Last of the Few
The Battle of Britain in the words of the pilots who won it.
- By The Editors
- AirSpaceMag.com, August 01, 2011
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264th Squadron Defiants. The aircraft was vulnerable to the Messerschmitt Bf 109s. Courtesy RAF.
Johannes Steinhoff
Luftwaffe Figher Pilot
The English had ingeniously found a way to defend their island. Every pilot, except a small group of night flyers and bomber pilots who were the nucleus of the coming night bomber fleet, was retrained as a fighter pilot. It made no difference if he was a liaison plane pilot, a bomber or fighter-bomber pilot, he was retrained. Industry was instructed to concentrate on fighters. And in this way it was possible to seal the gap—and more! In one stroke, the lost air superiority was regained, and henceforth we did not own the airspace from Calais to London.
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Comments (1)
The photos and excerpts from "The Last of the Few" are superb, vivid, and moving. I will certainly be adding this fine volume to my collection. One comment, however. The aircraft in the photo of the the fighter going down, presumably during The Battle of Britain, is described as a Hurricane. I believe it is a Spitfire. Note the somewhat thinner fuselage, and the thinner wing, which appears to be elliptical, the classic signature of the graceful Supermarine vs. the more workmanlike Hawker. Under the left wing, you can also see a small, cylindrical protrusion found only on the Spit. Though it was more than 70 years ago, I hope that pilot made it out.
Posted by Richard Moffa on October 27,2011 | 06:19 PM