Get yourself a pre-decimalization, large penny.

Step 2: Beat it with a hammer to flatten it.

Step 3: No need for fancy annealing, just hold in an old pair of pointed pliers, or stand it on three small nails banged into a scrap of wood. Heat until red and drop straight into cold water.

Step 4: Fold it in half, right through the date. The line represents the fuselage. 

Step 5: Hammer out the sides, so you have material to form the wings.

Step 6:  Starting to shape up. Cut out the gap between the front and rear wings to allow the fuselage to grow longer when you hammer the shape into the top. You have to do this so that there is metal present all the way along, or you will break through when it is filed.

Step 7:  Starting to look like a spitfire now.

Step 8: Protecting the back end, give the front a wallop to shape the cockpit and engine canopy. Do the same behind the cockpit and in front of the tail. 

Step 9: Put the thing in a vice sideways, and with a punch, elongate the tail up, turn it over and repeat from the other side. This will also stretch it out rearwards, so put the fuselage back in the vice upside down with just the edge of the tail poking out and knock that back where it was. 

Step 10: It needs more work, but note that it's now bigger than a penny.

Step 11: "It was one of those things we all did. I won't bother finishing this, as I don't have a sweetheart, just to show how it's done. It took an hour to do this."

Now, if you're getting nostalgic for spitfires, check out the real thing below. If you have more time, learn more in BBC documentary on YouTube.  

If it's your dream to go up in a spitfire, contact Tiger Airways. Of about 50 spitfires still currently flying world-wide, they have one one of the five remaining two-seaters (Mark 9s). Three are in the UK and two in the USA.

2-seater Spitfire Mark 9

The owner of the spitfire in Aspen, Colorado, offers 45-minute rides for about $2500. Tiger Airways notes that "this spitfire has dual controls, so it will be possible to actually try your hand at flying the aeroplane. It is also possible for some aerobatic manoeuvres to be carried out on the flight."

Although you won't have Messerschmitt Bf109s shooting at you, try not to hit the ground and wind up like Douglas Bader, okay?

If you'd prefer to just stay on the ground, consider one of these, the Motomobile UCI Mark III Spitfire by Martin Aubé, an enclosed 3-wheeled concept vehicle inspired by the fighter. The Motomobile website claims the design is a tribute "to a generation of brave young men and women who saved democracy ..." The vehicle has "a WWII Spitfire attitude, including, glass canopy, camo paint and invasion stripes. The engine is electric, but the wheels got good old white walls tires and cops hub caps."

The side view with "Invasion stripes" and camo paint.