GARFIELD WESTON 1, SPITFIRE P8074 MERLIN ENGINE CRASH RELIC - THE DONEGAL SPITFIRE

After the loss of 16 Spitfires and 13 RAF pilots killed in just one Battle of Britain encounter, millionaire Canadian businessman and philanthropist Garfield Weston donated 100,000 British Pounds to purchase eight new aircraft.

A Conservative MP for Macclesfield, Weston's donation to the British Air Ministry was to kick off a number of Spitfire Fighter Fund Appeals across the United Kingdom.

Known as the ‘Weston’ Spitfires and numbered 1 to 8, 'Garfield Weston 1’ with the tail designation P8074, was a Mk IIA Spitfire delivered to RAF 222 Squadron from the Castle Bromich factory in February 1941.

P8074 was to see significant enemy action, sustaining fuselage damage from a Ju 88 before shooting it down off the Norfolk coast in April 1941. 

After repairs, it was assigned to 501 Squadron where it received further combat damage in July before being once more reassigned, this time to the famous American Spitfire RAF 133 ‘Eagle’ Squadron.

133 Squadron had been formed in 1918 as a training unit flying the RFC FE 2s but was disbanded later that same year leading up to the WWI armistice.

Reformed in July 1941 as one of three ‘Eagle’ Squadrons manned by American volunteers serving in the RAF, it originally flew Hawker Hurricane IIB fighters before transferring to RAF Eglinton in Northern Ireland where it was equipped the Supermarine Spitfire MkIIA.

Whilst the United States did not enter WWII until December 8th 1941, a day after the Japanese attack on their naval base at Pearl Harbour, some US citizens, military and politicians felt that the US should have sided with Britain in its declaration of war with Germany back in 3rd September 1939 after the German invasion of Poland.

Many US citizens did in fact make their way to Europe as ‘volunteers’ - joining Canadian, RAF and British Army units running the risk of having their US citizenship stripped for breaching the Neutrality Act.

One of these volunteers was Roland ‘Bud’ Wolfe who, after gaining his private flying licence at the age of 19, had been working as a  flying instructor in Texas before he registered for the US government draft in October 1940.

Unlike most US volunteers who joined the Royal Canadian Airforce, Bud took a more direct approach and applied to join the RAF instead. Making his way to Britain, Wolfe attended the RAF 53 Operational Sqn at Sutton Bridge before officially receiving his ‘wings’ on June 5, 1941.

Wolfe was posted to the American volunteer 133 ‘Eagle’ Sqn, which had flown Hawker Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain with its pilots flying almost around the clock at the height of the Battle.

Now stripped of his US citizenship, Wolfe moved with his squadron to Northern Ireland in October 1941 tasked with patrolling the incoming convoy-heavy, Irish Sea.

In his combat veteran, Garfield Weston 1 Mk IIA Spitfire, Wolfe and his squadron provided maritime surveillance and convoy protection for inbound shipping convoys carrying critical war supplies from the US via the U-Boat infested North Atlantic.

Whilst Northern Ireland played host to critical RAF and Coastal Command airfields as well as possessing the biggest, protected naval port in the British Isles - Londonderry, the Republic of Ireland in the south, had maintained neutrality throughout the War and many downed German aircrew found themselves with an increasing number of Allied aircrew - sharing internment in the Republic's prisoner of war camps.

On the 30th November 1941, when returning from a routine convoy patrol, Flying Officer Roland Wolfe’s Garfield Weston Spitfire experienced sudden engine failure over the town of Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. 

Unable to restart his aircraft's engine and descending rapidly through thick fog, Wolfe radioed his base at Eglinton with “I’m going over the side’ before pulling back the spitfire's canopy, releasing his safety harness and bailing out of the stricken aircraft.

Wolfe landed safely 20 miles south of the Northern Ireland border, with his Spitfire MN U P8074 hitting the ground so hard it buried itself deep into the Irish bog with little wreckage remaining on the surface to mark its impact.

