Imperial War Museums - Spitfire N3200 Rollerball

Across its five branches Imperial War Museums (IWM) tells the story of people who have lived, fought and died in conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth since the First World War. Their unique collections, made up of the everyday and the exceptional, reveal stories of people, places, ideas and events.  The first in the IWM Collection focuses on the Duxford Icon, the N3200 Spitfire. Built in 1939, Supermarine Spitfire Mark 1a N3200 was issued to No. 19 Squadron at RAF Duxford in April 1940. During the Dunkirk evacuations, codenamed 'Operation Dynamo', Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson piloted Spitfire N3200 from Duxford on its first and only operation, shooting down a Stuka before being shot down himself. He crash-landed on a beach near Calais and was captured, remaining a prisoner until the end of the war. His Spitfire sank under the sand and was recovered in 1986 after strong currents revealed it forty-five years later. Dr Thomas Kaplan and Simon Marsh acquired it in 2000 a