THE Battle of Britain conjures up images of clean-cut young pilots, often barely out of their teens, whirling in deadly combat above the skies of southern England.

But they were not the only ones who contributed to the famous victory - miners from the North-East's pits also played a vital part in the conflict.

Despite wretched poverty and their own dangerous working conditions, men from the Durham coalfield clubbed together to buy two much-needed Spitfires for the Few.

One of them - registration number P8091 - was presented to 72 Squadron, which at the time was based in Acklington. The aircraft was officially named Miners of Durham II.

After the war the unit disbanded, but in 2002 it was reformed as a reserve training squadron at RAF Linton-on-Ouse - and its pilots have brought back the aircraft naming tradition, honouring those who bought presentation Spitfires.

Harry Spence, 79, from Tudhoe Colliery, was invited to the base to meet the pilots and, as one of the original contributors, see the modern Miners of Durham II, a Tucano used to train today's fighter crews.

"It's wonderful to see Miners of Durham back in the skies. I'm all for it and I think it's great," he said.

"These things should be remembered and it is a fitting tribute to the many thousands of Durham miners who bought her."

The idea of presentation aircraft came about in the early part of the war when the RAF was losing many aircraft and Government finances were badly stretched.

So Lord Beaverbrook introduced the Spitfire Fund into which individuals, companies, organisations or towns could donate money to buy the much-needed replacements.

The fund was used to buy other aircraft types, but there were more presentation Spitfires than any other marque. About 1,500 are logged, about 17 per cent of the total production.

The miners of Durham were not the only North-Easterners to buy one - an aircraft donated by the region's section of the Showman's Guild was named Fun of the Fair.

Mr Spence was 14 when he turned up for his first shift at Tudhoe Colliery in 1941.

"It was horrible," he remembered. "We often had to work in an area no more than three feet square. All we received was £2-a-week and that included the extra money for working underground."

The £10,000 to buy the miners' two Spitfires was taken from union subscriptions. It would have been the equivalent of 100 miner's annual income.

The original Miners of Durham II was written off following a crash landing in January 1945