The Battle of Britain 80 Years On...

"[T]he sudden sight of wave after wave of enemy aircraft in numbers that we had never seen before, filling our windscreens as we dived headlong towards them."

"There could be no greater inspiration for a rather scared 19 year old than this fleeting scene in the last seconds before battle: what the hell are [they] doing flying over our country!"

"... and then we were in the thick of it."

Wg Cdr P P C ("Paddy") Barthropp DFC AFC RAF (Retd)

In the summer and autumn of 1940, the Battle of Britain was fought over southern England; some would argue that it was the most crucial battle of World War Two and, indeed, Britain's history. 

The last heavy daylight Luftwaffe attack on London was on 15th September 1940, a turning point in the battle, when Germany lost 60 aircraft of its attacking force.  It is indeed fitting that it is on this date that we commemorate Battle of Britain Day.  We hear and read of "The Few", but "The Many" should command an equal amount of our respect and gratitude - let's hold that thought for a few moments.

One of the many popular images of the Battle is that of contrails in the sky over St Paul's Cathedral; another, is of fighter pilots running for their aircraft.  The Battle of Britain will doubtless evoke different images in each of our minds.  For me, for example, some of those images are the film "Battle of Britain": Section Officer Harvey shouting "Don't you yell at me, Mr Warwick" and Robert Shaw's Sqn Ldr Skipper training a new Spitfire pilot "DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA!". 

The folio's impact was enormous, and copies are now in private collections and public institutions (some changing hands today for in excess of £4000).  In 1992, thanks to WH Smith, it was possible to bring that emotive and beautiful folio to a wider audience; I am lucky enough to have a copy (of the latter edition) - a 25th birthday present from my sister.

Rightly, the folio bears testament to the resilience and courage of the British and Allied fighter pilots; the former's  recollections are a fantastic (and often harrowing) read; the book goes on to list the names of all the Allied pilots who fought in the battle. 

Without wishing to transcribe masses of the folio here (at the risk of being cited as a "30 min read"), my go-to piece is the personal recollections of Gp Capt Brian Kingcombe DSO DFC RAF (Retd) - whose name might be familiar to some.  Writing in 1989, he cited "difficulty in remembering what happened a week ago, let alone half a century", but "I remember those days with enormous affection".  His recollections are lyrical (almost poetic) and humorous, while tinged with sadness.  I hope you will forgive my paraphrasing:

"Although I can recall no specific action, what I do remember was a way of life, an atmosphere simmering with excitement, a camaraderie based on the sure knowledge that your colleagues would - & often did - put their lives on the line for you, as you would for them. I [also] remember a frenetic social life, when we were stood down at dusk.  When each night could be your last, you didn't want to waste in on sleep".  "[P]artying by night and cat-napping by day"; a "quick whiff of neat oxygen" from the cockpit to counter the effects of the night before; the inevitable ring of the telephone "92 Squadron, Scramble Scramble", the voice from ops fading as they "sprinted to warmed-up Spitfires", the mud on his flying boots freezing to the pedals in the climb, "tension building", "a phalanx of enemy aircraft", "the sound of our guns tearing calico" as they engaged the bombers and then turning to engage the fighter escorts "in a vicious aerial brawl". 

His poetry comes through, once more: "...and then the curious lull, seeing the sun lift over the horizon from 20 000ft & again after landing on the still darkened earth below.  The day only just begun and already behind us a lifetime of emotions ... the memory of two sunrises in one morning & thoughts quickly suppressed of friends not yet accounted for".  His tone changes, and I very much get the sense that his mood and thoughts have followed suit, bringing back distant, long buried memories.  "There were intensely sad moments, as well as exciting ones"; he, like many others during that time, "...lost many friends, and the worst part was watching them die, spiralling down with a smudge of smoke, or breaking up, watching for the parachute to blossom, the relief when it did, the sick feeling when it didn't".  "I mourn them, buy they had counted the cost and they had died with regret, but not without surprise."  "I walk with ghosts, when I visit Biggin Hill, my old Battle of Britain station, but they are friendly ones".

The other 24 recollections in the book are in a similar vein, but it is Brian Kingcombe's entry that will always stand out for me. 

I must highlight that copies of this book are still available, at what I can only describe as an absurdly (embarrassingly...) small price...  If you can get your hands on a copy, it really is worth your time and you will doubtless welcome reading it again and again, as I do.

During my time in the RAF, Battle of Britain dinners were always a highlight - I attended and spoke at many and even presided over a few.  At one such dinner over 20 years ago, I was privileged to host another of the book's contributors, "Paddy" Barthropp (cited at the beginning), sitting next to him at dinner and listening to his recollections of his life, flying Spitfires, being shot down, being a POW in Poland and escaping and, later in his career, becoming a test pilot (in the transition to the supersonic age).  Unsurprisingly, Paddy was a gregarious character, but somewhat self-effacing about his contribution to the Battle, stating simply that "we just did what we were asked to".  He did, however, offer that "we worked hard and played harder, as we didn't know if we'd survive the next day" - a sentiment that some of us are familiar with, but perhaps not the latter part!  Paddy also regaled us with stories of his time after the RAF as a chauffeur (of a fleet of Bentleys) - with name drops of passengers that read like a 1950s and 1960s A-list (including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and the Kray twins)!

"The Few" can sometimes be seen as the "poster boys" of the Battle of Britain and, perhaps, rightly so.  At that particular moment in Britain's history, they offered the nation something very tangible to pin its hopes to, admire and - well - adulate.  Granted, they were the dashing heroes of the air; however, they were only the "tip of the spear", we must never forget that this was an Herculean national (and Allied/international) effort - on both military and civilian fronts.  RAF, Fleet Air Arm and Allied air force pilots were supported - often at often greater human cost - by their respective groundcrews and wider Services and the communities around their operating bases, and they were doubtless bolstered by the collective resolves of the Allied nations' populations. 

Perhaps, we should do more to salute "The Many", as we so often do "The Few", as it was the combination of that comprehensive national effort and resolve that helped the "tip of the spear" deliver and see Britain and its Allies prevail in the Battle of Britain, often against significant odds.

Regardless, this evening by way of small tribute, I may well just pour a glass of something and settle down and watch my copy of the film "Battle of Britain" on DVD... "DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA!"

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