On May 10th 1940 Hitler attacked the West, overwhelming the stunned Allies with violent and apparently unstoppable Blitzkrieg (lightning war). Echoing moves made in the Great War, German forces advanced through Holland, into Belgium and over the French border. Shocking though this was, the true Schwerpunkt, or point of main effort, had been cleverly disguised: Panzergruppe von Kliest incredibly negotiated the supposedly impassable Ardennes, outflanked the much-vaunted Maginot Line and raced towards the Channel coast. The Allied command system was paralysed, the British Expeditionary Force in such danger of envelopment and annihilation that 330,000 British and French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk. All heavy weapons and armour was left behind. Within six weeks France - historically one of the world's greatest military powers - had surrendered, meaning that the unthinkable had happened, the gravity of this catastrophe being perhaps difficult to now fully comprehend. America remained neutral and Britain alone defied the so far all conquering Nazi Germany. As the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously said, 'What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin'.
On July 16th 1940, Hitler made his intentions clear:-
'As England, in spite of her hopeless military position, has so far shown herself unwilling to come to any compromise, I have decided to begin preparations for, and if necessary, carry out the invasion of England.
'This operation is dictated by the necessity to eliminate Great Britain as a base from which war against Germany can be fought. If necessary the island will be occupied.'
The proposed invasion was codenamed Seelöwe (sealion). Having already rapidly overrun half of Europe, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring was sublimely confident that he would soon destroy the RAF and achieve the aerial supremacy necessary for the success of Seelöwe:-
'My Luftwaffe is invincible… And so now we turn to England. How long will this one last? Two, three weeks?'
Although his strength had been much reduced by the Battle of France, and given that precious Spitfires were in short supply, the Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, took a different view: -
'My strength has been reduced to the equivalent of 36 squadrons… we should be able to carry on the war single-handedly for some time if not indefinitely'.
Officialdom decided that the Battle of Britain began on 10 July 1940. The epic aerial conflict - fought throughout sixteen drawn out weeks of high summer largely over southern England - opened with attacks on Channel-bound convoys and coastal radar stations. Then Fighter Command's all-important Sector Stations were hammered. But again the enemy changed tack: on 7 September 1940 London was attacked constantly night and day with unprecedented fury. On 15 September, now celebrated annually as 'Battle of Britain Day', the Luftwaffe received a truly bloody nose. On 19 September, Hitler postponed Seelöwe indefinitely. By 30 September the German bomber force was unable to further sustain such heavy losses by day and switched almost exclusively to bombing British cities by night. The opposing fighter forces continued to clash until February 1941, in fact, although officially the Battle of Britain concluded on 31 October 1940.
In 1945, the Battle of Britain Bar was struck to the 1939-45 Star. Only aircrew could qualify to wear either the coveted Bar on the actual medal, or Rosette on its ribbon. Moreover, the recipient had to have flown with one of the seventy-two squadrons and other accredited units of Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, and made at least one operational patrol. In total, 2,927 men qualified, 544 of which lost their lives in the battle. On 20 August 1940 they were collectively immortalised by Churchill: 'Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few'. And so the young pilots, air gunners and observers who fought the Battle of Britain became known as 'The Few'. After the war the Battle of Britain Fighter Association was formed, membership being open only to The Few themselves. The Association's tie is one of the most exclusive in the world, featuring a gold British Isles and a Battle of Britain Rosette on a dark blue background. As time has marched ever on, The Few have become increasingly fewer, the last survivors now aged in their 90s. Nonetheless, most can remember with great clarity those dramatic days when Britain's fate was in their young hands, and they flew to battle in Spitfires and Hurricanes.
