Luftstreitkrafte ref1
Luftwaffe ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Baedeker raids ref1
see also Battle of Britain; Blitz; specific engagements
McCudden, James ref1, ref2
McIndoe, A.H. ref1
MacLean, Sir Robert ref1
Macpherson, Fg Off A. ref1
magneto phones ref1
Maitland-Thompson, Tommy ref1
Malan, Wg Cdr Adolph ‘Sailor’ ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Mallory, George ref1
Mannock, Mick ref1
Manston ref1
Marham ref1
Martlesham Heath ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
mascots ref1
melancholic nostalgia ref1, ref2
Mellish, Molly ref1
Meteor ref1
‘Mickelthwait’ ref1
Middle East operations ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Middleton, Peter ref1
Milch, Erhard ref1, ref2
Mitchell, Reg ref1, ref2
morale ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
More, Kenneth ref1
mountaineering ref1
Mountbatten, Lord Louis ref1, ref2, ref3
Munich crisis ref1, ref2, ref3
Murnau, F.W. ref1
Mussolini, Benito ref1
NATO ref1, ref2
Newall, Sir Cyril ref1, ref2
night fighting ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
Niven, David ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
North Weald ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
Northolt ref1, ref2, ref3
Norway, Nazi invasion of ref1, ref2, ref3
nuclear weaponry ref1
Observer Corps ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13
officer caste ref1, ref2
Official Secrets Act ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Olivier, Laurence ref1, ref2, ref3
Operation Dynamo see Dunkirk evacuation
Operation Overlord ref1
Operation Sea Lion see German invasion, threat of
Orford Ness ref1
other-worldliness of flying ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9
outbreak of war ref1
Paine, Captain G. ref1
Park, AVM Keith ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22
Pease, Peter ref1
Pervitin ref1
Phoney War ref1, ref2, ref3
plastic surgery ref1
Polish pilots ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Portal, ACM Sir Charles ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Portsmouth ref1, ref2, ref3
post-war lives ref1, ref2
Powell, Michael ref1, ref2
propaganda ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
purity of purpose and action ref1, ref2, ref3
radar ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13
Mark IV Air Intercept ref1
radio communications ref1
radio silence ref1
RAF Club ref1
Rathbone, Basil ref1
Rawnsley, Jimmy ref1
RDF stations ref1, ref2
raids on ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Reading, Gwen ref1
Received Pronunciation ref1, ref2
Reynaud, Paul ref1
Rhodesia ref1
‘Rhubarb’ missions ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Richardson, Ralph ref1
Richthofen, Baron von ref1, ref2
Robins, Denise ref1, ref2
Robinson, Flt Lt Dennis ref1
Robinson, Lt William Leefe ref1
romances ref1, ref2, ref3
Rosewarne, Fg Off Vivien ref1
Rosyth naval base ref1
Rothermere, Lord ref1
Rowley, Sqn Ldr Herbert ref1
Royal Air Force
creation of ref1
formation of Bomber
Command and Fighter
Command ref1
post-war ref1
recruitment ref1, ref2
strategic intent ref1
Strike Command ref1
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) ref1
Royal Aircraft Establishment ref1, ref2, ref3
Royal Flying Corps ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Rudd, Wg Cdr ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Rudloe Manor ref1, ref2, ref3
Rusbridger, Alan ref1
SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) ref1
Scapa Flow ref1
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks ref1
shadow airfields ref1
Shanghai ref1
Shaw, George Bernard ref1
Sheffield ref1
shipping convoys ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Short Brothers ref1, ref2
Sidcots ref1
sightseers ref1, ref2
silk scarves ref1
Sinclair, Sir Archibald ref1, ref2, ref3
Skegness ref1
Smith, Ian ref1
Smuts, Jan ref1
Sopwith ref1
Spanish Civil War ref1, ref2, ref3
spiritualism ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Spitfire ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Spitfire funds ref1
Stanmore ref1, ref2
Summers, Capt J. ref1
superstition ref1
Sykes, Maj Frederick ref1, ref2
Tactical Air Forces ref1
taking the fight to the enemy ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Tangmere ref1, ref2, ref3
Tedder, MRAF Arthur ref1
Theosophy ref1
Townsend, Gp Capt Peter ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Travis, Edward ref1
Trefusis Forbes, ACC Katherine ref1
Trenchard, Lord ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Turner, E.S. ref1
Typhoon ref1, ref2
Udet, Ernst ref1
UFOs ref1
United States Army Air Corps ref1
Uxbridge ref1, ref2, ref3
V-1 flying bombs ref1, ref2
V-2 rockets ref1, ref2
VE Day ref1
Vickers Supermarine ref1, ref2, ref3
see also Spitfire
Watnall ref1, ref2
Watson-Watt, Robert ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Wells, Edward ref1
Wells, H.G. ref1
Wellum, Geoffrey ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Wesley, Mary ref1
West Drayton ref1, ref2
Westerman, Percy F. ref1
Wilkins, Arnold ref1
Willoughby de Broke, John ref1
Windmill Girls ref1
women in the services ref1, ref2
see also Bentley Park; Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF); Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS)
women officers ref1, ref2, ref3
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
post-war lives ref1
Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) ref1
Wood, Sir Kingsley ref1, ref2
Woolwich Arsenal ref1, ref2, ref3
Wyndham, Joan ref1, ref2
Y Service ref1, ref2
Younghusband, Eileen ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15
Zeppelin, Count ref1, ref2
‘A beautifully proportioned body and graceful curves just where they should be’. Lord Balfour of Inchyre was one of many pilots who rhapsodised about Spitfires, seen here in formation.
