REMEMBERING THE FEW

Malcolm Triggs delves into the archives to uncover fascinating facts about some of those who played a significant role in the Battle of Britain

- Malcolm Triggs

NOTHING, perhaps, epitomises the best of British as much as the men of the Royal Air Force who saw off the Luftwaffe in 1940 to win the Battle of Britain and keep this island nation safe from invasion. Those men came to be known as “the Few” following Winston Churchill’s most famous speech declaring: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Remembered at the Battle of Britain Memorial, on Kent’s famous white cliffs between Dover and Folkestone, fewer than 3,000 men changed the course of history, preserving the UK as the embarkation point for the D-day landings when the Allies took back mainland Europe in 1944.

The actual number of airmen involved will probably never be known, given the record-keeping in those pre-computerised days – and the fact that under-fire squadrons had more important things on their mind.

As University of London academic Dr Tony Mansell has pointed out: “The important thing to realise about [squadron records] is that they were being compiled on airfields which could be in the thick of the fighting, including being bombed, and their compilers had other things on their minds than the convenience of future historians.”

To qualify for the Battle of Britain Clasp to be worn on the ribbon bar of the 1939-45 Star, aircrew had to make one authorised operational flight with one of 71 “accredited” squadrons and other units under the control of RAF Fighter Command, between 10 July and 31 October 1940.

To this day, relatives claim their grandparents flew in the Battle of Britain, and occasionally, but only after a great deal of research, a new member of the Few is recognised.