Spitfires are in the news

Firstly at the annual Dowding ceremony in Moffat where a spitfire flew low over the town. Moffat is the birthplace of the man who led RAF pilots to victory in the 1940 Battle of Britain. It was under Air Chief Marshal Lord Hugh Dowding’s guidance and leadership that the nation was saved from a Nazi Luftwaffe attack.

Dowding was described as the Architect of Deliverance and RAF personnel, family and friends joined Moffatonians as a bust was unveiled outside the home he grew up in. Also on display in the grounds was a life-size replica spitfire, donated to Dowding House by local doctor, Hamish MacLeod.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Dumfries, Fiona Armstrong attended the ceremony - and the following service at Upper Annandale Church. Fiona said: ‘I pay tribute to all those who keep thisgreat man’s  memory alive. Moffat is rightly proud of her famous son.’

Dowding service at Upper Annandale Church.

Meanwhile across the border in Ayrshire, another war-time Spitfire pilot was being remembered. In 1941 Czech pilot Frantisek Hekl was on a training mission when his plane crashed into Loch Doon. He had, with other allies, joined the fight against Nazi Germany and was just 26 years old when he died.

In 1982 parts of the plane were found by members of the Dumfries Aviation Museum and rebuilt. Hekl is widely seen as a hero and this week, delegates from the Czech republic, including the country’s Minister of Defence, attended a service on the banks of the loch where a memorial was unveiled and a Czech pipe band played. 

Attending the service as the KIng’s personal representative was Ayr and Arran’s Lord-Lieutenant, Sheriff Iona McDonald. With the Dumfries Aviation Museum connection, she was joined by the Lord-Lieutenant of Dumfries, Fiona Armstrong.