When a flypast involving about 40 Spitfires and Hurricanes took place on Tuesday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Second World War’s Battle of Britain, it was the latest tribute to the airmen whose extraordinary bravery saved Britain from Nazi invasion.
Of the 3,000 or so pilots whorepelled Hitler’s Luftwaffe during the battle, it is thought only 20are still alive and all are in theirmid-nineties.
Some of those survivors gathered to watch a similar celebration last month to mark 75 years since the battle’s “hardest day”.
The poignant event recalled August 18 1940, when Bromley’s Biggin Hill and other South East military bases came under attack.
The day earned its name as both sides recorded their greatest loss of aircraft.
However, it was the events of 75 years ago this week that marked not only the turning point of the Battle of Britain but that of the whole of the Second World War.
On September 15 1940, RAF Fighter Command claimed victory over the Luftwaffe after a day of heavy bombing raids ended in big losses for the enemy.
Germany needed to master the skies over Britain if it was to safely transport its superior land forces across the 21-mile English Channel.
But the raid convinced the German high command that the Luftwaffe could not achieve air supremacy.
And 75 years ago today, on September 19 1940, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler postponed indefinitely “Operation Sea Lion” the proposed amphibious invasion of Britain.
Although heavy German airraids on London and other citiescontinued through to spring 1941, the Battle of Britain was effectively won and the country’s resolveremained unbroken.
It led Churchill to famously state: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
The significance of September 15, which featured the last major daylight raid on London, has been recognised ever since as Battle of Britain Day.
And for decades, the anniversary was an important part of the RAF Leuchars Airshow, with its annual Battle of Britain At Home Day held as close as possible to that date.
The distinctive roar of the Merlin engines and the grace with which the Hurricane and especially the Spitfire climbed, banked, dived and weaved through the air was always a crowd favourite.
And while the air base now in the hands of the Army and the airshow are no more, three ex-Leuchars fliers are at the heart of keeping the commemorations alive through the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The RAF’s tribute to the aviators of the Second World War flies four Spitfires, two Hurricanes, a Dakota, a Lancaster and several Chipmunk trainers.
Today a household name and a national institution, it makes about 1,000 appearances around the UK every summer.
However, the modern BBMF had more humble beginnings. Once a loose collection of “obsolete” aircraft tucked away in the corner of various hangars, it has grown into a dedicated unit with its own headquarters, entrusted with the care of the priceless assets of British aviation heritage.
Supported by a team of 25 engineers, it is administratively part of the Royal Air Force No 1 Group and operates from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, where the current station commander is Group Captain Jez Attridge, formerly a fast jet pilot with 43 (F) Squadron at Leuchars, who now also flies Spitfires and Hurricanes.
He is assisted by Squadron Leader Tony Beresford, a former navigator on the Tornado F3 at Leuchars, who is now a part-time navigator on the BBMF Lancaster.
Alongside “the boss”, the other full-time member of the BBMF team is Flight Lieutenant Antony “Parky” Parkinson, 50, who has 32 years’ RAF service. A hugely experienced pilot, the Gulf War and Bosnia veteran flew Phantoms with 111 (F) Squadron at Leuchars from 1987 to 1989 and went on to fly the Tornado F3 and F-16 on an exchange with the Dutch Air Force. He also served for four years with the Red Arrows and had the honour of becoming the first RAF pilot to chalk up 1,000 hours in the Eurofighter Typhoon.
It is with affection that he looks back on the “quirks” of piloting fast jets including 15 years on the air show circuit, nine of them displaying at Leuchars but after nine years with the BBMF, the Spitfire stands out as his favourite aircraft to fly of all time.
Flight Lieutenant Parkinson, now the memorial flight’s full-time programme manager, said: “Fast jets are all quirky, all slightly different. They all fly extremely well and I’ve been extremely lucky to have flown the range of aircraft I have done. It’s amazing what the Eurofighter Typhoon can do. I look at them all with affection. But if I had to name one, it has to be the Spitfire.”
Among the planes he flies is P7350, the oldest airworthy Spitfire in the world and the only one still in operation to have actually fought in the Battle of Britain. Believed to be the 14th of 11,989 Spitfires built in Birmingham, it flew with 603 Squadron out of Hornchurch in 1940 before being shot down with Polish pilot Ludwick Martel at the controls on October 25 that year.
The aircraft crashed in a field near the Sussex town of Hastings close to where Parky grew up and the story was one of the inspirations for him joining the RAF. Flying wasalready in the blood his grandfather served with the Royal Flying Corps, which became the RAF, in 1918 and a childhood watching movies such as The Battle of Britain and The Dambusters cemented his ambition to follow in his footsteps.
