British Forces

Battle fatigued fighter pilot

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August 18th is known as the “Hardest Day” during the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe set out to destroy Fighter Command Airfields. They flew 850 sorties with 2200 aircrew and the RAF 927 sorties with 600 aircrew. Target airfields were Kenley, Biggin Hill, Gosport, Ford, Thorne Island Hornchurch, North Weald along with the radar station at Poling. Re-arming and refuelling the fighter aircraft was carried out as quickly as possible as the pilots would have to be ready to fly several sorties. The day ended with the Germans losing 69 aircraft and the RAF 68, 31 of these was during air combat. The face of Sqn Ldr Brian “Sandy” Lane tells the story of being a fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain. taken from fb/Battle of Britain Memorial Flight