Steve Darlow - Five of the Few

Of course my sincerest thanks go to the five veterans, Ken Lee, Terry Clark, Tony Pickering, Peter Olver and John Ellacombe, who were willing to share their stories and put up with my questioning.

My thanks to John Davies at Grub Street whose support is invaluable. Thanks also extend to Luke Norsworthy at Grub Street, for his toleration. Colin Smith at Vector Fine Art, whose original idea this was, also deserves mention providing contacts and helping promote the book. Thanks to Rob Thornley for his thoughts as the project developed, to my unofficial librarian Steve Fraser, and to Mike Lindley. Jim Sheffield and Robin Brooks gave good advice as the idea formed. Thanks to Bud and my appreciation also extends to Andrew Mckerlie, at Brook Lapping Productions, Cathy Pugh and the Second World War Experience Centre in Leeds, David Ross, Ian Brentnall, Tim Callaway for his drawings and Robert White at the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive.

The BBC have been kind enough to allow me the use of extracts from their WW2 Peoples War website an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC. The archive can be found at bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.

Churchills Few will forever be remembered by history as the men who thwarted the seemingly invincible German war machine, when all seemed lost. They countered the full force of the Luftwaffe in the daylight battles during the summer of 1940, and in the night skies of the winter and spring of 1940/41. They were at the time, and still are, perceived as knights of the air. To the British people, who gazed up at the contrails, witnessed dogfights, aircraft crashing and exploding, and men falling to earth under silk canopies, they were heroes. Those on the ground who suffered under the Luftwaffe onslaught will never forget their experiences. They will also remember that the men of the RAF had given them hope for survival and delivered as well.

Five of the Few is a personal wartime human history of five of Churchills Few, who fought Fighter Commands air battle in the summer of 1940, and earned the right to wear their Battle of Britain clasp with pride. It tells of their experiences and the effect on their lives. It is a story of immaturity and idealism, courage and bravado, fear and heroism, memory and reflection.

The officially recognised timeframe of the Battle of Britain is given as 10 July 1940 to 31 October 1940. There is also opinion, particularly with German historians, that the Battle of Britain actually extended beyond those summer and early autumn months to include the night blitz that went on until May 1941. In Five of the Few the experiences of the five airmen cover both periods.

Ken Lee opens the book. The Battle of France sets the scene for the air siege of Britain and Ken was certainly in the thick of the air fighting as the Germans blitzkrieged their way to early victory. Kens story then turns to the early stages of the Battle of Britain through to the middle of August 1940. John Ellacombes account then takes up the Battle of Britain story as the intensity of the air battle escalates in the second half of August 1940. Into September 1940 and Tony Pickerings tale is set within the context of the change in Luftwaffe strategy, the switch to mass attacks on London. The final element of the day battle provides the background to Peter Olvers entry into the Battle of Britain. Then the Luftwaffe night offensive in the winter of 1940/41 and spring of 1941 provides the context for Terry Clarks account.

Thus the entire Battle of Britain and early night Blitz story is covered. There is of course some slight overlapping and an effort has been made to avoid repetition, although occasionally it is necessary to ensure the flow of each airmans experiences.

However this book is not just about the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. It is about the airmens full wartime careers. Each of their stories continue beyond 1940, and they combine to give quite a full picture of the fighter pilot experience in the European theatre of operations. Ken, John, Tony, Peter and Terry build on the experience and combat knowledge they gained defending England, and utilise this as the Allies move over to the offensive in North Africa and the Mediterranean, and during the Normandy invasion of 1944 and beyond. Each man made his own personal contribution towards the final defeat of Nazism in Europe. Promotions and decorations would come their way, along with command responsibilities. There were further air battles and combats, but experience was no guarantee of survival as will be demonstrated.