The last of the glorious Few 70 years on (Battle of Britain veterans profiled)
They are the glorious Few, the airmen whose extraordinary bravery saved Britain from Nazi invasion.
Seventy years on, the heroes who repelled Hitler’s Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain are a dwindling band – it is thought only 79, all recorded on this article, are still alive.
Today a special anniversary service at Westminster Abbey will remember the efforts of all those who took part in the pivotal encounter, arguably the most important ever fought by this nation.
Flanked by Spitfires and Hurricanes at Duxford, 17 of the last remaining Battle of Britain pilots line up for the camera
Aces in the pack: Flanked by Spitfires and Hurricanes at Duxford, 17 of the last remaining Battle of Britain pilots line up for the camera
Many were in their late teens or early 20s when they took to the skies in Spitfires and Hurricanes from July to October 1940. Others flew in Blenheims, Beaufighters and Defiants. Some became the ‘aces’ of the Battle, shooting down plane after plane.
During the Battle, Sir Winston Churchill said: ‘The gratitude of every home in our island, in our empire, and indeed throughout the world, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion.
‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’
When it was over, 544 RAF pilots and aircrew were dead.
Here, The Mail on Sunday pays tribute to the last of the survivors . . .
(Individual bios at link)