War hero's son meets man restoring late father's Spitfire

The son of a Polish spitfire pilot who died when his aircraft was shot down has met the man restoring his later father's plane.

The pilot's son Jan Laguna travelled from Australia to meet Scott Booth in Gloucester on Monday.

Mr Booth is restoring the iconic World War Two aircraft that was shot down over France on 27 June 1941.

Mr Laguna said the opportunity had helped "bring his father to life" for him as he "never really knew" him.

Mr Laguna said: "Moments like this bring it all back and that's a good thing.

"It's a good thing for Poland, a good thing for England, a good thing for the air force, for all of us families, for everybody.

"They are great stories, they are very uplifting stories."

Piotr Laguna was a senior Polish Air Force pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain and helped to stop Adolf Hitler from invading Great Britain.

On the anniversary of his father's death Mr Laguna was welcomed to a ceremony in Coquelles, France, commemorating his father's life and his war efforts.

The ceremony was attended by Polish Ambassador Anna Majda.

Two days earlier, Mr Laguna visited Gloucester to see the Polish Academy.

He was accompanied by Scott Booth; a former Royal Marine Commando who bought Mr Laguna's plane and decided to restore it.

He said he originally bought the plane's engine on eBay in 2018 with the intention of creating a coffee table.

Then he began searching the engine's serial numbers which led him to discover who flew it.

Mr Booth has since created the Laguna's Spitfire Legacy group to raise awareness about the 18,000 Polish fighter pilots and aircrew who risked their lives defending Britain during World War Two.

After learning about Poland's contribution he said the tales of heroism were "just phenomenal".

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