<P> The Supermarine Spitfire, the only British fighter to be manufactured before, during and after the Second World War, was designed as a short - range fighter capable of defending Britain from bomber attack and achieved legendary status fulfilling this role during the Battle of Britain . According to fighter ace J.E. "Johnnie" Johnson it was the best conventional defensive fighter of the war . </P> <P> The fighter evolved into a multi-role aircraft capable of operating in different environments . For example, the Spitfire was a pioneer in the role of the unarmed, photo reconnaissance (P.R.) aircraft that relied on high speed and high altitude to avoid detection and attack . </P> <P> Post-war the Spitfire was to continue to serve as a front line fighter and in secondary roles for several air forces well into the 1950s . The last offensive sorties made by RAF Spitfires were flown by 60 Squadron Mk XVIIIs over Malaya on 1 January 1951 . </P> <P> The first Spitfire I to enter service with the RAF arrived at 19 Squadron, Duxford, on 4 August 1938 and over the next few weeks aircraft were delivered at the rate of one a week to 19 and 66 Squadrons (also based at Duxford). The next to be equipped with Spitfires was 41 Squadron at Catterick, followed by a succession of squadrons stationed at Hornchurch in Essex . The public's first sight of the Spitfire in RAF colours was on Empire Air Day, on 20 May 1939, during a display at Duxford in which the pilot "belly - landed" his aircraft, having forgotten to lower his undercarriage and was fined £ 5 by the Air Ministry . By the outbreak of the Second World War, there were 306 Spitfires in service with the RAF, 71 in reserve and 2,000 on order; 36 had been written off in accidents . </P>

When did the spitfire go out of service