Take, for example, Wing Commander George Unwin. A miner's son from Yorkshire, George benefited from a grammar school education and joined the RAF as an apprentice clerk in 1929. In those days socio-educational prejudice was rife: only public schoolboys were commissioned, and only officers could be pilots. When war with Germany became inevitable, however, a small number of Non-commissioned Officers (N.C.O.) were selected to become pilots, including George Unwin. By 1938 Flight Sergeant Unwin was flying Gauntlet biplane fighters with 19 Squadron at Duxford (now home to the Imperial War Museum's working airfield and Europe's premier aviation museum). In August 19 Squadron received the RAF's first Spitfire, and George became the first non-officer pilot to fly one. By the time of Dunkirk in June 1940, when the Spitfire first met its main adversary, the Me 109, in combat, George was an experienced fighter pilot. During the Battle of Britain, it became obvious that George was amongst Fighter Command's most aggressive Spitfire pilots.
On 7 September 1940, the day Göring's bombers began pounding London round the clock, George was flying in the so-called Duxford 'Big Wing' of three squadrons, led by the already legendary, legless, Squadron Leader Douglas Bader. Having inconclusively attacked an Me 110, George found himself alone, saw a Hurricane squadron 'going somewhere in a hurry' so followed them. Suddenly three separate enemy formations appeared, each one comprising 30 bombers with their inevitable fighter escort. As the Hurricane pilots intercepted the bombers, George found himself surrounded by Me 109s:-
'I decided that the best form of defence was attack. In the ensuing fight I definitely hit at least five of them, two of which went down in flames.'
On 11 September, George was again in action:- 'I attacked a Dornier bomber over London but was stupid enough to be shot down by the gunner they carried in a dustbin below the fuselage. I landed in a field near Brentwood in Essex and was taken to R.A.F. North Weald by the army. With the aid of a fitter plus spares my Spitfire was repaired and I flew it back to Duxford.'
On Battle of Britain Day, 15 September 19 Squadron engaged Me 109s over Westerham, Kent, George attacking the Staffelkapitän (Squadron Leader) of 3/JG 53, Oberleutnant Haase: -
'I gave a yellow-nosed Me 109 a burst of six seconds and it burst into flames. The pilot baled out and his aircraft crashed between Redhill and Westerham.'
On 17 September, it was announced that Flight Sergeant Unwin had been awarded a well-deserved Distinguished Flying Medal (D.F.M.), having destroyed ten German aircraft by that date. Further victories saw a Bar awarded to his D.F.M., and by the Battle of Britain's end he was Fighter Command's fourteenth top scoring fighter pilot. Nonetheless, at twenty-seven, George was then considered too old to fly fighters and so he was seconded him to instructor duties. In 1944, having applied on a weekly basis for a return to operational flying, George was posted to a Mosquito squadron, flying night intruder missions over France. After the war he remained in the R.A.F., commanding a Brigand squadron during the Malayan Emergency, for which he received the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.). After retirement he became area manager of a national charity in the south-west, and for many years was secretary of Ferndown golf club. Modest and down-to-earth, it was always inspirational to spend time in George's company but he died in 2006, aged 93. Speaking at his funeral, I aptly described my friend as 'The Finest of the Few'.
It has always been the likes of George Unwin who have fascinated me, in fact, those who did their duty without seeking or receiving any particular public recognition or accolade. During the Battle of Britain, Peter Fox was an eighteen year old Hurricane pilot, a circumstance he described as 'unremarkable', adding that he and his fellows were simply 'also rans'. As I moved amongst the surviving Few, from 1986 onwards, it became obvious that they were mostly modest men, talking freely of the derring-do and bravery of other pilots, but never 'shooting a line' themselves. Never, for example, would they boast and rarely would they tell of their victories - unless pressed, given that their combat reports are now a matter of public record and available for inspection at The National Archive. A case in point is Squadron Leader Jack Stokoe D.F.C., in 1940 an sergeant Volunteer Reserve pilot flying Spitfires with 603 Squadron at Hornchurch. Like George Unwin, Jack was an aggressive and successful fighter pilot, responsible for the destruction of a number of German machines during the summer of 1940. His favourite story, however, was this one:-
'On September 2nd I was involved in two more combats, during the course of which I damaged two enemy aircraft but was myself shot down in flames. As I was attacking an Me 109, I remember rounds hitting my Spitfire, followed by flames in the cockpit. Then the petrol tank exploded. I thought "Christ, I've got to get out of here, and quick!" I undid the straps and opened the hood, but this turned the flames into a blowtorch. I was not wearing gloves, having forgotten them in my haste to "scramble", but had to put my hands back in the fire to invert the Spitfire so that I could drop out. Sheets of skin peeled from my hands before I dropped out of the aeroplane. I pulled the ripcord and fortunately my parachute opened perfectly.
