FLYING THE FLAG
Typhoon roars over White Cliffs in dramatic salute to The Few
A RED, white and blue RAF Typhoon soars over the White Cliffs of Dover ahead of Battle of Britain Day today.
With its delta wings emblazoned with a Union Flag design, it made a spectacular and stirring sight as it evoked the heroics of The Few.
The aircraft, call sign Blackjack, is from the RAF Typhoon Display Team based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
After four days of displays at the Bournemouth Air Festival earlier this month, it was conducting a training exercise to intercept a low, slow target in unfamiliar airspace.
The Battle of Britain took place between July 10 and October 31, 1940. On September 15, 1940, the Luftwaffe launched a massive assault. It was a day of heavy fighting and the Germans suffered significant casualties, with Fighter Command shooting down 56 aircraft.
It proved a decisive defeat for the Luftwaffe, and since then this date has been celebrated as Battle of Britain Day. A total of 544 RAF pilots and aircrew were killed during the Battle of Britain. Pilots’ average life expectancy was four weeks.
Winston Churchill famously said of the sacrifices: ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’
A service of thanksgiving will be held at Westminster Abbey at 11am on Sunday to mark the 81st anniversary.