2 Vincent Orange, A Biography of Sir Keith Park
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Paul Brickhill, Reach for the Sky
6 Mollie Mellish, as contributed to the BBC’s ‘People’s War’
7 Dennis Robinson, as contributed to the BBC’s ‘People’s War’
8 Robert Wright, Dowding and the Battle of Britain
9 T.C.G James, Royal Air Force Official Histories: The Battle of Britain (Frank Cass, 2000)
10 Richard Hillary, The Last Enemy
15 ‘Resist Until the Very End’
1 Robert Wright, Dowding and the Battle of Britain
2 John Willoughby de Broke, interviewed for Robert Wright, Dowding and the Battle of Britain
3 Paul Brickhill, Reach for the Sky
4 Vincent Orange, A Biography of Sir Keith Park
5 Robert Wright, Dowding and the Battle of Britain
16 ‘This Was War and We Were Fighting’
1 National Archives AIR 40/307
2 National Archives AIR 16/677
3 National Archives AIR 20/435
4 Recorded for the BBC in 1978
5 Robert Wright, Dowding and the Battle of Britain
6 RAF Archives AC 71/17/8
7 Robert Wright, Dowding and the Battle of Britain
8 Paul Brickhill, Reach for the Sky
9 Vincent Orange, A Biography of Sir Keith Park
10 Peter Townsend, Duel of Eagles
11 Paul Brickhill, Reach for the Sky
17 A Dog Called Heinkel
1 Richard C. Smith, Hornchurch Scramble
2 Ibid.
3 Paul Brickhill, Reach for the Sky
4 National Archives AIR 2/9904
5 National Archives AIR 16/622
18 Rhubarbs
1 National Archives AIR 16/212
2 Paul Brickhill, Reach for the Sky
3 National Archives AIR 16/212
4 Paul Brickhill, Reach for the Sky
5 Geoffrey Wellum, First Light
6 Contributed by Loughton Library to the BBC’s ‘People’s War’
7 Joan Wyndham, Love Is Blue – A Wartime Diary (Heinemann, 1986)
19 Knitting, Smoking and Great Literature
1 National Archives AIR 40/307
2 Richard C. Smith, Hornchurch Scramble
3 This account can be found in full at www.scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol12/iss4/6/
20 Death Will Send No Warning
1 Norman Longmate, The Doodlebugs: The Story of the Flying Bombs (Hutchinson, 1981)
2 Judith Hamilton, as contributed to the BBC’s ‘People’s War’
3 Marie Ebbeson, as contributed to the BBC’s ‘People’s War’
4 E.S. Turner, ‘A Potent Joy’, London Review of Books, 4 July 1985
5 Gwen Reading, as contributed to the BBC’s ‘People’s War’
Further Reading
Radar Days by EG Bowen (Hilger, 1987)
Reach For the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader by Paul Brickhill (Collins, 1954)
Leader of the Few: the authorised biography of the Air Chief Marshal the Lord Dowding of Bentley Priory by Basil Collier (Jarrolds, 1957)
1940: The Story of no 11 Group by Peter G Cooksley (Robert Hale, 1983)
Going Solo by Roald Dahl (Jonathan Cape, 1986)
Fighter: The True Story of the battle of Britain by Len Deighton (Cape, 1977)
Twelve Legions of Angels by Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding (Jarrolds, 1946)
Lychgate by Air Chief Marshal Dowding (Rider and Co, 1948)
The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives by Sebastian Faulks (Hutchinson 1996)
The Flyer: British Culture and the Royal Air Force by Martin Francis (OUP, 2008)
The Last Enemy by Richard Hillary (Macmillan, 1950)
The Battle of Britain by TC James (Cass, 2000)
The Growth of Fighter Command 1936–1940 by TCG James (Whitehall History/Cass, 2002)
The First Biggles Omnibus by Captain WE Johns (Hodder and Stoughton, 1953)
You Never Know: A Memoir by Claire Lorrimer (Pen Press Publishers, 2006)
RJ Mitchell, Schooldays to Spitfire by Gordon Mitchell (Tempus/Imperial War Museums 2002)
Fighter Command: 1939–1945 by David Oliver (Harper Collins, 2000)
Dowding of Fighter Command: Victor of the Battle of Britain by Vincent Orange (Grub Street, 2011)
A Biography of Sir Keith Park by Vincent Orange (Methuen 1984)
Pilots of Fighter Command: 64 Portraits by Captain Cuthbert Orde (Harrap, 1942)
German Atrocities: a Record Of Shameless Deeds by William le Queux (George Newnes, 1914)
Richard Hillary: The Definitive Biography of a Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot by David Ross (Grub Street, 2000)
Hornchurch Scramble by Richard C Smith (Grub Street, 2000)
Duel of Eagles by Peter Townsend (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970)
The War in the Air by HG Wells (Penguin reissue, 2005)
First Light by Geoffrey Wellum (Penguin, 2000)
Dowding and the Battle of Britain by Robert Wright (Macdonald, 1969)
Love Is Blue: A Wartime Diary by Joan Wyndham (Heinemann, 1986)
One Woman’s War by Eileen Younghusband (Candy Jar, 2010)
Acknowledgements
First of all, many thanks to Wing Commander Erica Ferguson, of the RAF Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust, and also to Group Captain T.C. Willbond, for a magnificent introduction to the valuable work of the Trust and for a doubly magnificent introduction to some wonderful veterans. Among those so generous with their time and memories (not to mention excellent lunches) were Patricia Clark, Gladys Eva and Eileen Younghusband. Mrs Younghusband’s haunting memoirs One Woman’s War are available from Amazon, as are Patricia Clark’s, entitled You Never Know and written under her pen-name Claire Lorrimer.