Although the principles of flight are the same, Parky said it was “surprisingly difficult” to make the transition from fast jets to theSpitfires and Hurricanes.
He said: “Once airborne, they are the most beautiful aircraft to fly. But, really, it’s all about the landing. In the jet, you have a great view of where you are going. But in theHurricane and Spitfire, it’s a real tail-dragger what an unforgettable experience, though.”
He first got behind the controls of a Spitfire after 25 hours of training in a Chipmunk. This compared with 250 hours before he was permitted to take the throttle of a fast jet.
It was not lost on him that the young pilots in the war often had just a couple of hours flying experience before going into combat for real, and it is this courage that inspires his work as part of the BBMF.
He added: “Everyone in the RAF is immensely proud of the history. The RAF’s greatest battle was the Battle of Britain. It was amazingly hard fought. It’s amazing to think that these young lads, often aged just 18 or 19, went up there with the country’s future hanging in the balance.”
And while the aircraft have changed radically, he insists the principles of QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) employed by the Typhoons at Lossiemouth and Coningsby today is identical to the aims of the Battle of Britain crews defending the skies from incoming threat.
“Those images of pilots sitting in their deckchairs fully kitted and waiting for the call are not dissimilar to what happens today with Typhoon pilots maybe without the deckchairs,” he said.
“We even use the same alarm message ‘Scramble, Scramble, Scramble’.”
The BBMF has been involved in a number of high profile commemorations in recent years, including the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters raids in 2013, the 70th anniversary of D-Day in 2014 and now the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. It took part in a flying event at Goodwood on Tuesday to mark the actual Battle of Britain Day anniversary and is due to fly over Westminster Abbey in a formal event on Sunday.
It would be remiss to discuss vintage aircraft displays without mentioning the 1950s Hawker Hunter which collided with four cars on the A27 on August 22, killing 11 people, after failing to pull out of a loop manoeuvre at the Shoreham airshow. The tragedy came just three weeks after RAF-trained jet pilot Kevin Whyman died when his Folland Gnat failed to pull up after performing a low-level, close-proximity pass at the CarFest motoring event in Cheshire.
Parky said: “Safety is paramount when we fly. We pretty much know everyone, and there will be fall-out from what happened at Shoreham. A decision will be made by the CAA. I think things will change, but I also hope we will be able to keep flying vintage aircraft because they are such an important part of our history. Without them this country would be a poorer place.”
One of the privileges for the BBMF crews has been meeting veterans of the battle itself.
Only a select band remain but over the years many have visited Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre, which tells the story of those who served at the Angus base during two world wars through exhibits such as a replica of the Red Lichtie Spitfire, the original of which was purchased in 1942 by the people of Arbroath.
RAF Montrose was Britain’s first operational military airfield set up by the Royal Flying Corps in 1913.
Between 1936 and 1942, it trained about 1,500 pilots, including Tom Neil, then aged just 20. By September 1940 he was in the thick of the Battle of Britain, flying Hurricanes. He ended the war with 14 kills and the rank of Wing Commander.
On a 2008 visit, Mr Neil met David Oswald, now 93, who was a radio operator with No. 8 Flying Training School at Montrose.
A number of pilots from the Angus airfield became renowned, including Squadron Leader Gerald Stapleton, known as “Stapme”, a fighter ace who led 83 Squadron.
Another, Flight Lieutenant Richard Hillary, described his time at Montrose during the summer of 1940 in his book The Last Enemy. A 20-year-old student when war started, he became a member of the Oxford University Air Squadron, joined 603 Squadron and fought in the Battle of Britain, achieving ace status. He was shot down in September 1940, suffering severe burns to his face and hands, and during a long and painful recovery he wrote his wartime classic, describing the life of a fighter pilot.
Anxious to return to the skies, Hillary pushed himself to the limit and was killed when the Blenheim he was flying crashed in the Borders in January 1943. He was only 23.
The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, based in Kent, is another institution which strives to educate younger generations. Conscious that the veterans will soon be gone completely, it was decided in 2010 to develop a visitor centre. The National Memorial to the Few now stands at Capel-le-Ferne, on the famous white cliffs between Dover and Folkestone.
Trust spokesman Malcolm Triggs said: “We get tens of thousands of people visiting very year. Make no mistake, it was the most important battle of the century. There’s lots of talk that the Battle of Britain will be forgotten. In our experience that’s not true. Children are inspired and fascinated by the battle, and I think interest is getting stronger. All young people love an adventure, and this was the ultimate adventure.”