Last of the Few: The Battle of Britain in the Words of the Pilots Who Won It

by Max Arthur

After the fall of France in May 1940, the British Expeditionary Force was miraculously evacuated from Dunkirk. Britain now stood alone to face Hitler’s inevitable invasion attempt. For the German army to land across the channel, Hitler needed mastery of the skies—the Royal Air Force would have to be broken. So every day throughout the summer, German bombers pounded the RAF air bases in the southern counties. Greatly outnumbered by the Luftwaffe, the pilots of RAF Fighter Command scrambled as many as five times a day, and civilians watched skies crisscrossed with the contrails from the constant dogfights between Spitfires and Me–109s. Britain’s very freedom depended on the outcome of that summer’s battle: Its air defenses were badly battered and nearly broken, but against all odds, "The Few," as they came to be known, bought Britain’s freedom–many with their lives. More than a fifth of the British and Allied pilots died during the Battle of Britain. These are the personal accounts of the pilots who fought and survived that battle. Their stories are as riveting, as vivid, and as poignant as they were seventy years ago. We will not see their like again.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Military Fiction, Military History, Historical, War

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2010

About the author

Max Arthur is an author who specialises in first-hand recollections of historical events. He has worked closely with the Imperial War Museum to bring together two books in the Forgotten Voices series, Forgotten Voices of the Great War and Forgotten Voices of the Second World War. Prior to becoming a writer, he served with the Royal Air Force and for some years was an actor.

Reviews

[Samuel Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring and sobering.
Dose of perspective.

“The first time I took off in a Spitfire was, I think, the greatest joy I have known”
- Pilot Officer Bob Doe.

[William Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like military history, this is a very remarkable book. It is not a narrative history. From cover to cover, it consists of long and short 1st person quotes from RAF pilots recounting missions they flew during the 4-5 month long Battle of Britain. It puts you in the cockpit with them, day after day as they take off and fight wave after wave of German fighters and bombers. To say it is riveting is putting it mildly. With typically dry British humor, they describe the chaos and confusion of fast dogfights, victories, defeats, and getting shot down by enemy planes they didn't even see. Through it, you see their fears, not so much of dying, but of being badly wounded or perhaps badly burned or maimed. Pressure? Tension? Nothing less than the survival of Britain and ultimately the war itself was on their shouders. Yet they kept going, and won the battle by holding off the German onslaught and not losing. Interestingly, Arthur was also able to get quotes from the Luftwaffe aces they were facing, and we get a nice picture of the problems they faced as well. It is a remarkable book.

William F. Brown

[Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good for even people not into military history due to its readability and easily digestible presentation. I loved this book and was thrilled to read firsthand accounts of RAF pilots (and not just the British ones either!). Some of these men really had remarkable experiences that are shocking and difficult to grasp the hugeness of. If you like this, I recommend "Into the Swarm" as well as "They Gave Me A Hurricane".

[Charles H Berlemann Jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping this would be an interesting book about the Battle of Britain with information that would have been gained from the interview of the surviving members of the various parts of the RAF that flew during that period. Instead this is all just a collection of various stories of some pilots and some staffers. I just lost and didn't completely finish this book by about the 3rd chapter. Some of the short paragraphs of folks remembering things from how they discovered flight, how they joined the RAF, to how they go into fighters.

The hard part was that the author repeated a number of interviewees and it would have been better, IMHO, if they had ran a whole chapter on each interviewee's experiences from before the war through to BoB to post BoB and closed out with an synopsis of their later career. Instead of going pre-war, training, BoF, and then BoB. It just needed better organization to me and it would have been a more interesting book to read.

Not all bad, but felt like a vacation read that if left somewhere I wouldn't be missing out finishing.

[Drasko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last interviews with members of The Few. We can follow them from first tottering steps in aviation through desperate battles to ultimate victory. Eyewitness accounts are giving chance for cross-checking with some other historical sources. For example on p 59 Flying officer Michael Wainwright is giving testimony how his 64 Squadron has been bounced by Me110-s and whole front section including CO shot down. In Norman Franks book Fighter Command Loses of the Second World War same loses on 29.May 1940 were caused by Me109-s. It seems that opposing pilots had similar mindset. Germans couldn't be shot by Hurricane and British couldn't be bested by (much derided) Me110.
Whole book is consisting of those small snippets of aviator's life and is much more interesting then big official histories. Recommended for everybody interesting in aerial warfare

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an awesome collection of first-hand accounts from British, Canadian, and Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain. This book uses personal recollections to show what it was actually like to train for the RAF and its counterparts and then to fight the Luftwaffe during the attacks in France and Britain.

