AN Oxford University-educated gold trader is auctioning off a restored Spitfire once flown by a Great Escape hero to raise cash for charity.

American billionaire Thomas Kaplan has put the Mark 1 Spitfire, once piloted by Peter Cazenove, up for sale with Christie’s on July 9.

It is expected to raise up to £2.5m, which will be donated to the RAF Benevolent Fund and Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit.

The iconic fighter dubbed “the ballerina”

because of its grace in the skies, was piloted by Old Etonian Mr Cazenove during the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.

Flight Officer Cazenove was shot down by a single bullet on May 24, 1940. He crashed on the Calais coast and was captured. His plane remained buried in the sandy beach for decades, staying hidden until the 1980s when strong tides brought it to light.

Mr Kaplan bought the parts and had them shipped to the UK. The restoration was carried out by the Cambridge-based Aircraft Restoration Company.

Mr Cazenove, who came from a banking dynasty, was captured by German forces and ended up in the Stalag Luft III POW camp, where airmen launched their famous Great Escape in 1944, immortalised in the Hollywood film of the same name.

Mr Cazenove was part of the bid for freedom, but did not manage to get away.

He returned to the UK after the war.

New York-born Mr Kaplan, 53, studied history at Oxford and said he wanted to “enshrine a British legacy”.

The plane will take to the skies once again on May 23 at the Duxford Air Show.