The last of the glorious Few 70 years on: (profiles of remaining airmen of the Battle of Britain)

Mail on Sunday (UK) ^ | 19th September 2010 | By Ian Gallagher and Keri Sutherland

[naturalman1975]

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.

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.

[mongo141]

May God bless them all, I doubt that their likes will be seen again.....

[ken5050]

They are, like Doolittle’s Raider....a vanishing breed..

[Molly Pitcher]

For later reading and awe-filled appreciation...

[ken5050]

I forget the name of the British Air Marshall, who, IMHO, actually “won” the Battle of Britain. months before it began, when he refused to allow the fighter squadrons to be deployed to France. He knew the western front was lost, and he told Churchill, that if he was ordered to send the fighters to france, he would resign.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Bless them.

[bmwcyle]

Hand Salute..........................two

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you so much! Anyone who says that there are no more heroes is seriously underinformed!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I wonder what they think about the current state of the nation that they saved. After making such a tremendous sacrifice, I wonder if they think England has thrown it all away.

[jmacusa]

God bless these men. Born in another century, in a time when a man was a man. He lived by his word, his deeds and his honor. Sad in a way. I wonder how these men feel about all that has come to pass since those days when Great Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany.

[abb]

Hugh Dowding

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Dowding,_1st_Baron_Dowding

[jmacusa]

I believe his last name was Tedder.

[Jack Hydrazine]

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”
-Winston Churchill
during WWII

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

I believe it was Sir Hugh Dowding.

[abb]

The letter where Dowding told Churchill he opposed sending the airplanes to France.

http://spitfiresite.com/2010/05/battle-of-britain-1940-dowding-letter.html

[skeptoid]

The youngest:

 16. Sqn Ldr Geoffrey Wellum DFC. Age 89
The youngest Battle of Britain fighter pilot, he flew Spitfires with 92 Squadron aged 18 
and was officially credited with three enemy aircraft destroyed, four probables and several damaged. 
Suffered an emotional breakdown in 1942 which he detailed 
in his acclaimed memoir, First Light, published in 2002. 
Now lives in a ­Cornish village. He says: ‘The Battle of Britain made me want to put a value on life. 
I decided that if I survived, I wanted to be allowed to relish it. 
Now I have a life of deep tranquillity.’

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I forget the name of the British Air Marshall, who, IMHO, actually “won” the Battle of Britain. months before it began, when he refused to allow the fighter squadrons to be deployed to France. He knew the western front was lost, and he told Churchill, that if he was ordered to send the fighters to france, he would resign.

I don't know about the threat to resign, but it was Hugh Dowding who told Churchill what the bottom line was regarding the minimum number of fighters required to defend the home islands. Churchill got the message but he was not eternally grateful to Dowding for the reality check.

[skeptoid]

Another 'youngest":

5. Hubert Flower. Age 88.
Born on the Isle of Man, he was at 18 the youngest airman to fly in the Battle of Britain. An air-gunner and wireless operator with 248 Squadron, he flew Bristol Blenheims. Later served in West Africa and flew 103 sorties in the Berlin Airlift. After the war he worked in the Colonial Service, HM Customs and Excise and the Lord Chancellor’s Department.

[ken5050]

The link to the letter is posted on this thread..I do recall reading somewhere’s (possibly in one Liddle-Hart’s books) that Dowding TOLD Winston that he’d quit....though it was not put in writing per se..

[constitutiongirl]

I got cold chills reading this story. God bless all of these brave men.