Each narrative is short and sweet and allowed me to learn a lot about what the pilots went through. I was blown away by the lack of training so many of them had and the outstanding bravery they had to fly and attack with very little knowledge of brand new aircrafts. Many of the men were shot down or forced to abandon aircraft and each was a unique story. Very interesting read!

[Mark Adkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting read with snippets of accounts of the Battle of Britain by those that were involved. The accounts ranged from British (and allied) fighter pilots to some support pers and German pilots. This gave the reader a greater perspective than if it was just excerpts from British fighter pilots.

Intermixed with the various stories was some information from the author on what was going on during that stage of the battle. I really liked those parts and wished they were longer and had greater detail, of course that was not the point of this book.

I do recommend this book to anyone interested in the Battle of Britain.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 4.5 star read. The book consists of hundreds of anecdotes told in chapters "Learning to Fly and Signing Up", "First Combat and the Battle for France", and the four phases of the Battle of Britain. Harrowing, exciting, interesting stories. Most of them are told by the flyers, but a few are by the ground crews, WAAFs and a few German pilots. Probably my favourite book so far (May) this year.

[Dan Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read but very fragmented. This book tells the story of the pilots in the Battle of Britain mostly from the British side. However each section is very short so you keep coming back to the same pilots words at different times. This fragmentation of voices makes it hard to read but does provide many interesting stories of the battle.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fascinating set of first person accounts from those in the cockpits of warplanes. Each entry is very short and impressive. I came to understand just how much those kids (often 19 years old) gave to protect world freedom. As an adult I enjoyed the book but if you know a young person who is reluctant to read this volume may be just the ticket.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account of this historic stand as told by those who took part. I appreciated that there were accounts from both British and German fighters. One of the few books I would consider reading again.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so interesting. The stories these people had to tell about their moments in the war were pretty remarkable. Some of them made me laugh, some made me cringe and some touched a soft spot in my heart.
Very good read. Very interesting perspective of WW2 as told by veterans.

[David Engel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great depiction of the experiences of fighter pilots and supporting crew defending the island during the Battle of Britain. Not an in-depth account, just snippets of personal stories, which I enjoyed immensely.

[Merlene Neville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last of the Few really opened my eyes to the sacrifice the British airmen made during the Battle of Britain. Thank you, Max Arthur, for writing such an important segment of history.

[Anjali Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very beautifully written book.

[Scott Stiglmeier · Rating 4 out of 5]

My reaction after every entry: "lol wut". Awesome stuff

[Iain Bulpett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stoic and depreciating accounts from the people who were there!!!! Now say history cannot teach us anything.

[Michael Fulghum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative

I like the that the author collected the thoughts and stories from the men who flew the missions during g the battle of Britain.

They even included thr germen pilots.

[Budd Margolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great collection of stories from many of the participants, even some from Germany, who participated in the Battle of Britain.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. Great that Sgt Lambert could get his story down for future generations.

Sad to see WWII vets disappearing from the scene that have n3ver been honored for their service

[MisterLiberry Head · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is blunt, well-done oral history--simply presented, without pointless elaboration or superfluous historical commentary by the author. Even as their present-day numbers dwindle to nothing, Max Arthur has acquired and preserved survivors’ personal accounts of the ferocious, critical air battle over Great Britain that followed the fall of France in May 1940. Nationalities of the narrators include not just Brits, but also refugee Poles & Czechs (a vital source of experienced Luftwaffe-fighting pilots in the earliest days of the air war), Germans, and various Anglos from throughout the under-duress Empire. Thankfully, the interviews are not exclusively with “Fighter Boys,” but also encompass the memories of ground crew, armorers, WAAF tracers & plotters, BBC correspondents and others. A few of the Famous are here--such as Squadron Leader Douglas Bader and Fighter Command’s sole Victoria Cross winner, Flight Lt. James Brindley Nicolson --but most of the voices belong to the virtually forgotten. (It’s sad, too, that the B&W photos from WW II are beginning to seem antique, like Mathew Brady prints.)

Judging from LAST OF THE FEW, the flyers had in common two big fears: letting down their mates and burning. That laconic, matter-of-fact manner of storytelling common to fighter pilots--what became known in the U.S. as the Chuck Yeager school of terse dispassion in crisis--conceals the inherent drama rather than amplifying it. Nevertheless, these are real voices of those who were there. Here is the Battle of Britain, described in its simplest form: “You went up and you fought all day long until the sun went down. Whether it be three, four, five missions a day--you just fought and fought and fought” (p202). More than a fifth of the pilots died by the end. “I wasn’t fighting for the King, I was fighting for me mum” (p274)--last quote, from a pilot officer who died in 2010 at age 89.

