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Episodes & Studies Volume 2

PROLOGUE

page 3

PROLOGUE

THIS account of the great days of 1940 which have become known as the Battle of Britain is limited to the story of the part played by New Zealanders who served with Fighter Command squadrons during the period 10 July to 31 October 1940. Much of the individual achievement of these men—nearly 100 served with Fighter Command at some time during the period—can be referred to in only general terms in a narrative of this length; it follows that those whose names appear are selected in the main because their actions serve best to illustrate the general account and not for any reasons connected with later achievement of high rank or position.

This narrative is confined to the deeds of fighter pilots, but although their gallantry has by now become a household word, the work of Coastal Command in the protection of sea-going convoys, and of Bomber Command in the destruction of the enemy's embarkation ports, barges, and other craft needed to transport an invading army to Britain, played no small part in frustrating the enemy's invasion plan.

Nor was the battle fought exclusively in the air, a point which was made by the Secretary of State for Air on 18 September 1940 in these words:

…. The battle is being fought not only in the air. It is being fought in the Maintenance Command, in the workshops, and at the dispersal points of the squadrons of the Royal Air Force. It is being fought in the Flying Training and Technical Training Commands of the Royal Air Force, whose hard work and devotion to duty, often under the enemy's fire, is greatly increasing the flow of aircrews to our fighting squadrons. It is being fought, too, in the aircraft and aero-engine factories and in our other munition factories.

The staunch resistance to the blitz of the citizens of London and the great provincial towns should also be remembered.