November 27, 2025: A replica full-size Spitfire will be the centrepiece of a memorial garden planned for Tillsonburg Airport if everything comes together.
The plane was donated to the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association (CHAA) by Ray Whittemore, the owner of K-W Surplus.
John Britton of CHAA explained the fullscale replica is made of fiberglass and steel.
“After the war, they were putting Spitfires and Hurricanes on poles outside of outfields to honour veterans,” he said, adding as the desire to restore the planes increased there was a move to take the actual planes down for restoration and replace them with replicas.
Replicas of a Spitfire and Hurricane were bound for Norway when something fell through. Whittemore purchased both from Britain, and brought them to Ontario. The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum wanted the replicas. Whittemore gave them the Hurricane but put the Spitfire on the roof of K-W Surplus. Now he is retiring and sold the business so is donating the Spitfire to CHAA, which he is a member of.
The plane was removed from the roof of K-W Surplus on Monday, wings removed and transported to Tillsonburg. Plans are to put it on a pedestal in a memorial garden at the airport.
Britton said one detail to be worked out is to get town council’s endorsement of the plan. The Airport Advisory Committee, which he is a member of, is all for it, but council hasn’t
been approached yet.
The Spitfire was an integral part of the Allies defence and the Battle of Britain. It also has a historical connection to the Harvards.
“You trained on a Harvard with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, then you went to England and you were put in a Spitfire,” Britton said. “Once you flew the Harvard, you could fly a Spitfire, Hurricane and Mustang.”
The memorial garden will pay tribute to the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), the Coast Guard, Merchant Marines and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. It will also honour two past presidents of CHAA: former Second World War Royal Canadian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Charley Fox, a highly decorated Spitfire pilot who is credited with wounding German
military commander Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in his staff car prior to D Day; as well as Canadian Astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason who was president at the time of his sudden passing.
After arriving at Tillsonburg airport, the Spitfire replica will be repaired and then repainted to to resemble the colours flown by Fox during the war.
The memorial will pay heed to Tillsonburg Regional Airport’s initial role as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. There will be benches donated by the families of CHAA’s three founding fathers: Bob Hewitt, Norm Beckham and Len Fallowfield. Proposed are engraved bricks that can be purchased by donors and installed on the base.
The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association is fundraising to recoup expenses of the removal and transport of the model aircraft, its repair and repainting, plus the design and creation of the memorial garden, including the pole mount structure and installation of the aircraft atop it.
Britton said organizers have talked to officials with the City of Windsor, which has a Spitfire mounted on pole, for advice. The Canadian Military History Club in Tillsonburg has provided support for the project.
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Article courtesy of Jeff Helson, Editor, Tillsonburg Post Editor.