What's the Point of a Spitfire?

Air Marshal Tedda, who is the commander-in-chief of the RAF in the Middle East, is constantly asking for Spitfires and has been since 1951. And I think there's only 25 in action with the desert air force at the beginning of May or June. What Mary Cunningham realizes is he's got to make use of what he's got. He says kitty hawks are powered with the same Allison engine that early Mustangs are; they're no good over 10,000 feet. So he gives them a ceiling, he says, I don't want you flying over 10, thousand feet. You can get great big tank busting cannons on them, or at least