On top of this, my gratitude to the patient and wise archivists at the RAF library in Hendon. Bentley Priory is now a terrific Battle of Britain museum, with a wide range of startling interactive displays. For information on opening times and how to get there, visit www.bentleypriory.org.
In addition, grateful thanks are also due to raptor-eyed copy editor Steve Gove, insightful and enthusiastically sharp Jennifer Barr at Aurum, Iain MacGregor, whose idea this was, Daniela Rogers for hunting down some excellent images, Jessica Axe for her direction of publicity – and my own dear father Peter, whose recent enthusiasm for flying lessons has proved instructive.
Index
1 Group ref1
1 Squadron ref1, ref2
10 Group ref1, ref2, ref3
11 Group ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25
12 Group ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14
12 Squadron ref1, ref2
32 Squadron ref1
65 Squadron ref1
74 Squadron ref1
87 Squadron ref1
213 Squadron ref1, ref2
242 Squadron ref1
249 Squadron ref1
303 Squadron ref1, ref2
308 Squadron ref1
501 Squadron ref1
601 Squadron ref1
602 Squadron ref1
603 Squadron ref1
605 Squadron ref1
609 Squadron ref1
610 Squadron ref1
Adam, Kenneth (Klaus) Hugo ref1
air shows ref1
air-raid warnings ref1, ref2
aircraft design and production ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
airfield raids ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
airships ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Aitken, Max ref1, ref2, ref3
Allied Expeditionary Air Force ref1
American pilots ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Anson, Mrs ref1
anti-aircraft guns ref1, ref
2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Atcherley, Flt Lt Richard ref1
Attlee, Clement ref1
Australian pilots ref1
The Avengers (TV series) ref1
Bader, Sqn Ldr Douglas ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25, ref26, ref27, ref28, ref29, ref30, ref31, ref32, ref33, ref34, ref35
Baedeker raids ref1
Baldwin, Stanley ref1
Balfour, Harold ref1, ref2
Ball, Albert ref1
balloonists ref1
barrage balloons ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Bartley, Anthony ref1, ref2
Battle of Barking Creek ref1
Battle of Britain ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
pilot fatalities ref1, ref2
The Battle of Britain (film) ref1
Battle of France ref1, ref2
Bawdsey Manor ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Baxter, Raymond ref1
Bayeun, Gp Capt ref1
Beaufighter ref1, ref2, ref3
Beaverbrook, Lord ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Bentley Priory ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
and Battle of Britain ref1, ref2, ref3
and the Blitz ref1, ref2, ref3
Filter Room ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14
museum status ref1
Operations Room ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13
post-war ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
royal visits ref1, ref2
and the V-1 missiles ref1
Benzedrine ref1
Berlin, bombing of ref1, ref2
big wing formations ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Biggin Hill ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Biggles ref1, ref2, ref3
blackout ref1, ref2
Blenheim ref1, ref2
Blériot, Louis ref1
Bletchley Park ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Blitz ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Blitzkrieg ref1, ref2, ref3
Bomber Command ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Bouchier, Gp Capt Cecil ref1
Bowen, E.G. ref1, ref2
Braun, Werner von ref1
Breendonk ref1
British Expeditionary Force ref1, ref2, ref3
Brooke, Maj Gen Alan ref1
Bushell, Roger ref1, ref2
Byrne, Paddy ref1
Cambridge, Duchess of ref1
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament ref1
Canadian pilots ref1, ref2
Cecil, Lord David ref1
Chain Home System ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
see also RDF stations
Chamberlain, Neville ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Charlton, Vera ref1
Charteris, Brig Gen John ref1
Churchill, Winston ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24
‘Circus’ missions ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
civilian bombing ref1, ref2, ref3
see also Blitz
civilian morale ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Clark, Patricia ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15
class system ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Clostermann, Pierre ref1
Coastal Command ref1, ref2
Cockle, Iris ref1
Cold War ref1, ref2, ref3
Connor, William (Cassandra) ref1
Coope, W.E. ref1
Corpo Aereo Italiano ref1
Cotton, Sidney ref1
Coventry ref1, ref2
Cranwell ref1, ref2
Croydon ref1, ref2
Cunningham, Gp Capt John ref1, ref2
D-Day ref1, ref2
Dahl, Roald ref1, ref2, ref3
de Havilland ref1, ref2
de Havilland, Geoffrey ref1, ref2
Debden ref1, ref2
