- A replica British Spitfire fighter is on display in London ahead of the 75th anniversary of the June 6, 1944, D-Day landings.
- The British used the Spitfire throughout the war, and the replica is one several World War II-era planes making an appearance for the anniversary.
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LONDON (Reuters) - Commuters at a London station got up close and personal with a World War II icon on Friday, when a replica Supermarine Spitfire went on display on the concourse.
The full-scale copy of the plane widely credited with winning the Battle of Britain in 1940, on loan from the Imperial War Museums, will remain at London Bridge station for 10 days.
The display is part of celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, when the Spitfire provided air support to Allied troops over Normandy in a fighter-bomber role.
"It's one of the few things that the British were using from the very beginning of the war to the very end of the war so it's truly representative of the gamut of the conflict," John Delaney, the Imperial War Museums' curator for World War II, told Reuters.
The display, which many commuters stopped to take pictures of on Friday, is among several events and exhibitions the museum is holding to mark the anniversary of the largest seaborne invasion in history.
In France, British Prime Minister Theresa May and US President Donald Trump will join President Emmanuel Macron for commemoration ceremonies.
(Reporting by Ilze Filks; writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; editing by John Stonestreet)