Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot Ken Wilkinson, 99

Tributes have been paid to one of the last Battle of Britain Spitfire pilots after he died aged 99.

Ken Wilkinson, who was among those famously dubbed “The Few” by Winston Churchill, passed away on Monday, the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust (BBMT) said.

The former Flying Officer once shared a risque joke with the Duke of Cambridge and was described by the wife of a fellow RAF pilot as one of the “Brylcreem Boys with a twinkle in their eyes”.

The head of the RAF led tributes to the former fighter pilot, who battled the Luftwaffe from bases in East Anglia in 1940.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, the Chief of the Air Staff, said: “Ken, as one of ‘The Few’, represented an extraordinary generation to whom we owe a great debt that should never be forgotten – our freedom being won by their sacrifices.

The chartered surveyor was born in Barrowin-Furness, Cumbria, the son of an aircraft manufacturer.

At the outbreak of war, he joined the RAF and flew Spitfires with 616 and 19 Squadrons.

In a 2015, during an interview, he said: “I didn’t carry any lucky charms, but I did wear a pair of my wife’s knickers around my neck”.

That same year he met the Duke of Cambridge during celebrations for the centenary of 29 (Reserve) Squadron at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

He said he was “under instruction not to tell dirty stories”, prompting William to request a tale, and Mr Wilkinson obliged.

The BBMT said in a statement that it had learned “with great sadness” of Mr Wilkinson’s death, describing him as a “true gentleman who we shall miss dearly”.

Its chairman Richard Hunting described the death of a man he had known since 2001 as a “sad moment because he was a symbol of what was done” to protect Britain.

Frank Crosby, who knew Mr Wilkinson through working at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire, said he would remember the ex-pilot’s “robust” sense of humour.

Mr Crosby said the pensioner was always happy to talk to people about his experiences during the war, adding: “Their way of surviving was hardening themselves to what happened around them.

“But he was very aware of the men who died around him in the sky.

“He would talk about them and he wouldn’t get sentimental about them. “But he never forgot.” Deborah Burns, whose late husband, Flight Lieutenant Owen Burns, was also one of The Few, said Mr Wilkinson loved to talk and always made those around him feel special.

“Ken would have been 20 or 21 when he joined up and when he was fighting,” she said.

“To think of people that age defending their country up there – they were constantly on call day after day.

“Most of their memories were of sitting in the mess, waiting for the call and then going up. “Time and time again.” Mr Wilkinson is survived by his daughter, Penny, and grandson, Piers.

Ken Wilkinson.