decoy flights ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Deere, Alan ref1
Defiant ref1, ref2, ref3
Denniston, Commander Alistair ref1
Detling ref1
DH.2 ref1
Dieppe Raid ref1
direct assault technique ref1
dislocation bombing ref1
Donahue, Arthur ref1
doodlebugs see V-1 missiles
Douglas, Air Chief Marshal William Sholto ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14
Douhet, Giulio ref1
Dover ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Dowding, ACM Sir Hugh ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15
and air support for France ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
and the Battle of Britain ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
and the Blitz ref1, ref2
death of ref1
First World War ref1
interest in spiritualism, Theosophy and UFOs ref1, ref2, ref3
on defence of shipping ref1
on German invasion, threat of ref1
on the Luftwaffe ref1
opposition to ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13
postwar life ref1
relieved of command ref1, ref2, ref3
see also Bentley Priory
Dowding system ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
Dowling, Plt Off ref1
downed pilots ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Dunkirk evacuation ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Duxford ref1, ref2
E-boats ref1, ref2
Eagle Day ref1
early history of aviation ref1
see also Royal Flying Corps
Eastchurch ref1, ref2
Ebbesen, Marie ref1
Edwardes-Jones, Humphrey ref1
Eisenhower, Gen Dwight D. ref1
Elizabeth II, HM Queen ref1
Elizabeth, The Queen Mother ref1, ref2, ref3
Ellesmere Port ref1
Ellington, ACM Sir Edward ref1
Enigma codes ref1, ref2, ref3
Eva, Gladys ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14
Fairey Battle ref1
fighter pilots
anti-authority behaviour ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Arthurian imagery ref1, ref2
average age (Battle of Britain) ref1
cult status ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
drinking ref1, ref2
drugs ref1
fatalism ref1, ref2
fear, experience of ref1, ref2, ref3
flying stress ref1, ref2
glamour and style ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
hunter-killers ref1, ref2, ref3
individualism ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
insouciance ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
novice pilots ref1, ref2, ref3
pilot shortages ref1, ref2, ref3
pilot’s wings ref1
post-war lives ref1, ref2
respect for the enemy ref1, ref2
training ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
films ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
Filton ref1, ref2
Finucane, Wing Cdr Brendan ‘Paddy’ ref1
First World War ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Fiske, William ref1
flying suits ref1
Fokker ref1
Forbes, Wg Cdr Athol ref1
Foster, Wg Cdr Bob ref1
France, British air support for ref1, re
f2, ref3, ref4
Freeborn, Wg Cdr John Connell ref1
Gable, Clark ref1
gas masks ref1, ref2
George VI ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
German Air Defence League ref1
German Air Mission ref1
German invasion, threat of ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16
defensive scenario ref1
Gielgud, John ref1
Gillan, Sqn Ldr John ref1
gliding ref1
Goering, Hermann ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
goggles ref1
Gort, General Lord ref1
Graham-White, Claude ref1
Great Depression ref1, ref2
Great Yarmouth ref1
Griffiths, Jim ref1
ground staff ref1, ref2
Guernica ref1, ref2
Halton-Harrap, Plt Off ref1
Hamilton, Judith ref1
Harrison, Rex ref1, ref2
Hastings, Sir Patrick ref1, ref2
Haw Haw, Lord ref1
Hawkinge ref1, ref2, ref3
Heinkel (dog) ref1
‘Hellfire Corner’ ref1, ref2
Herivel, John ref1
Hillary, Richard ref1, ref2
Hitler, Adolf ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Hoare, Samuel ref1
Hood, H.R.L. ref1
Hornchurch ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16
Howard, Trevor ref1
Hurricane ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Hurricane Mk 2 ref1
incendiary bombs ref1
industrial targets ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Inskip, Sir Thomas ref1
interwar neurosis ref1, ref2
‘Iron Dome’ defence system ref1
Isle of Wight ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Italian aviation ref1, ref2
Johns, W.E. ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Jones, Plt Off Robert ref1
Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) ref1
Kellet, Sqn Ldr Ronald ref1
Kenley ref1, ref2
Kent, Flt Lt John ref1
Keough, Vernon ref1
Kerr, Deborah ref1, ref2
‘knock-out blow’ ref1
Lacey, James ref1
‘lack of moral fibre’ ref1, ref2, ref3
Lawrence, T.E. ref1, ref2, ref3
Leigh, Vivien ref1
Leigh-Mallory, ACM Trafford ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19
literary heroics ref1
Liverpool ref1, ref2
Livesey, Roger ref1
Local Defence Volunteers ref1
Lockington, Eve ref1, ref2
log-books ref1
London Air Defence Area ref1