Most of the people who gathered to watch four Spitfires fly over York were too young to remember the Battle Of Britain.
Nevertheless the sight of these fast, slender machines evoked feelings of pride and gratitude among those looking to the skies.
It was hard to credit that such small aircraft were all that stood between us and Nazi occupation 75 years ago.
The formation of four Spitfires, all privately owned, was part of a wider Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight to mark the anniversary of the start of Adlertag – the start of the German attempt to destroy our air force ahead of an invasion.
One of those watching, Rob Murphy, said:
I’ve never seen one in flight before (loads in museums). To see four in formation was well, awesome!
Your Tweets, pix and video
Operation Eagle Spitfire flypast just gone across the Vale of York. pic.twitter.com/bI3nWz63a8
— graham hind (@ossa123) August 13, 2015
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Spitfires fly over York. #spitfire #york pic.twitter.com/M4SGFh4tP1
— Howard Wilkinson (@big_truck) August 13, 2015
Managed to catch a distant glimpse of the #Spitfires flying over #York! Sounded amazing! @ellyfyork #spitfire pic.twitter.com/hGdESvYron
— Evie Lees (@EvieLees) August 13, 2015
Photo: Eagle day flypast over york #eagleday #spitfire #merlin #griffin #worldwartwo #bbmf #battleofbritain… http://t.co/mrP5akz18f
— Andy Ingle (@flipastrc) August 13, 2015