RJ Mitchell

Reginald J Mitchell was the brains behind the design of the Spitfire, and traces of him are to be found in several places in Southampton, the 'Home of the Spitfire'.

First of all, we saw a picture of him in the Solent Sky Museum when we went there.

The wind tunnel at Southampton University's Highfield Campus is named after him. 

Look what's hanging from the ceiling of the foyer of the wind tunnel building!

And then there is Michell Close, near the Supermarine factory memorial.

Mitchell lived at 2 Russell Square in Southampton until his death in 1937, and there is a plaque on the wall of his then-home.

Mitchell's grave is at South Stoneham Cemetery

I'd seen a picture of the grave on the internet, so I knew what to look for (without that, we'd have had to read every single gravestone until we found the right one!).

Couldn't resist placing my Spitfire Mk I model on the gravestone (I'm sure I'm not the first to do that, and definitely won't be the last)

Opposite the entrance to the cemetery, there is an information board on the fence of the industrial estate (note the error ...)

Finally, I picked up a copy of his biography, written by his son, for a couple of quid ...