Reginald Joseph Mitchell, designer of the Supermarine Spitfire, was born in Talke
Village near Stoke on Trent on 20 May 1895.
Leaving school in 1911 aged 16 he joined the locomotive engineering company, Kerr
Stewart & Co of Stoke as an apprentice and upon completion of his apprenticeship he
began working in the drawing office.
At night school however he continued his education studying engineering, mechanics and
higher mathematics and with the use of a home based lathe he mastered practical
engineering.
In 1917, at the age of 21, a partnership that was to have a significant effect upon
his future was formed when he joined the Supermarine Aviation Works as a designer and by
1918, recognising the excellent skills that he had, Reginald Mitchell was appointed Chief
Designer by Hubert Scott-Paine the Managing Director of Supermarine.
As seaplane manufacturers, Supermarine were attracted by the Schneider Trophy contests
although until 1922 when Mitchell took over complete control of the design for that years
entry, the competition was dominated by Italy, who having won the Trophy in 1920 and 1921
meant that a further win in 1922 would secure them the Trophy outright.
Mitchell set about totally redesigning Supermarine's Sea King II, an amphibian fighter
aircraft and fitting it with a 450hp Lion it was renamed the Sea Lion II.
It was the only challenger to the Italian's in the 1922 Schneider Trophy and flown by
Captain Henri C Baird it won, also taking four new Marine World Records.
In 1925 the Air Ministry decided that their high speed research programme should
encompass the British entry in the Schneider Trophy and a Service High Speed Flight racing
team was established at Felixstowe with Government funding for Supermarine to develop a
brand new aircraft to improve upon the Mitchell designed S.4 which had crashed before that
years race due to flutter in the wing.
By 1927 the new S.5 aircraft had been built, and this was the fore-runner to the
Supermarine Spitfire.
In the ensuing years this design received a substantial amount of improvements and in
the legendary 1931 Schneider Trophy with America, France and Italy withdrawing due to
technical problems the S.6B won the Trophy outright at an average speed of 340.08 mph.
R J Mitchell (Centre) with the Schneider Team
Based on this legendary design the Air Ministry invited Mitchell to tender for the
F7/30 the new fighter aircraft to replace the existing ageing biplanes, following which he
submitted the Type 224 design on 20 February 1932.
It was not however until September 1933, following substantial modifications that he
was instructed to proceed to produce this new low cranked wing monoplane with fixed
undercarriage and of an all metal construction.
Mitchell was however a sick man. He underwent an operation to remove abdominal cancer
late in 1933 and almost died. He was told that if their was no recurrence within five
years he would likely survive but following that operation he never fully recovered his
vitality and remained a weak man.
In an attempt to convalesce he went on a continental holiday to Germany in 1934
although seeing the rise to power of Hitler and the re-emergence of Germany's military
aviation programme he realised that the RAF would require both a new fighter and new
bomber to counter this potential threat.
This was in effect the start of the end for Mitchell as with the intense pressure that
he placed himself under, he literally devoted his life to the project.
Over the next two years his health deteriorated and resisting all medical advice he
drove himself hard, working not only on the Spitfire but also the Type 317 long range,
four engined bomber.
In March 1937 he finally entered a specialist clinic upon the insistence of his wife
but it was too late, the doctors advised that he probably had no longer than three months
to live, and the next month he left for the American Foundation in Vienna having
meticulously set his affairs in order.
His stay at the Foundation was however short and he returned to Britain in early May.
On 11th June 1937 Reginald Joseph Mitchell died aged just 42.
He would never realise the tremendous contribution that his life and work had made,
not just to aviation, but to the Nation as a whole.
The two pictures below have been kindly supplied by Peter A Weston who
joined Supermarine as an apprentice in 1938 (read his story on the "Memories"
page)
The first shows the front of Supermarine Works facing the river and the
Prototype Sea Otter coming down the slip for its first flight. The building on the left
are the Main offices, R. J. 's office is in the second lot of windows down from the top.
The Supermarine Works circa 1924
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