A FILM created in Worcestershire which tells the incredible true story of an Irish pilot who became the youngest ever wing commander in the RAF during the Second World War is now available on SKY Showcase.
The Shamrock Spitfire was produced by Nigel Davey from Cofton Hackett and John Dawson from Hanbury and centres on Brendan Finucane. It was written and directed by Ian and Dominic Higgins from Hopwood,
He dreamed of becoming a flyer, and was one of the first to enlist into the Royal Air Force in 1938.
After a baptism of fire in the Battle of Britain, Brendan proved himself a natural-born fighter pilot and was given command of the 452 Australian Squadron.
Under Brendan’s leadership they became the stuff of legend.
Some of his Brendan’s comrades painted a shamrock on his Spitfire in tribute to his Irish roots. His plane then became renowned as ‘The Flying Shamrock’ and he was affectionately known as ‘Spitfire Paddy’.
Such was the Brendan and his crew’s reputation, Prime Minister at the time Sir Winston Churchill wanted a whole ‘Shamrock Squadron’.
The film was only going to be a short but when the news there was to be a biopic about ‘Spitfire Paddy’ made it to the Spitfire community and American film companies, it quickly grew into a feature film.
Filming took place across Bromsgrove district and Worcestershire with locations including Avoncroft Museum, the Lickey Hills, Alvechurch, Hanbury and Evesham.
As well as all the main actors, more than 100 extras were involved.
Nigel said: “We know SKY Cinema only select a handful of independent films each year so we are really pleased to have been chosen and it shows the hard work by all the team and everyone involved has paid off.”