Kudos go to Air Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, whose foresight, persistence and disregard for self-advancement put the RAF into the sky just in time.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a time, before America entered World War II, when the British fought absolutely alone. France and the rest of Europe was gone, Hitler had crushed all other opposition, the Russians were in a pact with the Nazi's and the British army had been evacuated from Dunkirk leaving almost all of their equipment behind. Hitler was planning to invade Britain to end the war in the west (he would then no doubt have crushed Russia). The only thing stopping Hitler was the Royal Air Force.

The RAF, made up of pilots from all over the British Empire, reinforced by pilots from the conquered countries of Europe, had to be eliminated before Hitler's invasion fleet could sail the short distance from France and England. These pilots were set upon by wave after wave of German fighters and bombers and performed brilliantly, holding the Nazi's at bay and foiling Hitler's plans.

What is really excellent about "Last of the Few" is that it is written by the pilots themselves, both the RAF defenders and the German attackers. It is the very personal story of how these men lived, fought and, in many cases, died. The heroism of these pilots and what they did during the Battle of Britain must always be remembered. Everything we have today is owed to the "Few."

[D.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I am not sure what to say about this book. I'm more of a fictional reader so I don't have much to compare and rate with, thus my 3 star rating (which isn't a bad rating from my perspective) but I do occasionally wonder outside my main interests, usually when someone buys me something or recommends it. Last of the Few had been sitting on the coffee table begging to be read so I did.

Last of the Few follows a very basic pattern; it takes "biographical snippets" of real fighter pilots from the Battle of Britain and places them in loose themes, following various pilots exploits from either events or their own personal events. At first I found this very jarring, the snippets can be a short paragraph long to a few pages. But after a while I did find it pleasant to read and very easy to read as well. You had incite into many of the pilots; it was interesting to read from one pilot who goes into technical detail about their dog fights, to others who just brief over it. There are some interesting facts that I never considered. I rather enjoyed it.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max Arthur’s Last of the Few is a selection of recollections mainly by pilots and other personnel who experienced the Battle of Britain. Many of the recollections are not new to the book – the pilots in some instances are no longer with us and the recollections may have appeared previously in other publications. Some of the quotes are a little bit muddled, and no attempt is made in the book to corroborate or otherwise support the accuracy of the statements made. For example, a quote from a BBC broadcast covering an air battle over Weymouth is included, even though other publications have its serious inaccuracies. Criticisms aside, these are the words and thoughts of a lot of very famous RAF pilots and what they have to say is absolutely amazing, and I loved the book.

[Barbara Mader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was a bit of a phone-in, as many of the "in their own words" were taken from published books by pilots who had died, some during the war. There were some interviews, but it was never made clear in any way which bits were taken from interviews actually done by Max Arthur and which were from already-published books.

Also rather loosely organized.

Basically, Arthur didn't work too hard on this one.

Because there were no footnotes, no scholarly approach at all, the value of the book was extremely limited as far as I was concerned.

But I'm always interested in first-hand accounts, so it was worth reading.

[Hal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a superb book. If you are looking for a history of the RAF, analysis of tactics, statistics, etc., this is not the book for you. I have read many accounts and viewed many films about the RAF and the Battle of Britain.

However, this book, which comprises personal accounts of many participants in the action (with no commentary) told me more than I ever learned from anything else I've read. These snippets by pilots, riggers and fitters and opposition German pilots gave me a fuller picture of the battle than I've ever before experienced.

Churchill hit the nail on the head when he said:

"Never...was so much owed to so many by so few."

[Jonathan]

As time goes on -our veterans get fewer and fewer, it is so important that we get their memories recorded for future generations. This should apply to all campaigns of war. For our island, the Battle of Britain was probably the one that could have gone tragically wrong and had we fallen under the cruel heel of the Nazi regime, we would not be here now. The book is as spoken from the pilots and personnel during the crucial battle, and the constant danger from aerial attack. It's not a story, it's actual fact, these events happened to peoples lives. We should be eternally grateful to them for our peace time.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative reporting of the lives of pilots who participated in the Battle of Britain. Max Arthur compiled pages of first person reports from these pilots and arranged them in chronological order from the start of the air wars will close to the end. The reports range just a few sentences to several pages. These young men, most in their 20's some even younger, literally saved Britain. It was a truly inspiring read.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The insight from the pilots and crew on both sides provided their look into this Battle. Although each was trying to defeat the other side, the one common theme is the respect shared among them. A very unique portrait of how truly futile war is for those thrown in by politics. No winners in the end for the families who lost their fathers, brothers, sons & daughters.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made up of first hand accounts of the battle, Last of the Few offers some superb insights into what it meant to be a fighter pilot in 1940.

It's let down by a lack of historical overview. Apart from a few paragraphs at the start of each section there's nothing to put the anecdotes in context.