Carrying their Spirit Forward: 60 years of the Spitfire Association

The Australian Spitfire Association is celebrating its historic 60th anniversary with a series profiling ‘the Spitfire Generation’ – that is, the pilots, ground crew, men and women who were key to the success of the Spitfire.

The culmination of the anniversary activities will be a dinner held in conjunction with the Temora Aviation Museum on Saturday 9th October. The dinner will take place in the hangar with the Spitfires, will feature stories and anecdotes from one of Australia’s remaining Spitfire pilots and the announcement of this year’s Spitfire Memorial Defence Fellow. The dinner coincides with flying displays on both days (Saturday and Sunday).

Guests will include the Chief of Air Force, (Spitfire Memorial Defence Fellowship Patron), Air Vice-Marshal (Ret’d) (Spitfire Association Patron) and the Air Commander Australia (ACAUST).

“The Spitfire Association remains strong, despite less than a handful of pilots and support crews remaining. This is because we actively work to help Australia remain resilient and work to our motto of “Carry the Spirit Forward” for the founders of the Association and all who were involved in the success of the Spitfire,” commented Geoff Zuber, President of the Spitfire Association and son of a Spitfire pilot.

To evolve, the Spitfire Association must retain its heritage, remain contemporary, and look forward, to ensure a relevant contribution to the future. As we celebrate our 60th anniversary, we bring together our past, present, and future.

• The past involves preserving the memory of the air and ground crews of World War II, the men and women in war support roles, and the Spitfire aircraft.
• The present is our yearly calendar supporting membership, functions, tours, fundraising, our links with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and growth of the Spitfire Association. The present also considers how the Spitfire Association helps Australia remain resilient.
• The future is the work of the Spitfire Association as it supports fund raising to maintain and grow our ability to help keep Australia resilient. We do this by continued and active maintenance of the Spitfire Memorial Defence Fellowship, as well as bring other selected projects to life.

“Maintaining the right balance as we reshape is crucial. We are committed to ensuring that we forever remain a living, breathing memorial to the Spitfire generation, whilst Carrying their Spirit Forward,” concluded Mr Zuber.

Visit www.spitfireassociation.com/dinner.php to join us for our celebratory dinner and be part of history.