Spitfire P9374 J was one of a batch of 138 Spitfires built under Air Ministry contract at Supermarines Woolston works and delivered to the RAF on 2 March 1940 before arriving at 92 Squadron at RAF Croydon four days later. At that time this famous fighter squadron was engaged on Home Defence duties.

The squadrons aircraft carried the fuselage identity letters GR with P9374 being allocated the individual identity letter: J. Thus, this particular Spitfire became GR-J / P9374. The Merlin III engine installed in P9374 was built at Rolls-Royce, Derby, on 27 October 1939  tested on 2 November 1939  with a delivery date of 6 November 1939 when it was dispatched to 14 Maintenance Unit, RAF Carlisle.

During Spitfire P9374s service with 92 Squadron it is known to have been flown by at least eight different pilots, including Sergeants Barraclough, Eyles and Fokes, Pilot Officers Bryson, Saunders and Williams and Flight Lieutenant Green. It was Pilot Officer Williams, however, who blooded P9374 in action on 23 May when he claimed a Me 110 destroyed over the French coast.

Additionally, it is almost certain to have been flown at some stage by the Commanding Officer of 92 Squadron, Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, later Big X of the Great Escape fame. Another man who piloted P9374 was Flying Officer Peter Cazenove who was flying the aircraft on 24 May 1940 in what was his first and last combat sortie of the war. Records show that P9374 had a total flight time of 32 hours and 5 minutes at the time of its loss.Flying from RAF Hornchurch in Essex, 92 Squadron was covering operations on the ground in what would ultimately see the fall of Calais to German troops. During this early morning sortie P9374 was hit by what is thought to have been a single bullet fired from a Dornier 17-Z bomber which holed the Spitfires coolant system. With an overheating engine, and with no realistic hope of returning across the English Channel, Cazenove made a wheels-up forced landing at low tide on the beach near Calais. Before executing what was a perfect belly-landing Peter Cazenove had radioed that he was OK, adding, Tell mother Ill be home for tea! From where he had landed he made his way into Calais town and fought a rear-guard action with the army before the town eventually fell to the attackers and he was taken as a POW.

During his time as prisoner Cazenove made several escape attempts but was later incarcerated at Stalag Luft III from where the Great Escape was mounted. Cazenove became involved in forging documents for the escapers, but of the many scheduled to break out of the tunnel he was last on the list. His physical size led to fears that he would become stuck in the tunnel, but this may well have saved his life as the escape was discovered before Cazenoves turn came. Of those who escaped and were recaptured, 50 were executed by the Gestapo. Among them was Cazenoves CO, Roger Bushell, who had been shot down and taken prisoner on 23 May 1940.In September 1980 the wreckage of a Spitfire aircraft emerged from the sands of Calais beach. Initially, the identity of the aircraft remained a mystery but following its recovery by the manager of the nearby Hoverport in January 1981, the Spitfire was identified as P9374, an early Mk 1 version of Supermarines finest creation. Peter Cazenove had died shortly before the recovery of his aircraft. Not long before passing away he had remarked, I wonder what happened to my Spitfire and I wonder if anyone will ever find it?                                                                                                       The skin was made using a template from Rock which I thank him for. You'll find one at 2048x2 and one at 1024x2   Here are a couple of links that that have more of the story about P9374 J and it's road to restoration           http://www.christies.com/spitfire/interactive/index.html     and       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh1S-C1r_mA  