VIDEO AND PHOTO GALLERY: Spitfires fly over Chesterfield

A group of Spitfires passed over Chesterfield and a range of other towns and villages in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire this afternoon in a dramatic World War Two tribute.

By The Newsroom

Published 13th Aug 2015, 22:21 BST

Aircraft from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight were joined by private Spitfire owners to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of Unternehmen Adlerangriff, the German operation to destroy the Royal Air Force in World War II.

The Spitfires launched from Humberside Airport and split into three sections of aircraft to fly over as many villages, towns and cities as fuel allowed.

The destruction of the Royal Air Force would have cleared the way for the invasion of Britain. The German attacks on 13th August 1940 inflicted significant damage and casualties on the ground but they did not make a significant impression of Fighter Command’s ability to defend British air space.

The engagements resulting from Adlertag became known as the Battle of Britain.