THE Rolls-Royce engine that powered Spitfires has spun into life to wow onlookers after the Dean of Derby told how important artefacts like it are to our history.
The Very Reverend Dr John Davies was speaking at a special service to commemorate those RAF pilots who died during the Battle of Britain.
Before the Merlin engine was noisily demonstrated he told the 50-strong congregation at the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust how artefacts like it were vital to remembering those who fought in the Second World War.
He said: "It's not just a matter of services and commemorations it's also about having these artefacts.
"I like to think of the children saying to their parents 'what's that and why is it important'.
"The parents will know and the memories will continue through the generations."
The Dean said that he hoped those parents would also explain how it is sometimes an "awful necessity" to fight wars that combat evil.
He said: "In our generation we are now really unsure about war and that's a good thing.
"To be gung-ho and roar in to fight a war is a wicked and a foolish thing.
"But these engines remind us that sometimes, awfully, war has to be fought."
Among those watching the ceremony was Ted Peck, 89, of Stapleford, who flew as a flight engineer onboard Lancaster bombers in World War Two.
He went on 30 raids over Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France.
Mr Peck's task was to make sure the bombers' fuel systems and engines were running properly.
He said: "Commemorations like this are vital because it was people like the pilots in the Battle of Britain who delivered us from what could have been total destruction.
"It's even more important as people that were there pass away."
Ian Holland, 55, was among those who watched the Merlin engine in action and said how it was an important artefact to him as his mother and father had met at Rolls-Royce, Derby, during the war.
Mr Holland, of Sevenlands Drive, Boulton Moor, said: "They were making the Merlin so it's a special memorial for me.
"If it hadn't have been for the war they would never have met.
"It's certainly makes an impressive noise and it's great to see it still running."
The service held among the engines and artefacts in the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust's exhibition, concluded with the Last Post by the Derbyshire Army Cadet Force, and a rendition of the National Anthem.
Wreaths were laid by Mayor of Derby Shiraz Khan, and representatives from The Royal Air Forces Association and Rolls-Royce.
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the Second World War air campaign waged by the Luftwaffe against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940.
It was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date.
By preventing Germany from gaining air superiority, the British compelled Hitler to postpone, and eventually cancel altogether, Operation Sea Lion, an amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain.
Versions of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine powered the Avro Lancaster bomber, Handley Page Halifax, Hawker Hurricane, de Havilland Mosquito, and Supermarine Spitfire, during the Second World War.
They were built in Derby, Crewe and Glasgow, as well as by Ford of Britain at their Trafford Park factory, near Manchester. The trust's exhibition is available to view on other days of the year by appointment only.
