Spitfires and Hurricanes took to the skies once again yesterday (September 15), as crowds came out to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

About 300 people came to North Weald airfield, where three aircraft from the Second World War flew over at 2.50pm after a two-hour bad weather delay.

The planes flew from Goodwood Aerodrome in West Sussex along with almost 40 others which split up and headed to other bases around the south-east.

Council-owned North Weald airfield played a key part in the 1940 battle, as the RAF resisted Luftwaffe attacks between July and October.

Operations officer Wes Tierney watched the two Hurricanes and Mark XI Spitfire flyover.

He said: “One of the Hurricanes was a sea Hurricane, the only one in the world that flies.

“The other Hurricane was a Mark II, privately owned.

“The Spitfire was a Mark XI, the only one of its type in the world and that is based at North Weald and owned and operated by the Hangar XI collection.”

Pilots flying from North Weald “played a very large part” in the Battle of Britain said Mr Tierney, and the airfield was bombed three times as Nazi forces attempted to break down Britain’s defences.

He said: “North Weald was a sceptre station, which means it had more than one operational squadron.

“We had Hurricanes based here.

“The formation that flew today had veterans and the most senior was Wing Commander Tom Neil, he fought from North Weald in the Battle of Britain.”

He added: “The display could be viewed from the squadron café.

“The Mark XI that is based here broke formation and did a victory roll over the airfield.

“He then recovered, landed and parked at the café so people could view the airplane and have their picture taken.”