Billionaire makes Spitfire donation

CANADIAN billionaire Galen Weston has donated thousands of euro towards the restoration of an RAF Spitfire dug from a Co Donegal bog earlier this summer.

The Second World War fighter aircraft that crashed on the Inishowen peninsula in 1941, was the first one commissioned from a £100,000 donation made by Mr Weston’s father, Garfield, during the Battle of Britain.

The excavation of the historic aircraft from Glenshinney bog, Moneydarragh, Gleneely, on June 28 last was said to have surprised and delighted the wealthy Canadian businessman.

It also highlighted the story of American pilot, Roland “Bud” Wolfe who parachuted from the plane after its engine overheated, before it crashed into the peat valley on November 30, 1941.

Mr Weston made contact, via a third party, with aviation historian and dig organiser Jonny McNee just days after the excavation.

Mr McNee, his wife, Andree and two children, Dylan, 9, and Grace, 7, have been invited to meet Mr Weston in an all expenses paid trip to Toronto, Canada next month.

Mr McNee declined to divulge how much money had been donated to Derry City Council’s Museum Services by the billionaire.

“I will be delighted to meet the man and thank him for all he has done for the project,” said Mr McNee.

“We didn’t go cap in hand asking for a donation... he was straight in there. It obviously means so much to him and it is reflective of what his father had done during the war.

“This is a nice donation which will enable us to put on a first-rate display befitting the fantastic story behind this aircraft.”

The Weston money will be used for specialist conservation work on delicate artefacts including Wolfe’s leather helmet, goggles, oxygen mask, log book and first aid kit. It will also fund the building of a scaled model of the Spitfire as well as glass display units to house the recovered items.

A commemorative plaque for Wolfe’s RAF 133 (Eagle) Squadron will also be paid for and unveiled at City of Derry Airport later this year, along with the plane’s tail wheel.

The airport, at Eglinton, operated as a war-time RAF runway where Wolfe and his colleagues in Eagle Squad- ron were based.

Meanwhile, the pilot’s daughters, Barbara Kucharczyk and Betty Wolfe, hope to travel to Derry to see the exhibition when it goes on display in the city this year.