The Few#Leading aces

{{Main|List of RAF aircrew in the Battle of Britain}}

Nearly 3,000 men were awarded the "Battle of Britain" clasp. Six of the seven longest surviving veterans of the battle (Squadron Leader John Hart, Flight Lieutenant Archie McInnes, Flight Lieutenant Maurice Mounsdon, Air Vice-Marshal John Thornett Lawrence, Wing Commander Paul Farnes and Flight Lieutenant William Clark) died between June 2019 and May 2020 as of 8 May 2020. The last survivor of The Few, Group Captain John Hemingway, passed away on 17 March 2025, aged 105.{{Cite web |title=The last surviving Battle of Britain Pilot, John 'Paddy' Hemingway DFC, passes away |url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/the-last-surviving-battle-of-britain-pilot-john-paddy-hemingway-dfc-passes-away/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=Royal Air Force |language=en-gb}} The Royal Air Force called it "the end of an era".{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg1z42pkj8o|title=John Hemingway: Last surviving Battle of Britain pilot dies aged 105|date=17 March 2025|website=BBC News|accessdate=18 March 2025}}

By one tally, British RAF aircrew numbered 2,353 (80%) of the total of 2,927 flyers involved, with 407 Britons killed from a total of 510 losses. The remainder were not British, many coming from parts of the British Empire (particularly New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and South Africa), as well as exiles from many conquered European nations, particularly from Poland and Czechoslovakia. Other countries supplying smaller numbers included Belgium, France, Ireland (serving in the RAF as Ireland was officially neutral), Southern Rhodesia and the United States.Bickers 1990, Appendix 24, p. 358. Note: Gives the numerical breakdown by nationalities.Bickers 1990, Appendix 25, pp. 359–376. Note: Gives a complete list of the Allied aircrew in the Battle.Wood and Dempster 1990, p. 187.Wood and Dempster 1990, pp. 194–203. Note: Gives a complete list of the Allied aircrew in the Battle.

File:Never was so much owed by so many to so few.jpg

File:Battle of Britain Anniversary, 1943 - RAF Parade at Buckingham Palace Art.IWMARTLD3911.jpg

Winston Churchill summed up the effect of the battle and the contribution of RAF Fighter Command, RAF Bomber Command, RAF Coastal Command and the Fleet Air Arm with the words, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".Speech to the House of Commons on 20 August 1940. Pilots who fought in the battle have been known as The Few ever since; at times being specially commemorated on 15 September, "Battle of Britain Day". On this day in 1940, the Luftwaffe embarked on their largest bombing attack yet, forcing the engagement of the entirety of RAF 11 Group in defence of London and the South East, which resulted in a decisive British victory that proved to mark a turning point in Britain's favour.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/battle_of_britain_day "Battle of Britain Day"]. BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2015.[http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/remembrance/battle-of-britain-70th-anniversary "Battle of Britain 70th Anniversary"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115041910/http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/remembrance/battle-of-britain-70th-anniversary |date=15 November 2013 }}. The Royal British Legion. Retrieved 18 March 2015.

File:Battle of Britain Memorial Pilot.JPG, atop the white cliffs of Dover...]]

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The aircrew are remembered on the Battle of Britain Memorial, Capel-le-Ferne, Kent, and their names are listed on the Battle of Britain Monument in London. The Battle of Britain Roll of Honour is held in Westminster Abbey in the RAF Chapel, and is paraded annually during the Service of Thanksgiving and re-dedication on Battle of Britain Sunday.[http://www.battleofbritainmemorial.org "Battle of Britain Memorial."] battleofbritainmemorial.org . Retrieved: 7 September 2011.

There is a preserved Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft known as "The Last of The Many"—a reference to the 1942 film The First of the Few starring Leslie Howard as R.J. Mitchell, designer of the Spitfire—which flies as part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, along with a Supermarine Spitfire that flew in the Battle (one of five Spitfires in the Memorial Flight). As the Hurricane was the last production model of that type, it did not itself fly in the Battle.

In 2022 a sculpture, the Spirit of the Few Monument, was unveiled at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum.{{cite news |date=3 August 2022 |title='Spirit of The Few' Monument unveiling |work=RAF News |url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/spirit-of-the-few-monument-unveiling/ |access-date=1 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201091632/https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/spirit-of-the-few-monument-unveiling/ |archive-date=1 December 2022}}

The Battle of Britain was considered officially by the RAFCrang, Jeremy A. [http://www.bbm.org.uk/Crang.htm "Identifying the 'Few': The Personalisation of a Heroic Military Elite."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100915050902/http://www.bbm.org.uk/Crang.htm |date=15 September 2010 }} Names of the 'Few', via University of New South Wales, War & Society, Volume 24, Number 2, November 2005. to have been fought between 10 July and 31 October 1940.

