Pembrokeshire's very own Spitfire has been welcomed to the county by a Dambusters hero and the Conservative Assembly Member Angela Burns. Eric Jephcott from Pembroke Dock was a rear gunner in Guy Gibson's Lancaster bomber that took part in the Dambuster raids in May 1943. He climbed into the fuselage of the Mark 8 Spitfire when it arrived at RAF Carew Cheriton on its way to being restored at Withybush Airfield. "Meeting Mr. Jephcott bought home the true significance of the Spitfire," said Mrs. Burns. "This is a wonderful restoration project that will give people the chance to work on and fly in a Spitfire and it is also a serious reminder of the sacrifice made by so many young men who died while flying these planes in the Second World War." The Pembrokeshire Spitfire Aeroplane Company has already spent £150,000 buying the incomplete shell of the rare plane. It plans to spend three years and another £600,000 on restoring it to its former glory. It will then be one of only five flying Mark 8 Spitfires in the world. "We thought it would be fun to complement the static display of aircraft planned for Carew museum with a flying museum," said company director, Ray Burgess. Fund-raising director Peter Kraus said that schools and colleges were going to be invited to help with the restoration of the iconic plane. "We went for a Spitfire because of that purring of a Merlin engine over Pembrokeshire - it will be the real McCoy," he said.