Detained by the Guardia, Wolfe protested that he was on a non-operational test flight making him a ‘non-combatant’, but the fact he was in RAF uniform and the aircraft was 'both armed and equipped for action’ made his story somewhat implausible.

As a result, the 23yr old Wolfe found himself a long-term guest at the Republic’s Curragh Internment Camp in Kildare along with other German and Allied combatants.

Camp security was extremely lax with guards carrying blank rounds in their rifles and prisoners allowed to apply for day passes to the local township to attend dances, play golf and even attend local races. Fishing and fox-hunting excursions were also laid on for German and Allied inmates.

For Wolfe however, spending the war behind prison wire in relative luxury while his fellow airmen risked life and limb every day was simply unacceptable and he applied for a day pass, knowing full well he would not be returning. 

Instead, he made his way to Dublin on Dec 13th 1941 before catching a train to Belfast where he reported back to his unit.

Wolfe's escape was to create a serious diplomatic row between the British and Irish governments and concerned about maintaining their delicate relationship with the Irish Republicans, Wolfe was returned to Curragh by the British Air Ministry where he was to remain for another two years before escaping again in 1943.

This time however, with the US now at war with Germany, Wolf was not returned and joined the USAAF as a captain with the 78th fighter Squadron, flying a P-47 Thunderbolts - managing to shoot down three German fighters before the war’s end.

Returning to the US, Wolfe went on to also serve as a fighter pilot in both Korea and Vietnam before retiring with the rank Lieutenant Colonel with 12,000 flying hours logged and approximately 900 combat missions to his credit in all three wars. He passed away in early 1994.

Meanwhile, Wolfe’s Spitfire, Garfield Weston 1, P804 remained buried for over 70 years beneath the Irish peat until, after numerous failed attempts to locate it, the Spitfire was rediscovered near Moneydarragh Donegal by historians and aviation archaeologists in July 2011.

To everyone's surprise, the wreckage remained in remarkably good condition - preserved by the tannin rich Irish peat and the recovery team were able to retrieve much of the fuselage, the Spitfire’s engine, the aircraft’s six Browning .303 machine guns plus a thousand rounds of ammunition still in their wing drums.

Miraculously, they even recovered Wolfe’s mud-encrusted flying helmet! 

In fact, the artefacts were so well preserved that RAF engineers were able to strip and clean one of the Spitfire’s machine guns and actually got it firing at an airforce gunnery range. This is one of the same machine guns that shot down a JU 88 off the Norfolk coast. See here : https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-15652440

The P7804’s Merlin XII engine, although twisted and fractured was also still in remarkable condition and after cleaning, can now be viewed at the Tower Museum in Derry.

This Spitfire supercharger engine case fragment was also recovered during the dig and bears the Air Ministry logo and Mk II Spitfire designation D7818, along with its individual component serial number: 15930. You can still see the section of the Merlin engine where the fragment was torn off during impact.

Mounted on its 100yr old mango wood display stand with engraved plaque and removable magnetic arm, it sits beneath either a detailed 1/72, super detailed 1/48 or ultimate detailed 1/32 scale, handcrafted model of the Garfield Weston 1 Spitfire with original markings and serial number.

(Note, the 1/48 scale Spitfire photographed with the Merlin Engine Fragments is for display purposes only and will be replaced by an exact model of Flying Officer Rowland ‘Bud’ Wolfe’s Mk IIA Spitfire upon order).

Coupled with a detailed, double-sided laminated Fact Sheet telling the story of this remarkable find and the Spitfire’s pilot and operational history, it really is a fantastic, original piece of RAF combat history - the ideal gift for any aviation enthusiast. 

This Supermarine Spitfire Arteifact comes complete with detailed Scale Model, Mango Wood Stand & Plaque plus Printed Fact Sheet featuring photo of original artefact .

* Note that this Spitfire Instrument is pictured with a 1/48 scale model rather than the standard detailed, but smaller 1/72 scale. Click on the 'Model Upgrade' option at the top of this page for the larger 1/48 scale or the Super Detailed 1/32 scale Spitfire!

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