Pages: 256 plus 20pp b/w photos
ISBN 1 904943 58 6
Size: 234 x 156mm
Churchill’s ‘Few’ will forever be remembered by history as men who
thwarted the seemingly invincible German war machine, when all
seemed lost. They countered the full force of the Luftwaffe in the
daylight battles during the summer of 1940, and in the night skies
of the winter and spring of 1940/41. They were at the time, and
still are, perceived as knights of the air, as our heroes.
Now, five distinguished RAF airmen, four pilots and one radar
operator/navigator, who fought that air battle during the Battle
of Britain and the Blitz, have recounted their experiences in
detail to author Steve Darlow. Their stories have never before
been published, and they talk engagingly of their service life,
combats, losses, injuries, friendships and fears – flying
Spitfires, Hurricanes, Blenheims, Beaufighters and Havocs.
One pilot tells of the time he fell victim to the enemy – ‘My
Spitfire stopped being a flying machine, it became a lump of
metal. I was going down with it and I couldn’t get out. I broke
the seat by standing on it. The pressure throwing me into the
bottom was terrific…’ A Beaufighter radar operator remembers being
involved in shooting down a German aircraft – ‘He took a vertical
dive, struck the ground and exploded with a shower of
incendiaries. I felt like a child with a new toy. I had at last
proved myself but for some reason I suddenly felt a little sad.’
But Five of the Few is not just about the experiences of
these men during 1940/41. They would also distinguish themselves
in subsequent air campaigns – night defence of the UK, offensive
operations over the continent and support to D-Day and beyond. In
between the aerial combats and ground attack operations,
promotions, decorations and command responsibilities would come
their way. But not all would make it through safely to the end of
the war. One would end up behind barbed wire.
Collectively Five of the Few is a war story of youth
maturing, through aspiration and idealism, courage and bravado,
fear and heroism, memory and reflection. It is a reminder of why
so much was owed, and still is, by so many to so few.