© IWM (CH 740)
Although much joked about at the time, the striking silvery masses
of barrage balloons – here protecting shipping – were a valuable tool in Fighter Command’s defensive arsenal and were ubiquitous over London.
© IWM (A 6175)
The Luftwaffe over London. On the night of 7 September 1940, Hitler’s promised retaliation for an RAF raid on Berlin came in the form of wave after wave of bombers. The pilots of Fighter Command managed to shoot down a surprising number.
© IWM (C 5422)
Bentley Priory, on the hilly northern outskirts of London, from which Fighter Command personnel could see London ablaze during the height of the Blitz. In the eighteenth century, the house played host to poets and princes.
© Graham Hill/Stanmoretouristboard
The first Operations Room was set up in the ballroom; whilst a more secure and hi-tech version, including colour-coded clocks, was being constructed beneath the ground.
© IWM/Getty Images via Getty Images
Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding (right), architect of the RAF’s defensive fighter network, nicknamed ‘Stuffy’ owing to a perceived dryness of manner, with His Majesty King George VI. In fact, Dowding was much more sensitive – particularly about the welfare of his pilots – than many realised.
© Popperfoto/Getty Images
The Hornchurch station down on the marshes near the Thames – which on autumn mornings would frequently be shrouded with yellow fog – was to prove pivotal throughout the fight for Britain, and was frequently targeted by the Luftwaffe.
© IWM (COL 191)
Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, who fought with Dowding, championed the theories of Douglas Bader, and rose to become Air Chief Marshal. Despite their profound differences over tactics, both men shared deeper beliefs: Leigh-Mallory and Dowding were avowed spiritualists.
© Popperfoto/Getty Images
Douglas Bader, centre, surrounded by 11 Group colleagues. It is possible that his disability – both legs amputated after a horrific accident – stoked his ferocity in the air. He was also, for the time, unusually abstemious in the pub. There is a Douglas Bader Foundation today in London, helping children with disabilities.
© IWM (CH 1413)
New Zealand-born Alan Deere, one of many pilots from around the world who came to fight for Britain, originally hailed from a deeply agricultural background but set his heart on flying for the RAF.
© IWM (CH 13619)
Patricia Clark, who worked as a Flight Officer in Fighter Command’s Filter Room, was one of a select group of young women. Her rarefied social background made her war career a voyage of discovery and also inspired her later success as a best-selling novelist.
© Patricia Clark
Max Aitken, pilot son of Lord Beaverbrook, the Minister for Aircraft Production. Aitken was a skilled and flamboyant fighter who caught the attention of Churchill and was friends with fellow pilot Roger Bushell, later better known as the genius behind the Great Escape.
© Popperfoto/Getty Images
Pilot Tony Bartley, who embodied the perceived glamour of Fighter Command; friends with actor David Niven, he was later to marry the film star Deborah Kerr.
© IWM (CNA 125)
The first eyes and ears to see the incoming waves of enemy fighters were members of the Observer Corps. They were often First World War veterans, and were keen to receive proper recognition.
© War Office Official Photographer/IWM via Getty Images
A number of young women volunteered for the Observer Corps, working in hazardously exposed conditions and mastering the calculations of speed and trajectory produced on the ‘Micklethwaite’, an astrolabestyle device.
© Planet News Archive/SSPL/Getty Images
With radar in its infancy, navigation could be dicey, especially in the absence of familiar landmarks; some pilots even used Bradshaw’s Railway Timetable to identify certain lines to guide them back to base.
© IWM (C 1664)
The Operations Room, tracking incoming raids with astonishing accuracy in a precomputer age, was staffed with skilled operators, from young WAAFs to City of London stockbrokers, all of whom were good with instant calculations.
© IWM (CH 7698)
The ground staff at each fighter base became renowned for their forensic devotion; but the pilots were also mesmerised by the workings of their planes.
© William Vandivert/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The signal to scramble was sometimes curiously a relief; the hours beforehand waiting in the mess were, even though pilots never admitted it at the time, a source of great tension.
© Jimmy Sime/CentralPress/Getty Images
During the height of the Battle of Britain pilots found themselves sprinting into action many times a day. That combination of courage and focus, repeated over weeks and months, was an astounding psychological and physical feat.
© Fg. Off. N S Clark/IWM via Getty Images
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First published in Great Britain
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Copyright © Sinclair McKay 2015
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