'I landed in a field but the Home Guard queried whether I was an enemy agent - a few choice words in Anglo-Saxon convinced them I was genuine! I was then rushed into the emergency hospital at Leeds Castle, suffering from shock and severe burns to my hands, neck and face.
'At the time 603 Squadron was suffering such heavy casualties that the administrative side was pretty chaotic, so much so, in fact, that four days after baling out and being admitted to hospital I was officially posted "Missing in Action"!'
Flight Lieutenant Norman Ramsay: 'People missing or killed at that stage of the battle meant little to me. I had joined 222 from 610 Squadron at Biggin Hill, after we had lost ten, yes ten, pilots, so I was well used to disappearing faces. Having been shot down myself I had learned to survive, to get the experience necessary for survival.'
Indeed, Harry Welford who was a Pilot Officer flying Hurricanes with 607 Squadron at Tangmere, added that 'No-one talked about casualties. We all hoped for news to filter through from some remote pub or perhaps a hospital. If no news came we braced ourselves for the worst: "Killed in Action". We bit back our tears and our sorrow. It was "You heard about Stuart and Scotty? Rotten luck, wasn't it?" Someone would add "And young George, bloody good blokes all of them." After that epitaph the matter would be dismissed with the ordering of another round of drinks to avoid any trace of further sentiment.'
Although the casualties were not discussed at the time, they have subsequently been the subject of many twilight discussions at reunions of The Few. Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader:-
'The Battle of Britain was not won by Malan, Stanford-Tuck and me, who got all the accolades, it was won by kids of 19 or 20, who maybe shot nothing down or just one before being killed themselves. They were the blokes who really won the Battle of Britain, make no mistake there. They were determined, by going off to fight and being prepared to die if necessary.'
Humour, though, was ever present, and is something survivors recall easily and with enthusiasm. Wing Commander 'Taffy' Higginson: -
'The main recollection I have of serving with 56 Squadron at Boscombe Down and Warmwell is that we were a somewhat disorganised lot. As a result of the action that we had seen we needed to re-equip and receive replacement pilots. The Station Commander at Boscombe was a group captain who, I believe, later took a unit to Russia and was killed. He was a first class chap, good rugger player and liked by all. During the early part of our Boscombe sojourn I remember thinking that morale would perhaps be boosted if we had a Squadron mascot, so I went to the local town and bought a small monkey, which we named "109". He was a great success and kept in a cage, on a lead. Anyway, the Station Commander gave a cocktail party for the Squadron and requested 109's presence. 109 went down very well, until, that is, he started to undertake enthusiastic sexual self-gratification! Morals being what they were in those days we had to remove him quickly!'
The impression drawn thus far is that the surviving Few are a modest lot, happy to talk about the past but only emphasising that theirs was a less than august and glamorous role. Perhaps it is this that endears these now ancient gentlemen to me all the more. Without doubt, to have interviewed and corresponded with so many of them over the years has been a privilege, my resulting publications providing a stage from which the 'also rans' in particular can share their memories. Although academia remains only luke-warm towards oral history, in my view it is an absolutely essential source. Facts are readily available, meaning that oral or written accounts can be cross-referenced and checked. There is no need, therefore, to rely entirely upon fallible memory, which fades and can be influenced by events since the incident in question. That being so, first-hand accounts represent a rich touch of colour to the otherwise dull official records, facts and figures. My book 'The Few: The Battle of Britain in the Words of the Pilots', published to mark this year's anniversary, is a case in point. A day-by-day narrative history researched using the contemporary documents of both sides, accounts by over 100 pilots, and a number of those in supporting roles whose contribution must equally be remembered, makes this a unique and authentic window through which we can still glimpse the summer of 1940.
