AS COMMEMORATIONS to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain come to a close, a new book from a county author shares memories of the campaign widely regarded as the first to be fought solely by air forces.
IN JULY 1940, a unique phenomenon gripped wartime Britain’s Home Front: the ‘Spitfire Fund’.
The provincial city of Worcester became an early and enthusiastic donor, raising more than £10,000 – the equivalent of about £2million today – and presented two Spitfires to the government: Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory-built Mk IIAs, P8045 and P8046, City of Worcester I and II.
Fascinated by the Battle of Britain from an early age, as a young man Dilip Sarkar realised recording and sharing the Few’s memories was of paramount importance.
At the time, back in the mid-1980s, membership of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association was well populated and the then Honorary Secretary, the now late Wing Commander Pat Hancock DFC, OBE, supported Dilip’s research by forwarding letters to individual pilots of interest.
Those members of the Few included a wide-range of personalities, from famous airmen like Group Captain Peter Townsend and Air Marshal Sir Denis Crowley-Milling, to the ‘also rans’, as Battle of Britain Hurricane pilot Peter Fox famously described himself and peers.
Indeed, it was Peter’s ‘also rans’ that were of the greatest interest to Dilip, who recognised that whilst many famous and distinguished pilots had either published personal memoirs or had biographies written about them, lesser-lights had no platform to record and share their experiences.
For many years, Dilip enjoyed prolific correspondence with the Few.
These letters – hundreds of them – now represent a unique primary source, confirming the incredibly close relationship the author enjoyed with his heroes and high esteem in which they likewise held him.
Over the years, Dilip’s published work has enormously benefited from his unique knowledge of the people involved through this very personal association, the memories collated providing his books a real ‘human’ touch.
As the Few sadly fade away, it is only now that the significance of Dilip’s correspondence, industry and archive arising are becoming truly apparent.
In Letters From The Few, Dilip shares with us, for the first time, a small selection of his correspondence with Battle of Britain fiighter pilots, providing us an inspirational insight into the immeasurable value of this research and personalities involved.
Driven by his passion to research and share the stories of casualties, and record the human experience of war, Dilip s a best-selling author whose work is highly regarded globally.
A noted expert on the Battle of Britain period, who enjoyed a long and very personal relationship with the Few, Dilip was made an MBE in 2003 for ‘services to aviation history’, and elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society in 2006.
He is a sought-after and dynamic speaker whose enthusiasm is infectious, presenting and exhibiting at many prestigious venues on an international basis, and has worked on TV documentaries, on and off camera.
