ELIZABETH Halls “just had” to buy the sports car near identical to that owned by her late fighter-pilot dad.

Now she’s taking the 1935 Singer Le Mans nine special secured at a Brightwells auction on a tour of all sixty wartime airfields her dad landed at.

And Brightwells is sponsoring the drive on behalf of the RAF Benevolent Fund.

Flt Lt Bryan Wild was a night-fighter pilot during the Second World War.

Pursuing a catalogue for last year’s Spring classic vehicle auction at Brightwell’s Leominster site, Elizabeth spotted a sports car almost identical to that her dad owned and loved during the war.

“I felt I just had to buy it. It was the right model and the right colour, and its number plate CHU 944 brings to mind the year Dad bought his own Singer – 1944 – and his favourite wartime song the Chattanooga Choo Choo,”  said Elizabeth.

Sure enough, the car is called  ‘Chattie’.

Between April-September this year Elizabeth will take Chattie  sixty airfields where her father landed, intending to bring alive the history of the airfields, tell the stories of those who served there, and report on the state of the airfields today.

The route stretches from Cornwall to Scotland to take in serving bases and sites either converted or derelict.

“It’s quite a challenge for me, the car has no heating and no all-weather cover, so I’m hoping for a dry summer.  I am even going to have some lessons from Thetford Engineering, who are currently preparing the car ready for the tour, on how a crash gear box works and how to double-de-clutch properly - my dad has a lot to answer for,” says Elizabeth.

Bryan Wild flew 14 different aircraft types and saw action over Britain, North Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe.

In 1945 he took part in the very first Battle of Britain memorial flight over London.

A year earlier  he had bought his  Singer Le Mans sports car and re-sprayed it to its original racing green.

But, with the war over, Bryan went into teaching and found the car too costly to keep.

Their parting was “reluctant”.

Bryan died aged 90 in 2012, and the following year, Elizabeth compiled and edited his memoirs. ‘Flying Blind: the Story of a Second World War Night-Fighter Pilot’ which has just been published by Fonthill Media.

The book will be launched at Brightwell’s and throughout Elizabeth’s tour.

A heritage consultant and counsellor from Stansbach, near Leominster, Elizabeth has called her tour ‘Where They Served’ and it, too, will be the subject of a book.

‘Where They Served’ will raise money for the RAF Benevolent Fund, to whom Elizabeth and her family are especially grateful for help offered over Bryan’s last years.