Although The Few are sadly fading fast now, interest in the Battle of Britain remains alive and well. Unlike the survivors of battles such as Agincourt and Trafalgar, fought in a largely illiterate and non-technical age, the Few have been able to articulate and record their memories. Consequently the human element of the Battle of Britain, and indeed the Second World War as a whole, has and continues to be well documented. Considering the crucial importance of it, the Battle of Britain undoubtedly deserves such attention. Had Britain not held out that fateful summer, do not forget, there would have been no base from which, with essential American help in 1944, the liberation of Nazi occupied Europe could have been launched. Through sheer survival, Fighter Command gave Hitler his first reversal of the war - make no mistake, without victory achieved by The Few in the Battle of Britain there would have been no other battles.
The Battle of Britain itself, though, is currently under fire from academia. It has been justifiably argued that the proposed German invasion was a lash-up job, prepared in great haste by a high command with no experience of such an enormous combined operation. Others have made the point that Fighter Command was never fully committed to battle, Dowding having cleverly preserved a substantial reserve in the North of England. Horst Boog argued that bombing of 11 Group's sector stations was not, in fact critical, as Fighter Command could have simply withdrawn to bases North of the Thames. All of these things, and more, are true. Angus Calder argued that the notion of the British pulling together during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz is simply a myth. Richard Overy pointed out that Britain did not 'stand alone', but did so on the shoulders of its Commonwealth and colonial Empire. That is also true. But the essential point is that only Britain was within range of German bombers. Between the wars doctrinal air power thinking had revolved around the bomber. Stanley Baldwin had famously said that 'the bomber will always get through', and that there was nothing on earth that could defend against it. It was believed that bombers would deliver a decisive 'knock-out blow'. The world, of course, had seen the effect of German bombing on the defenceless civilian populations of Guernica, Warsaw and Rotterdam - and people were understandably terrified of the prospect of being bombed. Bombed they were, however: in the East End, in the great port cities and the industrial centres of the Midlands and North. But the people did not falter or fail. They overwhelmingly supported - whatever Calder said - the decision to fight on. Indeed, as Battle of Britain pilot Ken Wilkinson said recently 'We weren't going to let the bloody Germans beat us!' Sop that is what is crucially important about the Battle of Britain. In spite of their fear of bombers delivering a terrifying 'knock-out' blow, regardless of the rest of Europe having fallen, the British did not give up. Their spirit, rallied by Churchillian rhetoric, did not 'falter or fail'. By the end of that summer the Luftwaffe had failed - for the first time - to achieve its objective. The British had shown - the Americans in particular - that Hitler was not invincible. Britain remained in the war as a base from which war against Germany could be prosecuted and from which, in due course, the liberation of Europe was launched. So the importance of the Battle of Britain cannot be overlooked or marginalised - and that is indisputable in this historian's view.
In conclusion, it is fitting to give the last word to one of the Few, William Walker, now 97 but in 1940 a Pilot Officer with 616 Squadron at Kenley:-
'Flying Spitfires were the most exhilarating days, but one lost so many friends and they were all so young. It is sad that the best pilots seemed to get killed whilst the "hams" like me survived.'
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2010-09-04 - Damon Knight
An excellent and fitting article. I have been following the Duxford Twitter reports and George Unwin is mentioned quite a bit. It is nice to have some background information.
2010-09-04 - Bill
Well done everybody - great article.
Bill
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