LONDON.- This summer, Christie’s London will present a unique and remarkable piece of British history at auction – an authentic and immaculately restored Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1A – P9374/GMK1A (estimate: £1,500,000-2,500,000, illustrated above). As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, Christie’s is proud to mark this moment in history by offering Spitfire P9374 in The Exceptional Sale on 9 July 2015.

Robert Copley, Deputy Chairman Christie’s UK and Head of The Exceptional Sale: “Christie’s is proud to be entrusted with the sale of this Spitfire; a truly iconic aircraft which is symbol of the bravery ‘of the few’ in the Battle of Britain. We look forward to seeing this extraordinary Mk.1 Spitfire reach new heights at ‘The Exceptional Sale’, which will be a unique moment in auction house history.”

There are only two remaining Mk.1 models restored to the original specification and still flying, P9374 and N3200, both belonging to Thomas Kaplan, American philanthropist and art collector. As part of a hugely generous gift, Spitfire P9374 will be sold at Christie’s to benefit the RAF Benevolent Fund and Panthera, a leading wildlife conservation charity. Spitfire N3200 will be going to the Imperial War Museum Duxford. One of the most instantly recognisable silhouettes in the air, the Spitfire is not just a thing of beauty but a war machine that helped save Britain in 1940 and ultimately to win the Second World War.

In September 1980 the wreckage of Spitfire P9374 emerged from the sands of Calais beach where it had crashlanded after being shot down on 24 May 1940 during the air battle of Dunkirk. With eight Browning machine guns hiding beneath elliptical wings, Peter Cazenove, Flying Officer and later a veteran of the ‘Great Escape’, was flying the aircraft when it was attacked and hit by what is thought to have been a single bullet fired from a Dornier 17-Z bomber. Before executing his belly-landing on Calais beach, Cazenove had radioed that he was OK, and: “Tell mother I’ll be home for tea!” Cazenove was soon captured as a Prisoner of War and Spitfire P9374 was consumed by successive tides and sunk deeper into the sands; he sadly passed away shortly before the recovery of his aircraft.

Post-recovery the Spitfire went first to the Musée d’l’Air at Le Bourget, Paris, and subsequently to further collections until the parts eventually ended up with the Aircraft Restoration Company / Historic Flying Ltd. at Duxford, who have since brought this remarkable Spitfire back to life. Twelve highly skilled engineers have spent three years carrying out what is considered to be the most authentic restoration of an original Mk.1 Spitfire to date, incorporating many components from the original plane into the build. The completed aircraft successfully returned to flight for the first time since the Second World War on 1st September 2011, and was flown by John Romain, Pilot and Chief Engineer at the Aircraft Restoration Company who later remarked of P9374: “This is a fantastic restoration to be justifiably proud of. Spitfire P9374 is a truly lovely aircraft, and she flies beautifully.”

Originally built at the Vickers Armstrong factory in Woolston, Spitfire P3974 was delivered to 92 Squadron at RAF Croydon in March 1940, one of the most celebrated squadrons in the RAF. The Merlin III engine installed in P9374 was built at Rolls-Royce, Derby, on 27 October 1939. During Spitfire P9374’s service with 92 Squadron it is known to have been flown by at least eight different pilots, and was almost certainly flown by the Commanding Officer of 92 Squadron, Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, later ‘Big X’ of the Great Escape fame. Records show that P9374 had a total flight time of 32 hours and 5 minutes at the time of its loss. Spitfire P9374 will be flying again at IWM Duxford in the VE Day Anniversary Air Show on 23rd and 24th May, which Christie’s looks forward to with great anticipation and excitement.

Thomas S. Kaplan: “When my great childhood friend, Simon Marsh, and I embarked upon this project, it was to pay homage to those who Churchill called "the Few", the pilots who were all that stood between Hitler's darkness and what was left of civilization. The upcoming events of July 9th are, more than anything else, concrete gestures of gratitude and remembrance for those who prevailed in one of the most pivotal battles in modern history. The return to Duxford of N3200, which was itself piloted by the heroic Commander of RAF Duxford, is an act of love for Britain that began with my and Simon's mutual passion for aircraft and desire to enshrine a British legacy. The sale of P9374 for charity is likewise an opportunity to share that passion with others and to benefit causes that have moved me since boyhood. The RAF Benevolent Fund represents a way to honor that breed who gave so much for Britain when its existence was imperiled. In a more similar way than one might realize, we are also highlighting my family's consuming passion, the conservation of the world's imperiled wild cats...other breeds at a pivotal crossroads. By dedicating proceeds to Panthera, now the premier organization focused solely to the conservation of the wild cats and their critical habitats, as well as Oxford University's excellent Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (the WildCRU), which hosts the leading universitybased field conservation program, my family wishes to highlight the need to save these species from extinction while there's still time. And so, as history tells us all, there comes a time when one simply has to step up...to act with passion, and to remember with gratitude the few that actually do.”