• RAF pilots claimed to have shot down about 2,600 German aircraft, but figures compiled later suggest that Luftwaffe losses were more likely nearer 2,300.
• Of 2,332 Allied pilots who flew fighters in the Battle, 38.90 per cent could claim some success in terms of enemy aircraft shot down.
• The number of pilots claiming more than one victory amounted to no more than 15 per cent of the total RAF pilots involved.
• To be proclaimed an "ace" a pilot had to have at least five confirmed victories. During the Battle of Britain just 188 RAF pilots achieved that distinction – eight per cent of the total involved. A further 237 of those RAF pilots claiming successes during the Battle became "aces" later in the war.
• There were four pilots who were "ace in a day" in the Battle of Britain: Archie McKellar (British), Antoni Głowacki (Polish), Ronald Hamlyn (British) and Brian Carbury (New Zealander).

The leading aces of the Battle of Britain (between 10 July and 31 October 1940) were:

Shores, Christopher and Clive Williams. Aces High. London: Grub Street, 1994. {{ISBN|1-898697-00-0}}.

• Willie McKnight, 17 + {{frac|1|2}} kills by 18 September 1940, 6 + {{frac|1|2}} kills during the Battle
• David Moore Crook
• Alan Deere
• Harbourne Stephen
• Paddy Finucane
• Toni Glowacki, (Ace in a Day)
• A.G. "Sailor" Malan
• James Brindley Nicolson VC
• Albert Gerald Lewis
• Stanisław Skalski
• Jan Zumbach
• Geoffrey Wellum
• John Hemingway, who was the last surviving pilot of the Battle of Britain{{cite news |last1=Shute |first1=Joe |title=The only surviving pilot of the Battle of Britain on being the very last of The Few |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/surviving-pilot-battle-britain-last/ |accessdate=20 September 2020 |work=The Telegraph |date=10 July 2020}}
• Brian "Sandy" Lane
• Tom Neil
• Ray Holmes
• Douglas Bader
• Robert Stanford Tuck
• Billy Fiske

{{trivia|date=March 2025}}

The Few, a novel by Alex Kershaw, tells the stories of the men who flew in the Battle of Britain. {{As of|2003}}, a Hollywood film similarly named The Few was in preparation for release in 2008, based on the story of real-life U.S. pilot Billy Fiske, who ignored his country's neutrality rules and volunteered for the RAF. A Variety magazine outline of the film's historical contentFleming, Michael. [https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117892183.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=billy+fiske "New flight plan for Cruise."] Variety, 9 September 2003. Retrieved 28 December 2007. was said in The Independent to have been described by Bill Bond, who conceived the Battle of Britain Monument in London, as "Totally wrong. The whole bloody lot."Moreton, Cole. [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/hollywood-updates-history-of-battle-of-britain-tom-cruise-won-it-all-on-his-own-55566.htmle "Hollywood updates history of Battle of Britain: Tom Cruise won it all on his own."] The Independent, 11 April 2004. Retrieved 28 December 2007.

"One of the Few", a sony by British band Pink Floyd from their album The Final Cut (1983), describes a war veteran's return from the battlefield, specifically a pilot from the Battle of Britain, to pursue teaching, which connects to "The Hero's Return", another song from the album which is sung from the veteran's perspective. The Horrible Histories song called “The Few” commemorates the airmen and women, including Sir Douglas Bader.

{{Reflist}}

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• Bickers, Richard Townshend. The Battle of Britain. New York: Salamander, 1990. {{ISBN|0-13-083809-8}}.
• Wood, Derek and Derek Dempster. The Narrow Margin. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, reprint 1990. {{ISBN|0-87474-929-8}}.

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• McGlashan, Kenneth B. with Zupp, Owen P. Down to Earth: A Fighter Pilot Recounts His Experiences of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Dieppe, D-Day and Beyond. London: Grub Street Publishing, 2007. {{ISBN|1-904943-84-5}}.

{{Commons category|The Few}}

{{Wikisource}}

• [http://www.battleofbritainmemorial.org/ Battle of Britain Memorial] website

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Category:Battle of Britain

Category:Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II